Death in the Garden City by Jeanne M. Dams

Author:Jeanne M. Dams [Jeanne M. Dams]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2019-08-11T23:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

I sat down on one of the hard little gold chairs. It offered little comfort, but I needed a breathing spell. My mind refused to process the news. I had cast Paul Hartford as the villain of the piece, a murderer or at least an agent provocateur. Now he himself had been murdered. Presently I could begin to think again. Just now my thinking apparatus was clearly marked Not Open for Business.

I didn’t want to go home. For one thing, it wasn’t home. None of the familiar comforts were there. No nice squishy chairs. No animals to cuddle. Most important, no Alan. I couldn’t toss ideas back and forth with him, compare notes, argue, hash out a solution. At least not until the Victoria police decided he had done all he could to help. Or maybe it was the RCMP, or whoever. The principle was the same. I was alone for a while.

But I didn’t have to be. I picked up my cell phone. ‘Amy? Oh, I’m so glad you’re home! May I come over in a few minutes? Or could you come to us? Oh, good. It’s important; I’ll explain when I see you.’

I didn’t want to tell her over the phone that her ex-husband was dead. She had despised him, but he was the father of her daughter, and some ties are never really broken.

I asked one of the departing guests how to get a taxi, sounding as English as I could. ‘Oh, my dear, you’ll have a terrible time getting one, with most of this crowd trying to do the same. We brought our car. Can we give you a lift somewhere?’

My eyes teared up. The kindness of strangers can do that to me, especially when I’m under stress anyway. ‘Oh, if you could, that would be wonderful! I’m in one of those condos just over the bridge – staying with a friend.’

Of course the woman and her husband wanted to talk about what had happened, and I had to pretend I knew nothing. Fortunately it was a short drive.

Then I remembered that Alan had the keys. I had begun to panic when Amy drove up. I went to her car. ‘I’ve stupidly locked myself out. Do you have a spare key?’

‘Of course. But where’s Alan?’

‘I’ll explain inside. These shoes are killing me.’

Well, they weren’t, but it’s an excuse any woman can use at any time. I kicked them off the minute we got inside, and gestured to the liquor cabinet. ‘I’m going to get out of these clothes. Help yourself to whatever you want. Back in a jiffy.’

I didn’t take the time for a full change, just pulled off my gorgeous dress, hung it up, and put on a robe and slippers.

Amy was sitting on the couch with an empty glass in front of her. She pointed to another. ‘I waited for you. You looked as if you could do with something yourself. Bourbon, right?’

‘Right.’ I sat down gratefully, took a swig, and took a deep breath.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.