Misalignment and Murder by Cathy Tully

Author:Cathy Tully [Tully, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Visions and Revisions Unlimited
Published: 2021-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

An Ungainly Ungulate

Susannah scurried out the door and ambled across the porch to the side of the building where the parking lot was. Trying for nonchalance, she tiptoed down the handicap-accessible ramp and strode through the backyard. A few trees speckled the area next to the parking lot, but the bulk of the yard was a rutted lawn and overgrown privet bushes. Past the bushes was a stand of trees that probably connected with the property behind her. The trees were so tall and numerous that anything else was hidden from view.

Susannah glanced at the house next door. The wraparound porch and railings were painted light pink, which contrasted nicely against the traditional gray of the house. A flash of movement caught her eye, and she saw a slat from a vinyl window blind drop into place. She shrugged. Was it trespassing if you were outside when you were supposed to be inside?

She secreted herself behind a dense thicket of overgrown privet, and then a sudden vibration frightened her so badly that she jumped. Lecturing herself on the adverse effects of too much caffeine, she pulled her phone from her pocket, palms sweating. This was why she disliked the sneaking-around part of being a snoop.

Her phone displayed a text from Bitsy: Where are you?

Texting with sweaty fingers took some time. After two failed attempts, she finally managed: At Cutz & Curlz. Busy now, talk to you later.

She didn’t have time to explain to Bitsy that she was traipsing around Maggie Hibbard’s overgrown yard because of her suspicion of a dupe deer. And at this point, she wasn’t sure who exactly was the dupe.

Pocketing her phone, she paused to push a branch of privet out of the way. It slapped her arm, and she tottered into a ropy-looking vine with waxy, heart-shaped leaves. It was called deer thorn by her neighbors, and she recognized it too late. The innocent-looking dark green leaf hid a nefarious stem of miniature marauding thorns. The vine immediately lassoed her ankle as if it were alive. Grateful that she had donned a pair of walking shoes with thick soles, she shook her head. What was she doing here? She had designed the office schedule so that two mornings a week, no patients were seen. This was supposed to give her time to catch up on notes and reports, not sneak off into the hinterlands of someone’s unkempt and bramble-ridden yard. She waggled her foot free and looked over her shoulder. The house next door was quiet, and she thought she heard a raucous laugh coming from Cutz & Curlz.

Angie was a people person, and Susannah wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that she was delaying her haircut by keeping Polly in stitches with some stories of her pre-Caden party life in New York City. Susannah continued on, stepping around an anthill. In the distance, a freight train rumbled. Cutz & Curlz was close enough to the railroad tracks that the train passing would cover up any noise she made examining the deer target—if she got there before it passed.

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