Mrs. Carlyle's Second Honeymoon by L.K. Campbell

Author:L.K. Campbell [Campbell, L.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Women Sleuths, business women, mystery short, mystery cozy, mystery murder, mystery family, widow heroine
Publisher: L.K. Campbell
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Celeste looked out through the bi-fold doors that covered the kitchen pass-through window. Hotel guests were meandering into the café for breakfast, and she slid the doors further apart to check the buffet trays.

“Henrietta, we’re going to need more scrambled eggs,” she said.

“On the way,” Henrietta said.

“I hope Emma is doing okay,” Celeste said to Abby.

“You’re a good person for caring about that young woman,” Abby said. “But she’s essentially a stranger to you. Are you taking on too much?”

The memory of Roger Carlyle’s words struck a chord with Celeste.

“Maybe I feel a kinship with her because of our shared experience.”

“Howard died under entirely different circumstances,” Abby said.

“I was speaking of her first husband’s accidental death. It opened some unhealed wounds for me.”

“I thought you’d been doing a good job of healing and accepting what happened to Howard,” Abby said.

“Oh, Abby, sometimes that’s just a face I wear for the benefit of other people. I’ll never fully get over what happened to him or the unfairness of it. We were finally our own bosses and living a good life. Then, in an instant, he was gone.”

“Eggs are ready,” Henrietta said.

Celeste grabbed a platter and a spatula and turned to the stove. Abby stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders.

“If Mr. Carlyle’s death was murder, who else but Emma would’ve had the opportunity to do it?” Abby asked.

Abby followed her to the buffet table, and Celeste related how the suite had been searched and where she’d found the missing keycard.

“So it could’ve been anyone…well, not anyone.” Abby cringed. “One of his children?”

“I’d be more likely to suspect one of the not-so-happy wives of Wes’s sons,” Celeste said. “Those women have issues. And then there’s Bill. He’s been sneaking around the hotel all weekend.”

Abby gave her one of those Where’s your tinfoil hat? eye rolls.

“Celeste, you can’t possibly think that your PR man had anything to do with Mr. Carlyle’s death.”

“Abby, I’ve learned that he has connections to the family starting with the fact that he and Emma graduated from ASU in the same class and apparently, worked for the same company before Bill struck out on his own. Emma confessed to me last night that it was Bill who suggested she have her wedding here. It had nothing to do with his brilliant, social media ad campaigns.”

Abby straightened and rested her hands on her hips. “So he arranged this whole wedding to murder her husband? Come on, Celeste. You watch too many of those old Perry Mason episodes or maybe it’s the puzzles. You always loved working puzzles.”

“Puzzles keep your mind sharp. I had a grandmother who lived to ninety and never lost her cognitive abilities because she worked puzzles every day. Anyway, I didn’t say that Bill murdered anyone, but there’s something else.” She ushered Abby into the kitchen and moved away from Henrietta’s earshot. “I feel like I’m telling tales in junior high school, but I saw Bill kissing Alan’s wife, Kylie, and she worked for her father-in-law.”

Her friend’s eyes widened.

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.