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Jenna didn’t touch the dead man She went down on her knees, heedless of the conditions around her, and studied the injuries As she looked down, she felt a strange ripple down her spine She looked up

And the deaddown at her and at his broken body, incredible sadness in his eyes He looked frole ith his ghostly lips

"Murder!"

Jenna looked back to the corpse Then, true to her word, she was up in a minute She smiled her thanks to the ME and the techs that had paused to watch her

"RN," she said weakly

"Honey, he’s way past that!" one of the techs said

"Yes, I can see that," Jenna assured the wo, and they headed back out

John Alden was right in front, still trying to soothe the crohile writing in his notebook

"See--death by olive oil," he said, and there was no humor in his voice

"Yes, definitely, the tins killed hih, of course, I’m not an ME"

"No, you’re not," John said firmly "But why do you say that?"

She arched her eyebrows, playing for time as she sorted out what she had seen in herto tell John Alden that the deadover his earthly remains

"Well, on the one hand, there were deep contusions and lacerations on his head It would be like being beaten to death," she said "And, infro ti"

John stared at her, perplexed

"Well?" Sam asked

"Yeah, on cursory inspection, that’s what the ME believes Heup," John said

"Who found him?" Sam asked "The store is closed on Sundays"

"His son came when his dad wasn’t at church We’ve sent hiood for hi around here," John said, sympathy in his voice "Now, I called you I let you see the situation--and the body Can I get back to work?"

"Yes Thanks, John," Sa, "Oh, and, hey, by the way, if it’s an accidental death, why are you here? I thought you only worked hohed "With theto be called to the site of any accidental death And Sedge’s son called it in as a hoht have been called as a witness in the one of the currentto stick with it and investigate it thoroughly Happy?"

"You bet I am," Sam said "Thanks"

"Thanks," Jenna added as Sa her fro up cameras Sam saw that a cable channel was already live and he knew fro for a sensational scene If it bleeds, it leads But if it wasn’t sensational, it wasn’t national

Jaain around the kitchen table at Ja the news Jenna told them what had happened at the store

She was surprised when Saive in to frustration frequently "He was murdered Death by olive oil Like hell--it was murder by olive oil Someone was in that store, and someone beat him to death with those cans"

"Coincidence?" Jamie asked

"I don’t believe in coincidence Especially not when it’s this convenient," Sareed and began firing off questions that Sam answered wearily No, the door hadn’t been locked One of his longtime clerks had been the last to see him No, Jenna was damned sure that he hadn’t died of a heart attack when the tins had started to fall He’d been discovered by his son, who had called it in as a ho there Seeing it was Jake, he put the phone on speaker

"Interesting news that ht to look in all the right places," Jake told theot," Jenna said

"First, I found--public record, Jackson--articles for the Old Meeting House when it was founded, and when it was designated a house of worship They requested more tax exemptions and conscientious objector status for soned by n, that I don’t know That was soned it, assu it was a private petition I’ve e you, Sah to find"