He inspected the leaf I’d drawn in the latte foam, gave me a sweet smile, and chugged it in three swallows.
“About these mice,” I said, looking around suspiciously as I put the tray with his plate of biscuits down on top of a box. “What kind of evidence are we talking here?”
“The usual.”
“What’s the usual?”
“Shit and the like.”
I grimaced. “Lovely.”
He poked through the boxes, then picked one up and stood. “Look. More evidence.” He angled the box to show me a nibbled hole in the bottom corner. Something inside it slid abruptly, and a small grey mouse fell out.
The mouse hit the concrete floor and galloped off into the shadows at the back of the garage.
I screamed.
“Holy shit,” Kevin said, staring at me open-mouthed. “Holyshit. How did you scream so high?”
I had no idea, but my ears were ringing. “Oh my god,no. No. I cannot handle vermin. That’s it. You’re on your own.” I turned on my heel and marched off.
He came after me and caught me before I made it out the door. He was laughing.
“Charlie. Come back.” He took my hand, pulling gently. “Charlie.”
I huffed and faced him with a glare.
He grinned down at me. “How can you be scared of mice? They’re so little. They’re so tiny. They can’t do anything to you.”
“Theirsizeisn’t the thing that freaks me out.” It was their scampery little pink feet, and their fidgety whiskers, and their beady eyes.
“Hee hee.”
“We all have things we’re scared of,” I said. I’d heard Kevin scream before. He couldn’t hit my register, but when it came to volume, he had me beat.
“All right.” He patted my shoulder patronisingly.
“You’d have been the one screaming if there was a dead body in that box rather than a mouse. Although you couldn’t get a whole body in there, obviously. Maybe a head.”
Kevin paled.
I tried not to smile, but I didn’t do a very good job of it, because he gave me a look. “There are no dead guys in this garage,” I said. “Okay?”
“Yeah. I know.” He nodded again. Then he let out a short breath. “We’re sure, though. Right? Hundo percent sure?”
“Yes.” I put my hand on the side of his neck. “You already took all of Deirdre’s stuff away.” We both winced, remembering Liam’s reaction to that particular development in the case. “We already know that the only boxes in here belong to me.” I’d verified it with Kevin when he and Griffin were clearingDeirdre’s stuff. I’d verified it again with Liam when he’d run out of puff and stopped shouting.
“Yeah.”
“The only way there could possibly be a dead body in one of these is if I put it there myself.”
He’d been nodding along, but at that he stopped. His eyes narrowed.
“What?” I said.
They narrowed further. “Huh.”
“What?”