2 Grounds for Murder by Sandra Balzo

Author:Sandra Balzo [Balzo, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery
Goodreads: 2144670
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2007-11-30T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

I found Sarah with the smokers outside the revolving door. I was reminded of Jerome’s dad and his thoughts on addiction.

‘Maybe you should take up red wine,’ I said. ‘At least there are health benefits to that.’

‘I’m not smoking,’ Sarah protested. She was standing next to a red-haired woman with permanently-pursed lips and nicotine-stained hands. When the woman exhaled, Sarah centered herself in the cloud of smoke and breathed deeply. ‘Oh, God, that’s so good,’ she said, as Red looked at her uneasily.

I pulled Sarah away. ‘Have you lost your mind? You’re exchanging air with that woman. Her germs, her breath, her smoke. In some cultures you’d have to marry her.’

Sarah waved me off. ‘I’ve had a bad day. You were there. We found Marvin LaRoche dead. I’ll breathe anybody’s air I want to.’

I have to admit I hadn’t given much thought to Sarah’s reaction to the death of LaRoche, a longtime client. Questionable tactics aside, Sarah had tried to help me in the competition room. The least I could do was offer her a shoulder.

‘I’m sorry, Sarah,’ I said, patting her arm. ‘You knew LaRoche better than I did. How are you doing?’

My friend looked surprised that I was being so solicitous. ‘Why . . . why, thanks for asking Maggy. I do feel a little light-headed.’ She put a hand to her head. ‘Perhaps a cigarette might get me past the worst of it.’

‘Shame on you,’ I scolded her. ‘At least I’m honest enough to admit I didn’t like LaRoche―’

Janalee LaRoche chose that moment to rotate out of the revolving door, though ‘chose’ wasn’t the right word. Janalee didn’t look like she was capable of making any decisions, including walking and talking.

I touched her shoulder, the one without Davy on it, praying that she hadn’t heard me. ‘Janalee, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?’

Janalee had a cloth diaper draped over the baby’s face and all I could see of him was a pair of eyes. Apparently she was trying to shield him from the smoke, though the widening wet spot on Davy’s bottom argued that the diaper might be better employed on that end.

Janalee waved me over to an area that was relatively smoke-free. Sarah didn’t follow us. Instead, she edged closer to the redhead, who, in turn, edged away. Any minute now they’d be in the bushes.

‘I can’t believe this is all happening.’ Janalee took a deep breath. ‘First the fire and now Marvin? It’s just too much, and with Amy leaving, too . . .’ Tears started to flow.

‘I’m so sorry about that,’ I said, tears welling up in my eyes, too. ‘Why don’t you just keep Amy?’ Caron was going to kill me.

But Janalee just smiled sadly. ‘You’re sweet, Maggy, but Amy’s not my property. We’ll have to let her decide what she wants to do.’

I guess we did, dammit. And now that LaRoche was gone, I wondered whether she would, indeed, stay with Janalee.

‘But there is something you can do for me,’ Janalee was saying as she patted Davy on his wet butt.

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