Chapter Twelve

The next morning Logan and Liam pulled up outside the home of the merry widow. The night before, she'd messaged Roisin the pictures and shared her concerns.

As it turns out, it was information the investigation did not have and gave a significant motive for the merry widow.

No one had any idea that Mrs. Smiley was hiding her little affair, and whatever her reason for it, it showed intent to willingly deceive.

Logan had fallen asleep in her office, she'd only managed to briefly wash her hands and face, her hair was brushed back with her hands, and her clothes were what she had worn to the restaurant the night before only now they were creased and crumpled.

Liam had been a reluctant hostage at the office, often more of an unwilling participant; he had never found the correct way to say no in how Logan would hear it.

"Is this wise?" Liam questioned. "If that woman is a killer, should we be going into her house willingly?"

"Just don't drink her tea." Logan chuckled as she pushed open the car door leaving Liam no option but to follow behind her.

Liam wished he could run away; why was this part of his job confronting potential killers? How had his life come to this? "I just think we should let the cops deal with this."

Logan rolled her eyes. "Is it my fault they are slow?"

"You made us get up at six AM," Liam complained.

"Best time to catch a cheating spouse, God, how did I miss this? She used deflection. What caught me off guard as she came to me. Why would I distrust anything she told me." Logan facepalmed, shed been reprimanding herself all night. "She sought me out, and this was her plan all along."

"She's not a spouse anymore," Liam whispered as he crowded closer to his friend; Mrs. Smiley had taken on the image of the evil witch; he only hoped she wouldn't offer him any apples. "And are you certain that you are right? Maybe she is just sleeping around?"

Logan rang the doorbell, making Liam cringe, looking around them nervously. "I really need to go, I still haven't watched the last episode of She-ra yet, and if she kills me, I'll never know."

"She-ra returns, she fucks Catra, and everybody lives happily ever after," Logan mumbled.

"You watched it?" Liam gasped in horror.

"Yeah, we're not married. I don't owe you box set loyalty Liam." Logan shrugged as the front door opened, and Mrs. Smiley was standing there in a short black satin dressing gown. Logan's jaw fell open at the sight of long, agile, and satiny legs.

"Yes, can I help you?" Mrs. Smiley asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked out at the two stunned faces on her doorstep. Liam's jaw had shot open at the same time as Logan's, his dark eyes glued to the two voluptuous breasts as Logan's eyes were stuck on her legs.

"Hello, can I help you?" The woman repeated.

Logan shook her head, clearing the mist from her mind; she was only human. "Oh, yeah err…..Liam, what were we here for?"

"Here for? Are we here?" Liam mumbled, his eyes still stuck on the older woman's cleavage.

The woman rolled her eyes and pulled the dressing down closer around her as she covered herself from his gaze. Logan had been so lost she hadn't heard the cars pull up behind her until she saw the reaction on Mrs. Smiley's face change and grow tight into a grimace.

"Detective Inspector O'Connor." The woman smiled tightly. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"What, who." Logan jumped, her face red as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been. The PI turned around to watch her ex-wife walk up the pathway, her blonde hair tied back from her face showing off more of her sculpted face and cheekbones that looked like creatures by a famous sculpture from the most elegant marble.

They were what Logan first noticed about the woman, Roisin's robust features had drawn Logan, and still, they were enough to render Logan speechless. Or maybe she was still in shock from her very recent unexpected, revealing moment from a not so weeping widow.

Roisin wasn't alone, Logan recognized the miserable, ragged face of Roisin's partner. Detective Constable Roger Carmichael had been on the force forever and a day, but he'd never been promoted beyond DC.

His beady-eyed glare landed on Logan, they'd never been friends, and after the divorce, the older man took glee in it.

"We need to talk, Mrs. Smiley," Roisin said as she drew nearer, as she came to stand next to Logan.

"Oh, is there any information?" The older woman asked.

"You could say that if I could come in, please," Roger said grimly.

Calm down, you'll give the surprise away. Logan said to herself. Why would the man never smile? He always looked like he was about to face an army of ancient mysterious vampires filled with bloodlust.

Mrs. Smiley nodded as she moved aside for Roisin to go inside, stepping back into place just as Logan and Liam were about to move inside. "I don't think you were invited in." The woman smirked.

Logan frowned.

"Oh, okay, come on, Logan, let's go to McDonald's. They are still doing breakfast", Liam said, rubbing his hands together, uncaring that Mrs. Smiley had closed the door in his face. "I really fancy a sausage, egg & cheese, Bagel."

Logan grimaced. "No, thanks."

"Come on, we're going to look like real losers if we're still here when Roisin comes out," Liam said, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're not entitled to be privy to this bit anymore, Logan."

Logan took in a deep breath and released it slowly; Liam was right. They couldn't hang around outside like some lecherous paparazzi. "Come on, Liam, McDonald's, it is they better make good coffee, or you'll be taking a first-hand look at the crimes of Vlad the impaler." Logan joked as they headed towards the car.

Liam swallowed against the harsh lump in his throat; he only hoped Logan liked McDonald's coffee; if not, he was in big trouble.

Logan took one final look at Mrs. Smiley's house in the window she saw Roisin stand up and reach for something from behind her back, Logan could only assume were handcuffs.

There was no satisfaction in being right, a man was dead, and his family had lost him forever because one woman seemingly wanted someone else.

Liam sounded the horn piercing through Logan's intense concentration. "Get inside, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Liam shouted.

"Keep your wig on," Logan mumbled as she got inside.

"Stop the bald jokes," Liam complained.

"It's not my fault you're going bald, Liam." Logan shrugged.

"Shut up!"