Josephine West & the Unexpected Corpse: The Carmel-By-the-Sea Mysteries (The Josephine West 1920s Mysteries) by Beth Byers & Ann Warren

Author:Beth Byers & Ann Warren [Byers, Beth & Warren, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Josephine thought that Betsy could have been by the drugstore for any number of reasons. But James was a big man and Betsy was very pregnant, very thin, and much smaller. There was no way that Betsy had killed and moved James by herself.

Josephine was sure that Edward thought the same thing. He wanted to know how Betsy got to the drugstore as well as see who drove Betsy to the station. He probably wanted to see if he could scare her into confessing to an accomplice.

Maybe they’d go easy on a battered woman and hang her…her what? Her boyfriend? Was Edward trying to protect Josephine from a partner of Betsy’s?

James Bagget had seen the deliveryman before he died. There had been broken glass and evidence of spilled cola, which meant that the deliveryman had come before James had died. Otherwise the shelves would have been emptier. Josephine knew where the bottling company was, and it would be a fun ride out of town. She’d get some fresh air and she’d find out who the deliveryman was.

She’d taken some time to decide what to do and some time watching the ocean and ensuring that this was the right choice. She had stayed on her shelf for so long… maybe she was making a mistake. She wasn’t sure she could get back on it once she broke free.

Rather than going straight to the bottling company, she cycled past her house. It was bigger than a young couple needed. Three bedrooms and a bathroom. A big parlor and an office for William. There had been a large backyard and they’d put out a table where she liked to sit and read. On the cooler days she’d wrap up in an afghan and a sweater, but she’d stay in the sun.

William had painted the house yellow for her because she loved the sun. Honestly, she’d have preferred a white house with black shutters. She’d rather have had a large front porch where she could put rocking chairs. She’d have planted red and pink flowers that would stand out against the white and black of the house.

He hadn’t asked her, however, and though she had loved living in the house with him, she had been disappointed. He had left every day after their honeymoon, and she’d been left in the house that he hadn’t asked her opinion on.

How spoiled was she that she had been frustrated by that? How spoiled was she now that when she looked at the safe house he’d provided for their family, what she remembered first was how he’d bought the house and its contents without her.

Shockingly, she realized she was thinking badly of William, something she had rarely done since the news of his disappearance.

She left the house without passing the edge of the grass and cycled towards the bottling plant instead. Which, it seemed, was enough time for Edward to finish his interview as he pulled alongside her.

“Do I need to ask what you’re doing out here?” he asked, slowing the car to match pace with her bicycle.

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