Hiss Me Deadly by Miranda James

Author:Miranda James [James, Miranda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

“Can she do that?”

Sean laughed. “She could, but I think the case would be thrown out of court. We would have to prove that Threadgill set it all up with the intent to kill, or at least badly injure, the late Mr. Whitaker.”

“Did you tell her all this?” I asked, still incredulous.

“Of course I did, Dad,” Sean said. “She got huffy, and when I told her I couldn’t take on such a case, she stormed out of my office.”

“She sounds slightly off her rocker,” I said.

“She’s in shock over the sudden death of her husband,” Sean replied, a reproving note in his voice. “She’s trying to make sense of what happened, and so she’s placing the blame on Mr. Threadgill.”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that about her. The poor woman is surely distraught,” I said.

“That’s the main reason I called you,” Sean said. “I don’t know her, but if you know anything about her and who her friends are, I think you should get in touch with them and ask them to check on her. She didn’t seem stable to me.”

Most people wouldn’t have bothered with a rather far-fetched lawsuit, but my compassionate son really was worried about Natalie Whitaker. “I don’t know her myself, though I met her briefly that night,” I said. “Melba does know her, so I’ll talk to her about the situation.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Sean replied. “I have another client coming in shortly, so I’d better go.”

I picked up the office phone and punched in Melba’s extension. She answered right away. “Hi, Charlie, what’s up?”

“I need to talk to you about Natalie Whitaker. Could you come up here? It will be more private.”

“Sounds serious,” she said. “Let me put you on hold while I check with Andrea.”

Andrea Taylor was the library director, and Melba was her administrative assistant. They got on like the proverbial house afire, so I was sure she wouldn’t mind letting Melba take a few minutes to come talk to me.

“I’ll be right up,” Melba said.

Moments later I heard the clack of her heels as she hurried up the stairs. She moved quickly into my office and took her usual chair. Diesel had already jumped down from the window to sit by the chair, and Melba began rubbing his back while shooting me an interrogative glance.

“Natalie Whitaker went to see Sean this morning.” I explained what the woman wanted, and Melba frowned, her hand on Diesel’s back stilling for a moment.

“I know she blames Wil for John Earl’s death,” Melba said, resuming her strokes of the cat. “She’s obviously more distraught than I thought she’d be. Wil didn’t murder John Earl. I think she’ll realize that at some point and calm down.”

“That may take a while,” I said. “Do you know who her close friends are? Someone needs to be looking after her.”

Melba shook her head. “Natalie’s never been real friendly to anyone. I think it was because of John Earl. She was ashamed of him and didn’t want anybody around.” She paused. “I know, I’ll call her priest and talk to him.

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