Mirror Lake

“How are you going to solve the case when your main suspect turned out to be long dead?”

“First thing,” Vera said, feeling gross and dirty and very angry, “is to take a bath.”

“Well,” Lenore said, contradicting her own previous thought, “anyone can become a murderer with the right motivation.”

“I think we should go find our places,” Vera murmured to her friend. “No one likes funerals to begin late.”

“The deceased might want to put it off,” the raven countered, deadpan.

Vera nodded. She couldn’t argue. Ravens were the experts on tragedy.

If her time as a journalist taught her anything, it was that money was responsible for a lot of evil deeds.

... No matter how cold the winter, spring always returns ...

Life in a small town was very different from what she’d been used to in the big city, but she was glad she made the choice to move. Little things, like a greeting from a stranger, were surely a sign of a good way of life.