Mishaps and Murder (A Myrtle Lake Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Constance Barker

Author:Constance Barker [Barker, Constance]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Constance Barker
Published: 2021-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

The whole crew had gathered at Ms. Cleo’s place a few hours later. Grandma and Cleo were kind of famous for their pasta and wine dinner parties in Myrtle Creek Retirement Village. They made sauce from scratch and stored it away only to bring it out for special occasions and fun get-togethers. I guess they’d decided some time that day that we all could use some delicious pasta, breadsticks, and wine.

They were right. The day had seemed to drag out and fly by all at the same time. I was exhausted and emotionally drained. Pasta was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Kurt bounded up to the sofa I was lounging on and threw himself into my lap. I made an oomph sound. Only half his body was on me and he’d nearly knocked the wind out of me. Silly, huge pup! I rubbed his head and behind his ears just like he liked it while I tried to relax a little more.

“Pasta is almost ready!” Ms. Cleo sang from the kitchen area.

No, really. She’d actually sung it out as if she were still performing on Broadway. Gotta love Ms. Cleo. She made our lives a little more colorful, that’s for sure.

When Simon came to tell me everyone was ready to eat, my eyes had begun to get heavy. So. Tired. I heaved myself off of the sofa and joined everyone in the dining room.

We all gathered around the table. Everyone was there. I glanced over at Simon and then away quickly again when he caught me staring. He shot a knowing smile in my direction.

There was a lasagna, chicken parmesan, a spaghetti aglio e olio, salad, and enough breadsticks to make me happy for a very, very long time. Wine, both red and white, was flowing freely and everyone was happily stuffing their faces.

“This is delicious, Ms. Cleo, Granda,” I said around another bite of my spaghetti.

“Thank you, darling,” Ms. Cleo said, saluting me with her wine glass. Grandma just smiled.

“So, what did Sappy have to say?” Grandma asked me from across the table. I took a sip of wine and smiled at her.

“She ran.”

The table went silent.

“She what?” Cleo asked.

“She ran,” I said. “Ask Robbie.”

Everyone turned to look at Robbie for confirmation.

“Aye. She ran like a wee hellcat, she did.”

“Why on earth?” Grandma sputtered.

“She claimed she was having a hard time processing Fritz’s death and that talking about it was too hard so she ran so she wouldn’t have to answer any painful questions,” I answered before shoving another forkful of amazing spaghetti into my mouth.

“She also claimed that the alibi issue was just because she’d mixed up her days because they’re all pretty much the same. She mentioned she’s on anti-anxiety pills too.”

The table took that in.

“She also has one of Fritz’s wee beasties in her living room,” Robbie added in.

“Is that suspicious?” Simon asked.

“It is if you consider the fact that Fritz never sold nor gave any of those ugly statues away,” Robbie said with a shrug.

“Sappy is doing too many contradictory things, she’s definitely still a suspect,” Grandma said firmly.

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