Dead Man's Leap by Tina deBellegarde

Author:Tina deBellegarde [Tina deBellegarde]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Level Best Books
Published: 2022-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

When Claire approached, Bianca knew she was in for an ear-bending. But Claire was harmless. She merely liked to talk and she liked the attention it brought her to have new information first, often before the Gazette.

Unfortunately, her tongue could be sharp. In an attempt to get the gossip out, she sometimes forgot to filter herself, to make sure she wasn’t speaking too soon or too frankly. Bianca remembered how often Claire had disparaged Trevor Streat and his mother Rebecca last winter. Nothing she had said was a lie, it was just hurtful.

Then there was another side to her. She cared for Bert Henderson. She cooked for him twice a week since his wife left him. She baked and cooked for every fundraiser in the village. She volunteered on ACE, the Alliance for Community Engagement, and offered countless hours helping others. She was both a busy body and a selfless village member. Here at the evacuation center, she had worked tirelessly making meals since she arrived.

Claire had a garbage bag in her hand and fell in step with Bianca, picking up and discarding after the last meal. “What a couple of days. I thought last winter was bad. But this antique dealer showing up dead takes the cake. Why did he come to our town to die?”

“Claire, I don’t suspect he planned it that way.”

“You sure? I heard he had a valuable antique on him. What if he was murdered for it? City people are always disrupting things around here.”

Bianca stopped in her tracks and looked up at her neighbor.

“I beg your pardon.”

“What? You have to admit, even you get yourself into scrapes. I mean look what happened last winter. You ended up with a bullet in your leg.”

“It wasn’t in my leg, it was my arm. My leg was broken from the fall.”

“Well, in all my years in Batavia-on-Hudson, I never once got a bullet anywhere.”

“I wasn’t looking for it, I have to tell you. I intend for it to be my last bullet, too, don’t worry.” Bianca avoided saying so, but she wondered how Claire knew about the netsuké. It wasn’t exactly top secret, but still.

“On top of everything there’s the other mystery,” Claire said.

Bianca struggled to keep her face neutral. Do not let on what you know, Bianca. How is Mike ever going to keep confiding in you if you talk too much?

“I don’t like to gossip, but Kurt said they found some old bones down below Dead Man’s Leap. Haven’t you heard? Looks like we might have two murders on our hands. Things used to be so quiet around here until strangers started showing up.”

“Do I have to remind you that it was a local who was the culprit last time, not me? Not any city folks either? She was a local who killed two locals. Sounds to me like there are plenty of Batavians disturbing the peace around here.”

Bianca turned to see how her words landed. Claire didn’t seem the least bit contrite or defeated by the exchange.

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