Murder Strikes at Midnight by Thea Cambert

Author:Thea Cambert [Cambert, Thea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summer Prescott Books
Published: 2020-10-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Chad had called to ask for help. It seemed people were milling around restlessly in the great room as they awaited their turns to be questioned by the police, and Chad wanted to put together a snack and some kind of activity, like a game or movie, to make things as pleasant as possible.

“This is the perfect opportunity,” said Alice after rinsing her face with a quick splash of cool water and brushing her hair with the hairbrush Franny produced from her bag. “All of our suspects in the same room!”

“What if they go to bed after their turn with the police?” asked Owen. “Then we can’t keep an eye on them.”

“I already thought of that,” said Franny. “I know exactly what to do. I’m making the coffee.”

“Don’t tell me. Your red-eye, triple-strong elixir of energy?” said Alice as they locked up their rooms and walked toward the staircase.

“It’s the most popular morning drink at Joe’s,” said Franny. “Trust me, there’s no way anyone’s going to sleep after drinking it.”

“Make mine a double,” said Owen with a yawn. “Ooh! I’ll get out the leftover cake, too. That’ll be worth staying up for.”

Once the cake was cut and plated and the coffee was hot, the guests began wandering over to the serving table Chad had set up in the great room.

“Thanks for doing this,” he said, taking two cups of Franny’s coffee.

“Of course!” said Alice. “We’re glad to help.” She noticed Chad turning to walk over to Sadie with the coffee. “Uh, by the way—”

Chad turned back.

Alice lowered her voice a little. “I was wondering . . . Sadie is so nice. Such a great person. Where will she go now?”

“What do you mean?” asked Chad, a frown creasing his forehead.

“Well, she was Roz’s assistant, wasn’t she?”

Owen nodded, catching onto Alice’s line of questioning. “With Roz gone . . .” he said.

Chad looked struck. He glanced back over at Sadie. “It’s such a crazy night, I hadn’t even thought about . . .”

“The fact that she’s technically now out of a job?” Owen finished for him.

“Yeah.”

“If I were her, I’d probably move either to a place where I had family or a place where I could get another job,” said Alice.

“I’d move to wherever home was,” said Franny. “Where is Sadie from, anyway?”

“Huh?” Chad looked up and refocused. “Oh. New England. A little town on the coast.” He looked over at Sadie again, who was talking to Granny Maguire. “Man, I hope she doesn’t move back there.”

With that, he took the coffees and went to join Sadie.

“Ah-ha!” said Alice. “Did you hear that? New England coast!”

“I know exactly what you’re thinking,” said Owen. “This place.”

“This place?” said Franny, yawning.

“Franny, you need to drink a cup of that coffee,” said Owen. “I’ve never felt more awake!”

“As we were saying, this lodge is clearly influenced by the New England coast,” said Alice. “The widow’s walk. The style of the shingles. The steep-pitched roofline. The color choices. It’s like an ingenious blend of Tennessee and Connecticut.

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