Three Widows and a Corpse by Debra Sennefelder

Author:Debra Sennefelder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2019-09-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Hope placed her order for a large hazelnut coffee sans the cinnamon roll. Maurice’s death and the cryptic message scrawled on her garage door had made for a restless night’s sleep and a major loss of appetite. Waiting, she checked her phone and found several messages. The editor of The Sweet Taste of Success cookbook, a representative from a spice brand she’d been trying to connect with, and one from May at Cooking Now were among the emails.

She slipped her phone back into her purse and reached for her coffee. While she wasn’t hungry, she was desperate for caffeine and expected to be consuming a large amount to get through the day. As she turned to join Jane at a table, Hope bumped into Norrie Jennings.

“Just the person I want to talk to. My sources tell me you spoke with Maurice early yesterday. What did you two talk about?”

Not much of a greeting. A good morning would’ve been nice.

“No comment.” Hope sidestepped around the pestering journalist.

“Any idea who vandalized your house last night? The message seems to show you’ve become involved with something. Is it the murder investigation of Lionel Whitcomb? What has Elaine said about the other two Mrs. Whitcombs?” Norrie followed Hope.

The rapid-fire questions dizzied Hope. After all, she was running on only a few hours’ sleep. She halted and turned to face Norrie.

The sometimes-innocent-girl-next-door look Norrie flashed for the world when it was convenient for her vanished. In its place was the cold, hard stare of a determined reporter.

“Again, no comment.” Hope continued to the table but heard Norrie grumble before she exited The Coffee Clique. “Good morning.” Hope set down her coffee and sat across from Jane.

“She’s persistent.” Jane directed her attention back to Hope. “You’ve been holding out on me.” Her bright pink lips pursed and her hooded eyes, swept over with pale blue eyeshadow, narrowed on Hope.

Hope lowered her gaze to avoid the disapproving look. She took a long drink of her coffee. Her third so far. She’d consumed the first two between feeding her chickens and giving a report to a police officer about the vandalism. Because of Maurice’s death, she’d waited until the morning to call to report the incident. The police had more important things to deal with than graffiti last night. She also wanted to delay the lecture she was sure Ethan would give her. She took another drink of her coffee.

Jane called in the middle of the officer’s visit and Hope filled her in on the cryptic message. She also gave her a quick recap of her conversation with Maurice.

“Yesterday I was so busy. I intended to tell you all about what Maurice said. Which wasn’t much. He never saw the person Lionel was talking to. And he wasn’t certain it was Lionel he saw, but the timing suggested it was.”

“It appears the killer didn’t know that. Otherwise, why kill Maurice?” Jane broke apart the chocolate chip scone in front her. Her mint-green tunic brightened her face, and she wore her favorite pearl-stud earrings.

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