4 Tennyson

The last place Ten expected himself to be going was Laura Cooper's house. He'd assumed when the woman stomped out of the shop threatening to sue them, that would be the last time Ten would see her, but he'd been wrong.

Fitzgibbon parked the SUV down the street from Laura's house. It was a stately Colonial with a perfectly manicured lawn. This was one of the richest neighborhoods in Salem. Laura obviously didn't have to work and with the nanny taking care of her baby and her husband, she had plenty of time to snoop through her neighbors' trash.

"Dispatch says no one has called in with a report of stolen remains,"

Ronan said, after ending his call. "It's starting to sound like box was left with the trash on purpose."

"No reports of theft doesn't mean the box was intentionally thrown away. Most people are still at work this time of day and might not realize the remains are gone,"

Fitz said, sounding uneasy.

"FYI, Marcus Cooper is a big time lawyer,"

Jude said, holding up his phone so the others could see a picture of Laura's husband. "He's listed as one of the top corporate attorneys in Boston."

"At least he'll know a good lawyer when his wife finds out he's fucking half of Salem."

Ten still hadn't decided if he was going to spill the beans about what a dog Marcus Cooper was.

"What?"

Ronan asked with a wide grin.

"While Laura was sitting with us, Cope and I were able to see that Marcus is having an affair with at least half a dozen women. I'm guessing there's more."

"Takes all kinds, huh?"

Jude asked. "He's got all this money, a gorgeous house, a wife and a new baby and he's messing around. It would serve him right for it all to come crashing down around him."

"That's not my job,"

Ten said, making up his mind to keep his mouth shut about Marcus' extracurricular activities. It seemed as if he and Laura truly deserved each other.

"Let's do this,"

Fitzgibbon said. "Aurora's having a bit of trouble at school. I got an email from her teacher and want to have some time to sit down and talk with her about it."

"Is she okay?"

Ronan asked.

"There's an accusation of bullying,"

Fitz said on a sigh.

"Why the hell would someone bully Aurora? She's the sweetest little girl."

Jude angrily cracked his knuckles.

"Aurora wasn't bullied. She is the bully."

Fitzgibbon gave his head a shake, as if he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"I'm sure there's a good explanation for what happened."

Ronan patted Fitzgibbon's shoulder. "Now let's go surprise this grave robbing bitch."

With a chuckle, Ronan got out of the SUV.

"Can't argue with that."

Ten followed behind his husband.

All three detectives clipped their badges to their belt, so there would be no mistaking who they were. Ronan rang the bell and stepped back from the door. Ten stayed behind him, wanting his appearance to be a surprise.

"Who's there?"

a familiar voice called from within the house.

"Salem Police, ma'am. Open the door,"

Fitzgibbon said, in his sternest voice. He dropped a wink at Ten, who bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"The police?"

Laura asked, opening the front door. Her mouth hung open as she surveyed the men. "If this is about those unpaid parking tickets, I can explain."

She offered a worried smile.

"I'm Captain Kevin Fitzgibbon and these are Detectives Ronan O'Mara and Jude Byrne. We can discuss your moving violations momentarily,"

Fitz said. "For the moment we're here to talk to you about your violation of Massachusetts General Law Part IV, Title I, Chapter 272, Sections 71-74 in regards to stealing human remains with the intent to sell them for profit."

Laura paled and stumbled backward and reached out for the door to steady herself. Her eyes were wide and filled with unshed tears. She looked as if she were about to have a panic attack.

"It would be better if we came inside, ma'am."

Fitzgibbon offered a benign smile, before turning to survey the nearby houses. "Unless, of course, you want the entire neighborhood to hear this conversation."

He hooked his thumb over his shoulder, where several concerned neighbors were watching what was going on.

Ten had no doubt the nosy neighbors were gathering gossip of their own.

"Please come in,"

Laura held the door open, her eyes growing wider when she finally spotted Tennyson. "I should have known you'd be involved in this somewhere."

"You did come to me for help,"

Ten said, trying and failing to keep his judgy tone under control.

Laura ushered the detectives and Tennyson past a formal living room with a grand piano and into the kitchen, which was immaculately kept, aside from the kitchen table. Mail was in haphazard piles, and there were several pacifiers scattered around. "Please have a seat."

When the men were settled around her, Laura continued. "Just tell me how much the fine is and I'll write you a check now. I left the remains with Tennyson, so they are no longer in my possession."

"We have the remains,"

Fitzgibbon said. "We can talk about fines and prison time later, but you need to show us where you found them."

"Prison time?"

Laura gasped. "I can't go to prison. I have a baby. A husband. A life."

"Well, if you'd like to keep those things, along with your freedom, you'd better remember where the box came from."

Fitzgibbon crossed his arms over his chest.

Ten had spent the last seven years working with Kevin Fitzgibbon and he'd never heard the tone the captain was using now. He didn't blame Laura for being frightened. Ten would be too if he were in her shoes.

Laura got up from the table, her hands were visibly shaking. "Come with me."

She walked down the hall, back toward the front door and stopped at the staircase leading to the second floor. "I'm going out, Marcia! Make sure Lulu eats more than Cheerios."

"Yes, Mrs. Cooper,"

Marta called back.

Tennyson could see, through his gift, that Marcia was making the jack off gesture. He snorted and nearly burst out laughing.

"Something funny, Mr. Grimm?"

Laura asked with a sour look on her face.

"Just your comment about Cheerios. When my daughter was little, there were some days when cereal was all she'd eat."

There was no way in hell Ten was going to tell the woman what he saw with his gift. Marcia didn't deserve to be fired, at least not for her response to Laura.

Apparently satisfied, Laura grabbed her purse and walked out the front door.

Ten noticed the neighbors had gone back to their houses, but knew from experience that they were standing in their windows watching what was going on. He knew the neighborhood group chat was lighting up with texts that Laura had been taken away by the police.

Fitzgibbon led her to the SUV, opening the back door. Laura climbed inside, gasping moments later when Ten and Ronan joined her in the backseat. Fitz started the engine and looked at the frazzled woman in the rearview mirror. "Which way?"

"Go straight ahead,"

Laura said. "All of these neighborhoods look alike. I already told Tennyson I have no idea where the house was located."

"Is there a usual route you take on your walks?"

Ronan asked.

"I always start out going north on Stanton Hope. Chrissy Hall lives in the white house. She tried to get my husband to sleep with her at our Christmas party last year and I like to show the bitch that he's still mine."

She held up her left hand to wave.

Ten caught sight of the woman's huge diamond. He had a feeling the shine off the stone could be seen from space. Using his gift, Ten was able to see that Chrissy might not have gotten Marcus' hot beef injection for Christmas, but she'd sure as hell gotten it for New Year. He'd been fast to shut down his gift when he saw the two having sex on the steps leading to the second floor of her house. Christ, Chrissy was a howler. Ten shook his head, hoping to knock the images out of his skull.

"Do I stay straight or go left here?"

Fitzgibbon asked when he came up to a stop sign.

"I don't know,"

Laura said. "I'd gotten into a spat with Tina Grinnell who lives here. She told me my husband had hit on her eighteen year old daughter last week, which is absolutely false. My husband doesn't cheat and if he did, it surely wouldn't be Tina's chunky daughter."

Ten begged to differ, but held his tongue. Again.

"What does the confrontation with your neighbor have to do with you not knowing which way you walked?"

Fitzgibbon asked.

Laura threw up her hands, nearly hitting Ronan. "I was upset by the mere thought that Marcus could find that horrible girl attractive. She's fatter than I am and doesn't have the excuse of having just had a baby."

"Some men like women with a little meat on their bones,"

Jude said, as Fitzgibbon took the left hand turn.

"Does any of this look familiar?"

Fitz asked.

Laura rolled her eyes. "All of the trash has been picked up, so there's no telling where I went. Nothing looks familiar."

As Fitzgibbon drove, Ten reached out with his gift in hopes it would give him some clue as to where Laura found the box. Aside from learning about several affairs that did not involve Marcus Cooper and a corporate embezzler using the money to fund her lavish handbag collection, Ten got nothing.

Fitzgibbon circled around through several blocks with Laura claiming nothing was familiar about any of them. Forty-five minutes later, they brought Laura back to her house. "I wish I could have been more help."

Ronan handed her one of his business cards. "If you remember anything, please call me. Do not make us come back here. We will arrest you next time."

Without another word, Ronan climbed out of the SUV and assisted Laura to her feet.

"I need a shower after that and maybe a shot of penicillin."

Ten shivered. "Her husband is boning nearly every neighbor in a five block radius."

"Does Laura know?"

Jude asked, snickering.

"She doesn't have a clue."

Ten shrugged. Obviously the woman was lost in her own little world. It was possible Laura had an inkling of what was going on with her husband and was choosing to ignore it. Either way, Ten wasn't going to say a word. He wouldn't take too kindly to someone telling him Ronan was screwing around on him.

Of course, Ronan would never do that.

Right?