Rosemary Remembered - China Bayles 04 by Susan Wittig Albert

Author:Susan Wittig Albert [Albert, Susan Wittig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9780425154052
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Published: 1996-07-30T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.

William Shakespeare Henry IV, Part I

"Brian might not even be safe at the shop," Sheila said, after I'd sent the boy upstairs to get dressed and related Jacoby's threat. "The guy sounds dangerous."

"I don't have a lot of options," I said, getting out the pancake mix. We have scratch pancakes on weekends; today was the utility version. I thought about the woman Jacoby had knifed in New Braunfels, and shivered.

Sheila took her bowl to the sink and rinsed it out. "How about if I take Brian to the campus? I can't do it tomorrow, because I have to go to Austin. But today would be fine."

"I can't ask you to take the responsibility." I added milk to the mix, broke in an egg, and began to beat it as if I were whipping up on Jake Jacoby. We might be in the middle of a crisis, but there would be pancakes.

"Why can't you?" She grinned. "If the kid gets in my face, I'll stick him with Maxine Marney, one of our patrol officers. She's a weight-lifting champion. Brian steps out of line, Maxine will settle his hash. And pity poor Jacoby, if he tries to muscle in on her territory. She's probably more dangerous than he is."

Maxine Marney had given me a ticket and a lecture when I'd failed to yield to a pedestrian on a campus street. I still remembered those steely eyes. "That might work," I said.

She went to the door and raised her voice. "Get into those clothes on the double, kid. You're going to the campus cop shop."

I heard a muffled "Oh, boy!" I wiped my hands on my cutoffs and gave her a grateful look. "I don't know how to-"

"Then don't." She paused, watching me, hands on her slender hips. "Maybe you ought to blow off the shop today, too, China. If Jacoby can't get Brian, he might settle for you." She shook her head, frowning. "But if Jacoby killed Rosemary, how come Jeff Clark's prints were on the gun?"

"It's a mystery to me," I said, pouring puddles of batter onto the hot skillet. "Actually, I was thinking of letting Laurel handle the shop today. Somebody ought to check Robbins out, and his sister, too. I also thought of going up to the Springs to talk to Lily."

Sheila's mouth quirked. "You can't leave it to the cops, can you?"

"I have left it to the cops," I replied, and reached in the drawer for the pancake turner. "But it won't hurt to sniff around a little and see if they missed something."

After Brian finished eating, he bounced out to Sheila's car and they drove off. I called Laurel and asked her to take charge of the shop. It was a good time to take off for a day or two, with the herb conference over and the air conditioner problem solved. Then, with Jacoby's threat still ringing in my ears, I phoned the Adams County sheriff’s office.

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