“You know I can’t talk about an active case.” He leaned forward and waited for me to look at him. He lowered his voice. “Mac almost fired me last time.”
I nodded through my twinge of guilt. “I know. I’m sorry. I was just asking because Diana’s so broken up about it. I thought if I could tell her more about how Rafe came in contact with peanuts, it might ease her mind.”
Tom sat back in his seat. I could see the struggle on his face. He wanted to help Diana and loved to talk about his work. He pressed his lips together. Leaning forward, he kept his voice low. “We did hear back from the lab on that. I don’t know if it will ease her mind.” He hesitated.
“And?”
“Maybe you should talk to Mac about this.” He sat back. “I don’t want anything to get out of hand again.”
Tom was referring to the standoff in the woods this past summer. He had apologized about a thousand times for getting me involved in what became a dangerous situation and was apparently still feeling guilty.
“Mac won’t tell me anything. You know how he is.” I heard the desperate note creep into my voice and silently chided myself for manipulating him. “Can you tell me where the peanuts came from?”
Tom sighed and looked out the window. He twisted his lip between his thumb and finger while checking up and down the street.
He leaned forward again. “They found peanut oil in the bread that Diana made.”
“Peanut oil? How did they test for that?”
Tom shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t know our lab could do that sort of test, but apparently there was peanut oil on the bread.”
“On the bread? Or in it?”
He gave me a flat stare, obviously sorry he’d given in. “It seems that the bread had peanut oil rubbed on the outside.” He sat back and crossed his arms.
“What does Mac say?”
Tom shook his head. “You’re going to have to talk to him about that. I don’t want to get involved. Last time—”
I held up my hand. I knew where this was going. “Okay, okay. I get it. You don’t want to get in trouble with Mac.”
We stared at each other for a moment. If the oil was on the bread, then anyone could have put it there. There’s no way Diana did it, but it didn’t let Dylan off the hook.
“This means anyone at the ceremony or near the food could have done it. But, why?”
Tom nodded, his excitement winning out. “Exactly. The bread was sitting out on the table, according to the people we’ve interviewed so far. It was a serve-yourself kind of setup. Anyone could have—” He stopped abruptly.
“Tom?”
“You aren’t going to get any more out of me.” He turned in his chair to look out the window.
“Do you want some help on this?”
Tom shook his head violently. “No. I was wrong to ask for your help last summer. You have no idea what I went through after the case wrapped up.” He flipped his notebook shut and shoved it into his pocket. “Mac said that if anyone had gotten hurt that night in the woods, it would have been my fault. I have a sworn duty to protect the citizens of Crystal Haven and I didn’t do that this summer. I won’t make the same mistake again, and not just because Mac said he’d kill me if I put you in danger again.” His face flushed pink as he finished.
“Mac said that?”
Tom put up his hand. “Please, Clyde. Just let it go.”
I nodded and glanced out the window at the brown leaves dancing down the street. Tom was right and so was Mac, but I needed to know what was going on. Diana was going to be devastated when she found out that her bread had killed Rafe.
*
As I walked to my car, my phone buzzed in my jacket pocket. I pulled it out to check the text. Diana had sent: 911—my house!
Fortunately, she only lived a few minutes from the coffee shop. I ran two stop signs and screeched around the corner to her street. I pulled up behind a police car that had its lights flashing.
Rushing up to the porch, I met Dylan and Charla on their way out. Dylan appeared angry and scared in equal measure. His head was down, but he looked up and caught my eye. I read him loud and clear—help. Diana followed, shouting questions at both Charla and Dylan.
“Charla, what’s going on?” I stepped in front of them.
“Clyde, help your friend.” She gestured back toward Diana. “I’m taking Dylan in to the station. He’s under arrest.”
Charla had been on the Crystal Haven police force for as long as I could remember. She was the one who had convinced me to enter the police academy. And while I knew she harbored a soft spot under all the bravado, she rarely showed it. Diana’s face was pale and her eyes welled with tears.
“Diana, we’ll figure this out.” I put my arm around her, wishing that I was better at emotions. I steered her back into the house so she wouldn’t see Dylan getting into the police car.