Just Another Maniac Monday by Jennie Marts

Author:Jennie Marts [Marts, Jennie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-06-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The next evening was the routine night of the Page Turners book club meeting, and you could guarantee not one of the members was going to miss it.

They gathered around the table in Sunny’s kitchen. Cassie and Piper wore their yoga gear, having just come from a class they were taking together at the Y.

Maggie looked fashionably sharp, still in the charcoal-gray power suit she wore to court that day. The coral blouse accented her tanned skin and her dark hair fell in shiny waves down her back. She might look like an ad for Lawyer’s Weekly, but her sharp intelligence made her a formidable foe in the courtroom.

Her sleek leather briefcase sat at her feet, and Havoc sniffed at the front pocket. As if remembering the little dog’s reputation, Maggie lifted the briefcase and set it on the counter.

Edna had brought the dog over, and it spent the last fifteen minutes chasing Sunny’s golden retriever, Beau, around the back yard. Beau now lay on the floor, his energy spent while Havoc raced around the kitchen in a frenzied attempt to sniff everything in sight.

The scent of cinnamon and vanilla filled the air as Sunny pulled a fresh batch of snickerdoodles from the oven. Using a spatula, she moved the soft, warm cookies to a cooling rack. As fast as the gals were grabbing them, she could have saved herself the step and dumped them right into the mouths of each book club member.

“So did you hear from John today?” Cassie asked Edna as she reached for a cookie.

“No, not yet. But I spent the afternoon in the attic digging through boxes and found the jewelry box that he sent me all those years ago. I never threw it away, I found it packed into a trunk of old mementos.”

Edna pulled a jewelry box from her bag and set it on the table. It was ordinary to look at it, a small wooden box that could be found at any drugstore.

Piper reached out and ran a finger down the side of the box. “What’s so special about this box?”

“I’m not sure,” Edna said. She lifted the lid to reveal a blue velvet lining. Otherwise the box was empty. “But I felt like John was trying to give me a clue last night. He said this box would give me all the answers I would need.”

“The answers to what?” Maggie asked. “How to buy a cheap jewelry box?”

“There was a note from Johnny inside of it, and all I ever cared about was reading his words. I never really gave much thought to the box itself. Maybe the answer is somehow in the box.” Edna pulled at the lining and the ancient adhesive easily gave way. She peeled it all the way back and gasped at what was underneath.

Under the lining, taped to the bottom of the box, was a flat gold key. Edna tugged at the corner of the tape, releasing the key. She held it up for the others to see.

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