Death By Ice Cream by Rebecca M. Douglass

Author:Rebecca M. Douglass [Douglass, Rebecca M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-07T11:10:17+00:00

“I’ll see what I can manage,” she agreed, though I could tell she didn’t want to.

“Thanks. I know you’re busy.”

Her laugh sounded a little strained. “You must be about the only one. Most people think I’m just at home all day, eating chocolates and watching the soaps or something. They have no idea—”

I cut her off, not that I was unsympathetic. But I had to ask my question and get back to work. “Uh, Maddy? I’ve been working over the books—”

She cut me off. “I know. They’re a mess, and you know as well as I do that Letitia used that as a reason to tell me I was no accountant, which is true, and to suggest that I was stealing, which I certainly never did.”

Startled, I asked, “Did she really? Flat-out accuse you, I mean?”

“Yeah. The—never mind. Mustn’t speak ill of the dead, you know.” Her laughter this time was more than a little forced.

“And I suppose Ron Karlson has been all over you asking about it all, too.”

A hint of frost marked her monosyllabic reply. “Yes.”

I tried to make it sound like I was sympathizing over something we’d both been through, while I sought fruitlessly for a way to raise the question I needed answered. “Me too. He’s probably asking everyone who knew her. I had to tell him where I was all Thursday and why everyone was annoyed with her.”

I thought it was pretty smooth, but Maddy didn’t agree.

“If you want to know what I told the police, you can ask Chief Karlson.” The frost was more than a touch now, and I didn’t know what to think. Maddy went on, and cleared that up for me. “If you think I killed Letitia, that’s your business, JJ. But I’m not going to stand here and let you play sleuth with me. If Chief Karlson wants you to do his dirty work for him, he can think again. I hear you have retained a lawyer.”

That again. I was going to have to publicize my impending divorce just to keep people from assuming I’d killed Letitia LeMoine and expected to be arrested. I hated the thought of the inevitable humiliation, given the reactions I’d gotten so far.

“Ron didn’t ask me to do anything,” I said. “And the lawyer’s not—”

She cut me off before I could explain. “Then you’re just prying for your own amusement?” Her words dripped ice now. “JJ, you need to butt out. I’ll tell you once, and you can remember it: I didn’t kill the woman. And I won’t let you play at Miss Marple with me.”

Miss Marple? That stung. I started to say, “The computer,” but Maddy wasn’t finished.

“So just go play with your Yearbook and leave me alone, please.”

Even when giving someone the bum’s rush, Maddy couldn’t help saying “please.” I took a breath to say something—maybe even an apology—but I heard a crash as she hung up her phone with vigor, a little-considered advantage of an old-style landline. The conversation was over, and I had a feeling we wouldn’t be getting any Yearbook help from Maddy.

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