It's Murder Dontcha Know by Jeanne Cooney

Author:Jeanne Cooney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Monday morning Rose and I arrived at the café right after eight. Erin was already there. Grace had called us in because Allie was home sick and Tweety was a no-show.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I cautioned my sister as she folded omelets on the grill. “Remember, Tweety skips work all the time.”

“This feels different.”

“Of course it’s different. She was furious with us when she left here Saturday afternoon.”

Grace glanced at Rose, and I answered the question my sister, the person who knew me best, didn’t even have to ask. “I gave Rose the lowdown on our visit to Tweety’s place, and I filled her in on Karl’s suspicions regarding Will. But Erin still doesn’t know about either. I’m not sure how much more she can handle.”

Grace nodded understanding before returning to the matter of her missing waitress. “She won’t answer her phone. I even went upstairs and pounded on the door but nothing.”

“Did you…?” Again, finishing wasn’t necessary.

“I decided I better not make a habit of that, Doris. But I talked to Berta.” She bobbed her head toward the front of the café, where Berta and her minions no doubt sat in the corner booth. “She hasn’t spoken to Tweety in a couple days. I phoned Karl and asked him to check with Deputy Monson. Ed hasn’t seen her since Saturday night. So I requested a welfare check, although Karl wondered if I might be jumping the gun.”

“He refused to do it?” Rose had settled on the wooden chair next to the back door, where she switched her snow boots for a pair of thick-soled walking shoes.

“No, he came by for the key to her apartment about five minutes ago. He’s up there now.”

“You mean he’s here, in the building?” My voice was chock-full of venom.

“I’m mad at him, too. I can’t believe he’d suspect Erin or Will of anything criminal. But what else could I do?”

Erin peered through the pass-through window and whistled to get our attention. “Can I get some help out here in the dining room?”

“Yah, for sure,” Rose replied. “Put a stool behind the counter, and I’ll take care of the till.” She toddled toward the swinging doors. With her white hair and Kelly-green sweatsuit, she reminded me of an elderly leprechaun. “I’ll handle the coffee for the crew at the counter, too.” She raised her voice, clearly intending for everyone to hear her. “But I won’t take any guff from Ole.” That got a lot of folks laughing.

“Erin, here’s your omelet order.” Grace stepped past me with a plate of food that was ripe with the scent of onions and peppers. “Hash browns, bacon, and wheat toast on the side.”

My stomach growled an order of its own, and I obeyed by snatching two pieces of crispy bacon from the paper towel on the counter while en route to Rose’s vacated chair.

At the same time, the sheriff banged through the back door and almost knocked me over. Either he didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Well?” Grace posed as he lumbered her way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.