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remembered Morgan. “Darling, I know I have no right to come into your life and start trying to call the shots, but I have to state this again. I don’t think Nigel killed that woman, and unless he’s convicted or decides he doesn’t need us, he’s my number-one priority while in Mulligan.” Oliver wanted to put his hand out to touch hers, to show her that she should trust him. To show that even though Nigel was his top priority, he still cared for her. Even though he shouldn’t.
    Darling, to his surprise, seemed to choose her next words carefully.
    â€œI understand,” she said in almost a whisper. “But, tell me, why are you so sure that he’s innocent?”
    â€œThe surprise on his face when he found out about the body,” he answered.
    Darling huffed. “Surprise can be faked, Oliver. I do it every Christmas when Trudy gives me a can of peanut brittle wrapped in reindeer-decorated paper.”
    â€œTrue, he could have faked the surprise,” he conceded. “But not the pain.” Oliver replayed the moment when he’d watched as the cops had told the wealthy man about the body. He didn’t need to hear the man’s response to know it had caught him completely by surprise...and hurt him.
    Darling hesitated, brows pulling together, but she didn’t have time to respond. Her phone blared to life, a cute jingle that felt out of place within the conversation. She let out a long sigh as she read the ID.
    â€œExcuse me a second,” she said, standing.
    â€œNo problem.”
    Oliver was able to drink the rest of his neglected coffee, pairing it with one of Darling’s chocolate-covered circles of delicious sin, before the private investigator came back. The look on her face made him stand.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    Darling bit her lip. “Do you want a list or a long-winded sentence?” It was a less-than-halfhearted attempt to lighten whatever mood had erupted around her. Oliver answered with an equal lack of mirth.
    â€œList.”
    â€œOne, the medical examiner believes our Jane Doe was killed yesterday morning,” she ticked off. “Two, that puts Nigel in the clear since he was apparently eating breakfast with your team while you were bailing me out.” Oliver wanted to feel relief at her words—that he had been right about Nigel’s innocence—but Darling’s grim expression had every part of him on guard. “Three, they haven’t been able to identify the woman yet.” There was a hesitation after the words left her mouth.
    â€œCouldn’t Nigel identify her? If he met with her he had to know her.”
    She held up four fingers. “Four, Nigel is denying that he was ever even at the hotel, let alone in Mulligan, last night. No one has stepped forward to prove otherwise, and it’s Nigel’s word against Dan’s. There are no security cameras at the hotel, either. None that work properly, at least.”
    Oliver’s instinct was to question Dan’s claim of seeing Nigel in the first place, but he felt an irrational loyalty to him, because it was obvious that was how Darling felt about him.
    â€œI don’t think prints take that long to process,” he said instead. “Surely they’ll figure out who she is within the week and go from there.”
    Darling’s face darkened. She held up her hand. “Five,” she said, voice shaking despite her calm exterior, “all of her fingers and teeth are missing. Someone removed them.”

Chapter Six
    Any chance of normal conversation disappeared at the grim news.
    â€œRemoved?” Oliver repeated.
    Darling let her hand drop to her side and settled back behind her desk. Her half-eaten donut wasn’t as appealing as it had been minutes before.
    â€œPostmortem, but yes,” she confirmed.
    Oliver also sat back down, though he didn’t relax.
    â€œWho told you all this?”
    â€œDerrick,”