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locals. So I was sort of sidestepping a lot of that guy’s questions. And you know how I am with lying.”
    Under ordinary circumstances, Joe wouldn’t pass up a chance
    to tease her about her terrible poker face. But instead of ribbing her, he frowned and stared down at her.
    “I don’t like the sound of that. Why wouldn’t the Justice Depart-
    ment cooperate with the tribal police?”
    She looked up into his guileless blue eyes and crafted a response
    that wouldn’t disillusion him too much.
    “I’m not sure Sid thinks these guys are equipped to deal with
    issues related to a federal embezzlement case, babe.”
    He stiff ened and said, “Why? Because they don’t wear two-
    thousand-dollar suits?”
    Leave it to Joe to identify with a bunch of tribal police. His dis-
    trust of what he considered city slickers had only snowballed since she’d joined the Department of Justice.
    “I’m sure that’s not it. Can we drop this? I still can’t believe he’s dead. I talked to him just a couple hours ago.”
    She watched his indignation morph—fi rst into sadness for the
    dead stranger and then into a spark of fear for her safety.
    “You don’t think he was killed because he was going to talk to
    you?”
    26
    CHILLING EFFECT
    She shrugged as if to say she had no idea. But that was exactly
    what she thought.
    And Sid thought so, too. Th e last thing he’d said to her had
    been “Try to stick around and see what the locals turn up. But for the love of all that’s holy, Higgins—be careful.”
    27

CHAPTER FIVE
    After the county coroner’s van pulled out and bumped along the
    road with Isaac’s corpse secure in the back, Offi cer Hunt gestured for an older man to follow him and broke free of the various offi -
    cial types milling around the crime scene. Th ey headed across the
    street to the fallen log where Aroostine and Joe had fi nally parked themselves, waiting for someone to tell them they were free to leave.
    Aroostine rose to her feet and dusted off her pants as they
    approached. Joe stood up beside her and followed suit.
    “Ms. Higgins, Mr. Higgins—” the police began.
    “It’s Jackman, actually. Joe Jackman.”
    Joe stuck out his hand. Offi cer Hunt shook it and then resumed
    his introductions.
    “Right. Th is is Chief Johnson.”
    “I appreciate your patience. I know you’ve been cooling your
    heels for a while now,” Chief Johnson said. He had the tanned face
    of an outdoorsman and the tired eyes of a bureaucrat.
    CHILLING EFFECT
    “It’s okay. You’ve got a murder to investigate,” she said.
    He fl ashed her a tight smile.
    “Well, currently, it’s a death. It hasn’t been ruled a homicide just yet,” he cautioned.
    She felt her eyes widen. She stole a sideways glance at Joe. His
    face mirrored her bewilderment.
    “Uh, Aroostine said the guy had been shot between the eyes at
    close range. I don’t think he died of natural causes,” Joe countered.
    Offi cer Hunt jumped in. “I think we’re all in agreement that
    Mr. Palmer died as a result of a gunshot wound. Th e chief’s just
    saying we need to proceed in an orderly fashion.”
    “Sure. Understood. Did you tell the chief about the rabbit?”
    Aroostine had watched the various personnel come and go from
    the scene, traipsing through Palmer’s house with bags of equipment, cameras, and fi nally the body bag. At no point did anyone cross the road to examine the jackrabbit that had been shot in much the same
    way as the late Isaac Palmer.
    Offi cer Hunt scrunched up his face as if he were trying, through
    superhuman eff ort, not to roll his eyes.
    Chief Johnson turned to the younger man with a questioning
    look.
    “Rabbit?”
    “Uh, right. Ms. Higgins noticed some hawks showing an inter-
    est in the fi eld back there. She went over to investigate and found a dead rabbit.” He waved his hand in the general vicinity of the fi eld.
    “I see,” the chief said.
    Before he could launch into an explanation about the circle of life,