CHAPTER 18

"It's so good to see you again." Michael Osterhouse welcomed CJ to the office of the pet cemetery. "Have you and your husband decided what services you would like to plan for your cat. What was his name, Hoyt I believe?"

"Yes, how nice of you to remember. My husband thought I should pick out the casket since I'm closer to Hoyt than he is, you know, he's a mama's boy." She found it hard to look the man in the eye after what she had learned about him.

"Very good. If you'll follow me, we have a display of caskets in the showroom." Osterhouse started that way just as Chris came in the door. "Please excuse me. Feel free to inspect the displays and let me know if you have any questions." He turned to welcome Chris.

CJ took the opportunity as she was passing by his desk to place a camera on the underside of the counter right next to it. It would show what he was doing at his desk. Then she walked back to the showroom and started looking around for any possible hidden doors. After what Matt had told her last night, she thought it was a wise move. She found a place to plant another camera in some artificial flowers that were on top of one of the larger caskets.

Chris was asking about the memorial stones as CJ finished her inspection of the room. She came out and Osterhouse excused himself from Chris. "Did you find anything to your liking?"

"Oh, yes, but I want my husband's opinion before I get it. It is a family decision, after all." She thanked him and shook his hand, then left the building. Chris was out the door a couple of minutes later and followed CJ back to the office.

When they got off of the elevator, they heard Matt, Roy, and Hoyt talking about the case. Matt eased over to the door to see who was there, and turned back to the other two men. "It's okay, it's the girls." He walked back over behind the bar and began making another pot of coffee. CJ and Chris came in and Matt filled them in on what he and Uncle Roy had found that morning in the secret room.

Chris shuddered. "I can't believe I just shook that guy's hand!" She took off for the rest room to wash her hands.

"That is truly disturbing." CJ looked shocked as she took the cup of coffee that Matt offered her.

"Okay, I'm thinking its Thursday morning. If he sticks to his schedule from last weekend, he won't kill again until tomorrow night. I say we just keep a close eye on him and tail him when he leaves tomorrow night." Matt was yawning as he finished telling his idea to the others.

"Matt, you need to get some sleep tonight. I'll go home and catch a few hours of sleep and take the night shift tonight." Roy saw the circles under his nephew's eyes.

"I would sure appreciate it, Uncle Roy." He finished his cup of coffee and headed for the elevator, then remembered he hadn't told CJ goodbye. Matt turned back around and walked back to the bar to give her a peck on the cheek.

"Where are you going?" She watched him turn back toward the door.

"To watch our boy at work. See you later." He got into the elevator and yawned as he hit the button for the garage level.

Matt spent the next several hours watching Osterhouse sharpen pencils, doodle on a scratch pad, and read the paper in between customers. He closed up shop at 5:00 sharp and headed home. Matt was tailing him from a safe distance in the van, then turned into the parking lot where he and Uncle Roy had been meeting to change shifts.

Roy was there waiting on him. Matt got out of the van and told him about the uneventful day and thanked him again for taking the night shift.

"Well, I didn't have a date set up for tonight, so why not?" Roy got into the van and took off to watch Osterhouse. Matt just watched him go and then climbed into his truck and went to the ranch. When he got there, he discovered CJ had decided to treat him to a big dinner: steak, baked potato, and a salad, with cheesecake for dessert.

As she cleared the dishes she told him that she had gotten a movie for them to watch. "Oh, what is it?" He made his way into the den.

"It's a classic. Maybe you've heard of it: "Don't Look Back"." She laughed. "I thought maybe we could do some homework and see if there is anything in there that might help us out on the case." She started the dishwasher. "What do you think?" CJ came into the den and found Matt stretched out in the recliner sound asleep.

"Well, I guess I can do the homework and you can sleep." She covered him with a blanket, then popped the movie into the DVD player and sat down on the couch to watch it alone. It didn't take long for her to discover why Uncle Roy didn't believe another movie role was in Natalie Wycomb's future: she was a terrible actress. Halfway through the movie CJ caught herself yawning. Then something in the movie caught her eye: black roses. She hit the rewind button on the remote, then slow motion. Sure enough, there were black roses.

Looking at the clock, she saw it was around 7:30 so she called Hoyt's cell phone. "I figured it out! The black roses were in the original movie."

Hoyt listened as she described the scene. "That must be it. Kind of odd, though. They didn't really play a role in the film, they were just set decorations."

"So was Natalie Wycomb." CJ couldn't help herself. "She really is a terrible actress, Hoyt. Unbelievably bad, in fact."

He chuckled. "Well, what does Houston think about it?"

"He doesn't. He crashed out in the recliner right after supper and is still out of it." She looked over at her husband of six weeks, now almost seven. He hadn't budged an inch.

"Well, I guess he can learn about it in the morning. I still wonder how they got in the theater, though. It's hard to believe the CSI's would miss something like that three times. Good work, counselor, or should I call you PI, too?" He was still laughing at how excited she had been when he answered the call.