Toni L.P. Kelner - Laura Fleming 01 - Down Home Murder by Toni L.P. Kelner

Author:Toni L.P. Kelner [Kelner, Toni L.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery: Cozy - Family Patriarch - North Carolina
ISBN: 9781625670403
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing
Published: 1993-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

It was well after midnight before Richard and I got to bed, but we made up for it by sleeping until ten o’clock the next morning. By the time we made it out of the bedroom, the house was empty, other than a note from Aunt Maggie saying that she had gone out. We had picked up cereal and milk at the store the previous night, and we took our time eating breakfast as we read the newspaper. I checked for more news about Melanie Wilson, but there was only a brief mention that the investigation was continuing.

“What do you want to do today?” Richard asked once we had washed our bowls and spoons.

“I’m supposed to meet Aunt Daphine for lunch at one, but that’s all we’ve got planned so far.” I considered the possibilities. “I think our first stop should be the mill.”

“Are you sure you want to go there?”

“I don’t want to, but I feel like I need to. It’s been a while since I’ve been inside the mill, and I don’t have a clear picture in my head of where it happened.”

We showered and dressed, and drove to the mill. After we got through the main gate, I pulled over to the security booth.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” the guard asked.

“Could you tell me if either Davy Sanders or Ralph Stewart are working today?”

“I’m Ralph Stewart.”

“I’m Laura Fleming, Ellis Burnette’s granddaughter. This is my husband, Richard. If you don’t mind, we’d like to talk to you about his accident.”

He looked nervously toward the front of the mill where Burt Walters’s office was. “I don’t know…. I better not without Mr. Walters’s say-so.”

“Then we’ll go see Mr. Walters,” I said. Stewart directed me toward the visitor’s parking lot, and retreated into the booth.

I checked with the woman at the information desk to make sure Walters’s office was still on the fourth floor, and we rode the elevator up. The first thing I saw was a bolt of faded blue gingham in a glass case with a sign identifying it as the first woven at Walters Mill. The second was a sharp-faced secretary with arched eyebrows and a seemingly permanent frown. Her desk was placed directly in front of a door with a brass plate that read “Burt Walters, Chief Executive Officer.”

“May I help you?” she asked stiffly.

“I’d like to see Mr. Walters. I’m Laura Fleming, Ellis Burnette’s granddaughter. This is my husband, Richard.”

The receptionist peered at the calendar on her desk. “Did you have an appointment?”

“No, but it shouldn’t take but a minute.”

Her frown deepened. “And may I ask what this pertains to?”

“I’d like to talk to the security guard who found my grandfather, and to go see where he was found.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

I guess Richard saw the steam starting to come out of my ears, because he said, “You can tell Mr. Walters that we wanted to investigate further before we decide what legal steps to take.”

The secretary’s frown turned into a straight line. “Legal steps? Just a moment.

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