Deadly Design by Marion Moore Hill

Author:Marion Moore Hill [Hill, Marion Moore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 2009-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

On Friday, the last day of Danny’s camp, the children got to identify and date artifacts, draw sketches of a few, even cross-mend a broken saucer.

“Wow!” Millie said when he told her and Alice. “You’ve gone way beyond what I’ve done so far.”

His proud grin made her day.

Jill wasn’t home for supper, having gone as planned to eat with Chas, then to see his stonecutting handiwork. Millie had heard her on the phone Thursday, telling Luke why she couldn’t go to a movie with him tonight. From Jill’s end of the conversation, it sounded as if she’d presented her plans as payback for his spending the previous Friday evening with male friends rather than her, also that she’d embellished her interest in Chas, trying to make Luke jealous. Her sullen expression afterwards suggested he hadn’t responded as hoped.

Millie increasingly suspected Luke was much less invested in the relationship than Jill was.

Not your problem, Kirchner.

The remaining housemates celebrated the end of Danny’s program by ordering pizza and watching a DVD of a new G-rated film. Unfortunately, it proved disappointing, thin of plot and full of improbable dialogue and familiar chase scenes. Danny, Alice, and Millie groaned at clichés and hurled derogatory comments at the screen. Cynthia mostly remained quiet, distracted.

After the movie, Alice played a board game with Danny while Millie and Cynthia did clean-up. As they worked, Millie commented that Cynthia seemed troubled and asked if anything new had happened about Ted. Her friend sighed.

“Not exactly.” At Millie’s quizzical look, she went on. “That is, I’ve had a few odd messages in my inbox that are probably from him. They’re signed ‘The Once and Future.’ The sender’s I.D. comes in as TOAF, which I don’t recognize.”

“Probably stands for ‘The Once and Future.’ What kind of messages?”

“Mostly stupid questions, like, ‘Do you still eat honey on ice cream?”

“I take it you do like honey and ice cream together?”

“Sometimes, yeah.”

“Would a lot of people know that about you?”

Cynthia considered. “People I’ve grown up with or known a long time, but probably no one in Lynchburg. I don’t think I’ve eaten ice cream that way a single time since I’ve been here.”

“Hmm. I see what you mean. That’s not a detail someone could just guess about you. TOAF must be someone you know.”

“Yeah. Ted.”

* * * *

When Jill got home, Danny, Alice, and Cynthia were all in their rooms. Millie chose to read in the parlor for a change and was seated there in an easy chair when Jill bounced through the front door and into the parlor. Jill flung her purse on a table and herself onto a couch, grinning at her housemate.

“How was your evening with Chas?” Millie asked. “Have fun?”

Jill’s strident laugh rang out. “He’s such a klutz—can hardly walk for stumbling over his own feet. It’s kind of surprising, since you have to be pretty steady to cut precious stones.”

“Hmm. Chas has a shuffling gait, but I hadn’t noticed him being clumsy. Maybe he’s nervous around you.”

“He’s smitten, all right.

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