Everybody in Mesquite Springs, Texas, knew that Jim Teague's hobbies included hunting, fishing, and punching his wife. Everybody also figured he'd come to a bad end, and sure enough he did. Nobody was mourning the fella, but that's not what was rubbing Officer Gary Novak the wrong way. He wasn't exactly crying over it himself.
Everything about this case was off from the start. Was it an accident? An animal attack? A murder? Karma? None of the above? All of the above? Questions about Teague's murder led to questions about the department, and the town, and Gary's place in them. The answers just brought more questions. And to top it off, trying to pass Bill off as his lodger was fooling fewer and fewer people in their small town.
That was the problem with living in a town where magic was commonplace. When anything seems possible, anything is possible. Even the perfect murder.
~16,000 words