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behind.
    After she had kissed them both good-bye on the front porch and thanked them for coming, she watched as Dirk walked with them out to their car.
    Nosy, as always, she watched and listened closely as he asked Ryan something. And the fact that he glanced her way and then lowered his voice made her all the more curious.
    She heard something about “hair” and “ocean,” but beyond that, she drew a blank.
    And when he walked back to the house, a half-sheepish look on his face, she knew she had to pry it out of him or burst.
    Waving good-bye to Ryan and John as they drove away, she asked, “So, what was all that rigmarole about?”
    With exaggerated pseudo-innocence, he said, “What? What are you talking about? I was just asking them something about the case.”
    She studied his face by the light of the porch light—the too-wide eyes, the fake half smile, the tight jaw.
    â€œWere not! Don’t you lie to me, boy.”
    He bristled. “Hey, can’t a guy have a little privacy? Do I have to tell you every damned thought I have? You have to hear every word I say?”
    â€œNo, just the ones you don’t want me to hear, because there’s no good reason for you to hide something from me. And that means you’re up to no good.” She took a deep breath and fixed him with her best indignant glare. “Now, what was that about?”
    He stared at her, breathing hard, leaning forward until they were almost nose-to-nose. “I am not going to tell you. It’s none of your business.”
    He started to walk around her to go back inside the house, but she stepped between him and the door.
    â€œI don’t want to hurt you,” she said. “Not with Gran and Tammy here as witnesses. But I will.”
    There were a few more moments of tense silence; then he sighed, shoulders slumped—a defeated man. “All right. If you must know…I asked Ryan where he gets his hair cut. And he told me it’s a place on Ocean Avenue, down by the marina. There. You happy now?”
    â€œWhy would you give a hoot where Ryan gets his hair cut? Like the day’s ever gonna dawn that you pay more than ten bucks for a haircut.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Stand aside, woman. I’ve got to say good night to your grandma and then go talk to Wellman’s receptionist.”
    He meant it. She could tell by the way his nostrils were twitching.
    Besides, if she didn’t piss him off too badly, and if Granny was as ready for bed as she appeared to be…she might be able to tag along on the interview with the receptionist.
    â€œOkay,” she said with a quick, bright smile. “Wanna take a piece of cake with you to go?”
    He gave her a deeply suspicious look as he walked past her and said, “No, thank you. Like I said before, I’m watching how much I eat.”
    But the look wasn’t half as distrustful as the one she shot at his back as he went inside.
    Dirk watching what he ate?
    Looking for a new barber? An expensive barber?
    What in tarnation was this world coming to?
    Â 
    â€œSo, why are you going to talk to Wellman’s receptionist first?” Savannah asked as they cruised down Main Street in his Buick, heading for one of the town’s least upstanding bars down on the waterfront.
    â€œYou don’t approve?” he snapped. “Who do you figure I’d talk to before her?”
    â€œMaybe Terry Somers? He seems your most likely suspect at the moment. What with that ugly threat he made in the doctor’s office.”
    Dirk pulled onto one of the largest streets, one of the few in town that were well lit. The orange streetlights flickered on his face as they passed by, and his scowl told Savannah he was still quite irked from their little exchange on the porch.
    He had let her come with him, but she suspected it was because he hadn’t wanted to fight with her in front of Gran. Granny Reid was one of the few