Trial by Twelve by Heather Day Gilbert

Author:Heather Day Gilbert [Gilbert, Heather Day]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy, Christian, mountains, psychological, Women Sleuth, West Virginia, Amateur Sleuth
Publisher: WoodHaven Press
Published: 2015-05-20T04:00:00+00:00

WHEN CHARLOTTE ARRIVES, bearing homemade split pea soup and bread for me, I recognize the poorly-hidden look of despair on her face. She’s been cooking up a storm to escape The Haven.

“Miranda okay?” I ask.

Her smile wavers and crumples. “She’s not good. Caught some kind of bug and the coughing wracks her entire body.”

I picture Miranda, sitting like a queen, white hair perfectly coiffed, hosting a catered dinner at her dining room table for Paul Campbell and me. How could that have been less than two years ago?

“I’ll come visit her tomorrow, okay?”

“Sounds good.” She sniffs the roses. “Gorgeous. I have a delicate pink vase I glazed that these would look great in.”

“Feel free to bring it by for display and throw in some of your business cards too, potter-girl. The flowers are from Axel.”

“How do I always miss seeing him? He’s very mysterious.”

“Ain’t that the truth? This soup is making my mouth water. Want to eat outside?”

As we knock stray leaves off the patio table, it dawns on me that we can’t eat out here, so close to the ferny woods. We’re easy targets if a crazed bowhunter wants to take a shot from some hidden lair.

I pick up the thermos of soup. “We actually need to eat inside. I forgot.”

Charlotte’s gaze follows mine to the woods. “Oh, right. Killer on the loose and all that. No problem.”

In a flash of déjà vu, Teeny comes out, looking like he plans to join us. Thankfully, Dani is close behind him, toting her earth-friendly paper bag lunch. “Lunchtime? Hi, Charlotte.”

“We were going back inside to be safe,” I say.

Teeny maneuvers his large frame into a smaller chair, balancing a smelly burrito on a paper towel on his knee. “No one will kill us when we’re all out here.”

I’m not so confident about safety in numbers with a bowhunter, but I might get some information from this captive audience. Sadly, all I know about the killer is a big fat “not much.” The fact that those first victims were from California niggles at me, because I know Dani used to live there. But the first victim was in the 1980s and she would have been young.

“Teeny and I were talking about hunting this morning,” I say.

Charlotte tilts her face toward me, recognizing my probing tone.

“Did you ever go hunting, Dani? Back in your Marine days, I mean.”

Teeny jerks his head up, half-chewed burrito in his gaping mouth. “You were a Marine?”

Dani crosses her legs, her ivory suede heels creating a lean line with her pale blue pants. “As I said, those times are behind me.”

I smile. “Sorry. Just trying to get to know each other. I’m an only child and so is Charlotte. What about you all?”

“Me too,” Teeny says around a mouthful. Charlotte turns her head, unwilling to face the grossness.

“I have a couple sisters,” Dani says. “They’re in Oregon.”

The patio door opens and we all jump, since we’re not expecting any clients. Byron walks out in all his mismatched, nerd-chic glory.

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