Buzz Off by Hannah Reed

Author:Hannah Reed
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Mystery And Suspense Fiction, Detective, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Mystery, Fiction - Mystery, General, Ghost, Women Sleuths, Mystery fiction, Fiction, Beekeepers
ISBN: 9780425236420
Publisher: Berkley Pub Group
Published: 2010-09-15T06:11:09.203000+00:00

Twenty

Tuesday morning the air was thick and heavy, as though a major storm was gathering, although there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The small world of Moraine had the same storm-brewing quietness and anticipation to it that I’ve sensed before on funeral days.

My friend and mentor would be buried today, and I didn’t want to accept it. For me, the worst part of a funeral service was when the casket was closed up. Every time, the finality of it hit home like a blow to my body.

I wondered about Faye, if her body had been released, and whether her family had made arrangements. And whether Clay was really guilty and how it must feel to be behind bars, locked up like an animal.

As I was getting ready to go to the market, Ray Goodwin knocked on my back door. I felt awful from lack of sleep and, I swear, I could still smell skunk. It had permeated my skin and was running rampant through my blood system. The good news was the effects of the bee stings had almost disappeared.

I went outside to greet him rather than let him inside my home.

“I heard talk about a meeting to destroy your bees,” he said, his head cranked in every direction but mine. “I don’t see ’em—did they get them after all?”

“Nobody got my bees, Ray. I moved them, since Lori was determined to get her way.”

“That’s a relief. I hope my bee stings didn’t make things worse for you?”

“The situation couldn’t have gotten any worse, but that’s Lori’s fault, not yours. Don’t worry about it.”

“Bet you’re wondering why I stopped by.”

“A little, yes.”

“Just to see how you’re doing. I know you and Manny Chapman were real close.”

“That’s nice of you. Actually, you’re just the person I need to talk to.” Ray might know something about Manny’s bees that I didn’t. He was on the road, traveling the county most of the time, and people talked at his stops. “Have a seat.” I gestured to the patio table and chairs.

Ray took a seat without sniffing the air or backing his chair away from me, so I hoped that the skunk odor was a figment of my imagination. “I said I was sorry for what I did with Kenny’s Bees,” he said. “You aren’t going to bust my chops over it again, are you?”

“No, no, I’m not still mad about finding out you were selling honey for Kenny’s Bees as long as you quit.” I didn’t mention that Queen Bee Honey might not even exist in the future.

“I haven’t been over there since our conversation.”

“Good. I need to talk to you about Manny’s bees. They’re missing, and I’m trying to locate them.”

“Did you ask Grace where they went?” Ray readjusted his ball cap.

“She said somebody named Gerald Smith picked them up.”

“Well, there you are.”

“I can’t find him in the directory, and the association never heard of him.”

“Maybe he’s from someplace else.”

“Grace said specifically he was from Manny’s bee association. Have you heard anything on your route?”

Ray looked out over my backyard toward the river, thinking.

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