Arsonist and Lace: A Garden Girls Cozy Mystery (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Series Book 19) by Hope Callaghan

Author:Hope Callaghan [Callaghan, Hope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Lucy craned her neck, studying the contents of the can. “You found empty wrappers?”

“Empty food wrappers, at least they look like empty food wrappers.” Gloria fumbled in her jacket pocket, pulled out her driving gloves and tugged them on before reaching into the garbage and retrieving a wadded up wrapper.

“Let’s see what we have.” Gloria gently peeled the wrappers apart. “These look like wrappers from the Quik-Stop’s meat counter.” She flipped one over and peered at the sticker on the back. “It is. Roast beef if I had to guess. This is our first clue that someone was in here recently. What if Molly and Kevin managed to get food from the Quik-Stop and they brought it here?”

“And paid for it with magic beans?” Lucy asked. “Maybe one of the school district’s maintenance people was here checking on the place, brought some food with them and then tossed the wrappers in the trash.”

“Or maybe Brian throws out expired food products from the store. The homeless couple was searching for something to eat and found this in the trash.” Gloria snapped her fingers. “Is there a dumpster behind the Quik-Stop?”

“I’ve never noticed.”

“We need to find out.” She shook the wrappers. “We can swing by the store to check on Margaret. While we’re there, we’ll check to see if there’s a dumpster behind the Quik-Stop.” Gloria carefully folded the empty food wrappers and then stared at Lucy expectantly.

“What?” Lucy asked.

“Ditch the brush.”

“You want me to get rid of our only weapon?”

“It’s not a weapon. It’s a nasty old toilet bowl brush and it’s giving you a false sense of security. You’re better off having both hands free in the event of an emergency, like having to run.”

“All right.” Lucy scowled at her friend and tossed the brush into the can. “Let it be known that henceforth, I will be bringing at least one suitable weapon with me, possibly two since you don’t bring one.”

“Duly noted.” Gloria replaced the lid on the trash. “It’s time to check the rest of the school.”

The women exited the cafeteria and stepped into the cavernous gymnasium. Gloria’s wet boots squeaked on the gymnasium floor as they crossed to the other side.

“Isn’t the teacher’s lounge down there?” Lucy pointed to another set of steps.

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Let’s go check it out.” Gloria picked up the pace as she crossed the open room.

Similar to the bathroom and school cafeteria, the teacher’s lounge was also partially below grade. There were no windows to give off light and the room was pitch black.

“Do you have your phone?”

“Yeah.” Lucy reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone and switched on the flashlight. She shined the bright light into the murky darkness. “This place is creepier than the bathroom and cafeteria, if that’s possible.”

Gloria took a tentative step down. At the other end of the narrow room were two gray filing cabinets. Next to the filing cabinets was a printer stand. Closer to the entrance was a round table and several chairs.

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