Dead Before Dinner (A Maddie Swallows Mystery Book 1) by Bellemore Kat

Author:Bellemore, Kat [Bellemore, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KB Press
Published: 2022-07-31T06:00:00+00:00

12

It had been two days since my illuminating conversation with Katie. Two days I hadn’t had time to go snooping around town playing detective, because I’d been too busy preparing the office for patients. And two days since I’d realized that maybe I didn’t need to pretend I could solve Mrs. Bailey’s murder. At this point, everyone seemed guilty to me, and in the time I’d spent getting everything lined up at the office, nothing bad had happened. No one had been falsely accused. The sheriff seemed to be taking her time, getting all the facts.

Of course, that was part of the problem—the facts.

I’d overheard several people say the sheriff would never get anyone to admit to anything, not when no one had wanted her there in the first place. Debbie herself had confided things to me that she hadn’t told the sheriff.

But I didn’t have time for all of that—extracting information from unsuspecting folks around town, all in the name of the better good.

Instead, I was currently covered in paint and wishing I had worn different shoes.

“Thanks for letting me drag them along,” I told Trish. “The kids don’t get enough practice with manual labor.” I said this even as Flash groaned, dramatically cradling his left arm.

“It hurts. I think it’s broken.”

“You’ve been painting the wall for twenty minutes. I think you’ll survive.”

Flash turned up the panic a couple of notches. “No, really, I think I did something to it. I need a brace. And rest. And—”

“A computer?” I finished for him.

His cheeks darkened. “You don’t know what it’s like to miss a competition. I’m supposed to be there. Right now. I’m one of the biggest names attached to it, and my reputation is going to take a hit. They’re going to think I somehow cheated on my other competitions, and now I’ve escaped with my earnings while I had the chance.”

I rested my own paintbrush on the tray, amused. “You don’t think they’ll just assume you were busy?”

“Not for this one. It’s the second biggest event of the year. Mom, I have to be there. My entire future is at stake.”

Flash sounded so desperate, his eyes pleading, nearly in tears.

I couldn’t hold out. It wasn’t like he was making much progress on the wall he was supposedly working on anyway.

“Fine,” I said, releasing a sigh. “But if I let you go, you have kitty litter duty for the next three weeks.”

“Deal.”

“And trash duty.”

“Fine,” he said quickly.

Wow, I could really get him to agree to anything right now. This was fun.

“And—”

Flash seemed to have caught on because he held up a hand. “Kitty litter and trash. That’s it.” And then he grabbed his jacket and ran out the door. Even though he was joining the competition late, I had no doubt he would win.

Which begged the question, what was he doing with all his earnings? I’d never opened a bank account for him, which wasn’t a bad idea now that I’d thought of it, and there hadn’t been any mysterious packages showing up on the doorstep.

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