Piers, Pliers and Problems (Sapphire Beach Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by Angela K. Ryan

Author:Angela K. Ryan [Ryan, Angela K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Paul Publishing
Published: 2019-09-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Around mid-morning on Friday, Connie and Grace had just taken down the “Fourth of July Sale” signs and gotten the store back in order from the activities of the previous day when Gertrude popped in for an unexpected visit.

Gertrude dropped her purse onto the table and Connie went over to greet her. But before Connie could open her mouth, Gertrude gripped Connie’s forearm and blurted out, “You aren’t going to believe what happened.”

“Hello, Gertrude. What a pleasant surprise,” Grace said, joining the two women. “Can I get you an iced tea?”

Gertrude shook her head back and forth. “No, thank you. I just came by to tell you the news in person.”

Connie led her to the sofa, and she and Grace took the two armchairs facing Gertrude.

Grace tried to make small talk about the fireworks the night before, but Gertrude wanted no part of that. She looked like a woman on a mission.

“It’s Jerry,” she said. “He died Tuesday morning.”

“Jerry Morrison?” Grace asked with wide eyes.

“From my jewelry-making class?” Connie echoed. As far as she knew he wasn’t sick, and she hadn’t heard about anything on the news about a fatal accident lately. Of course, she had been quite absorbed in work the past few days. But still. Josh or Zach would have mentioned it last night. Wouldn’t they?

“Yes, some of our neighbors were talking about it in the lobby of Palm Paradise. They informed me that his wake is tonight at Anderson-Bradley Funeral Home. Elyse and I are planning to pay our respects. She sold Jerry and Liz their condo several years ago. You’re welcome to come with us if you’d like.”

Connie placed her hand on top of her head and struggled to process the information. “I don’t understand. I just talked to him on Monday night.” She remembered how peculiarly he was acting and wondered if there was a connection between his abrupt behavior and a possible health condition. Sometimes people got short-tempered when they were ill. “He didn’t seem sick at all. Do you know how he died?”

Gertrude shrugged her shoulders. “They didn’t say. I just caught the tail end of the conversation and got the information about his services.”

“It could have been a massive heart attack, or an aneurism or something like that,” Grace said. “That’s usually how people die unexpectedly. Unless of course drugs were involved. That could explain his inconsistent behavior,” she added.

“I guess it could be any of those things,” Connie said. Then, turning to Elyse and Gertrude, she added, “I’d like to come to the wake with you since Jerry was my student. I only met him a couple of times, but I’d like to offer my condolences to Liz and tell her about the necklace he was making for her.”

“I’ll cover the store for you,” Grace said. “Please offer Liz my sympathies and explain why I couldn’t be there.”

“Grace, the funeral home is just a few minutes away. Since they were your neighbors, why don’t you close the shop for a

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