Enchantment Lake: A Northwoods Mystery by Preus Margi

Author:Preus, Margi [Preus, Margi]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: JUV028000 Juvenile Fiction / Mysteries & Detective Stories
ISBN: 9780816683024
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Published: 2015-03-11T04:00:00+00:00

18

The County Jail

“Don’t say anything!” Francie said, rushing into the sheriff’s office.

“Oh, hello, Frenchy,” Astrid said. “Rydell, here—”

Francie turned to her aunts and tried to keep her voice steady, “Don’t tell him anything. You should have a lawyer present.”

“Now, miss,” the sheriff said, “nobody’s under arrest—yet.” He leaned back in his swivel chair. “I’m just askin’ a few questions.”

“Even so, they should have their lawyer present,” Francie said, straining to remember her lines from the show. “You can’t hold them if you aren’t going to charge them.” That wasn’t bad, Francie thought. That had been one of her lines.

“I’m sorry, but the evidence points in their direction—especially your aunt Astrid. She was found standing over the dead body of Buck Thorne holding the presumed murder weapon,” the sheriff said. “A spatula.”

“You’re saying the murder weapon was a spatula?” Francie asked.

“Well, no. But the hotdish it was in may have been.”

“What?”

“There is some evidence that Buck was poisoned.”

“Poisoned!” Francie exhaled. “Still, I hardly think that being in possession of a spatula is incriminating. Just because she’s holding a spatula doesn’t make her a murderer. It could have come from anyone’s hotdish!” Francie couldn’t believe she had just uttered that sentence, and in all seriousness. Or, in fact, that any of this was actually taking place.

The sheriff consulted a piece of paper. “We’ve got the ham and pea, the hamburger rice, the tater tot, the chicken wild rice, and that one with the potato chips on it, yet the spatula had tuna noodle on it, which is what was on Buck’s plate. The tuna noodle, that’s the one we don’t got. We sent that spatula in for testing.”

“I see. The case of the poisoned spatula,” Francie said. Man, why hadn’t she had lines like these in her show? “Don’t you ever watch crime shows?” she asked. “The person left holding the murder weapon is never the one who actually did it.”

“That’s on TV, miss,” the sheriff said, “and this is real life.”

“No, it isn’t!” Francie cried. “It can’t be! It’s too bizarre! Now, listen. Nothing my aunts say can be used against them; you realize that, right? You have to let them call their lawyer.”

“I told them they could call their lawyer. They said they’d wait for you.”

“We’ll all wait for their lawyer,” Francie said and pulled out her phone. “Auntie, who should I call?” she asked Jeannette.

“Franklin Sage, honey. He’s in the book.”

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