Murder Between the Lines (Rooftop Garden Cozy Mysteries Book 1) by Thea Cambert

Author:Thea Cambert [Cambert, Thea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summer Prescott Books
Published: 2020-07-13T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The day before the opening of the Fall Festival was always crazy for the Main Street shopkeepers. Many of them wound down their workdays early so that they could help with setup. Under Alice’s guidance, extra swags of fall leaves were brought in and draped over doorways and around windows; hundreds of pumpkins of every shape and size were hauled in for the Trillium Street Pumpkin Palooza; food booths and extra grills were set up in and around the park; and display tables were set up and decorated along the sidewalks.

“This is wonderful, dear,” Alice’s mother said, as they stood in the middle of a sea of pumpkins. Beatrice—better known as Bea—Maguire, beamed at her daughter. “Dad and I are so proud of you.” She glanced over at Alice’s dad, Martin, who, along with Ben, was attempting to erect the giant, tiered, circular ‘pumpkin tree’ he’d designed and constructed in their backyard just around the corner on Trout-Lily Street. A mechanical whiz, Martin had designed the tree to come apart for easier hauling, and now he and Ben were assembling the large, heavy pieces, trying to get them secured.

Luke Evans came strolling up and stopped to help them—a sight which did not escape Bea. “Alice, who’s that?” she said, elbowing her daughter.

Alice looked up from her clipboard and saw Luke, then quickly pretended to be engrossed in her checklist. She knew exactly what her mother was thinking. Bea, who adored her children, was acutely aware that they were both now in their thirties, and was hoping against hope that someday, she’d have a grandchild or two. No possibly-single adult escaped her attention.

“Alice Maguire, don’t pretend to look at that list,” her mother said. “Who’s the man helping Ben and your father?”

Alice looked up as though surprised. “What? Who?”

Bea rolled her eyes.

“Oh, him? That’s the new detective down at the station. His name is Luke. Evans. Luke Evans.”

“Is he the one who questioned you about the yoga studio fire the other day?”

“Yep,” said Alice. “Day before yesterday.”

“Well? Is he nice? Is he . . . single?”

“It would appear so,” said Alice. “Although I didn’t glean a lot of details about his personal life while he was interrogating me to decide whether or not I’m a murderer.”

Bea tutted. “That sarcastic attitude is not your best quality, Alice. Besides, who could think you’re a murderer? Really,” she scoffed. “Look at you!”

“Thank you?”

“Oh, look, he’s coming this way,” said Bea. “You’ll have to introduce me.”

Alice introduced her mother to Luke. He was very polite. Bea might’ve made one small allusion to Alice not being a criminal. Alice’s face took on a lovely shade of cherry, and then they were joined by Martin and Ben.

“You’re surrounded by Maguires,” Ben laughed, slapping Luke on the back. Alice was pleased to see the friendly banter between the two of them as the family started arranging pumpkins, carving out a path through them so that people could walk around. Most of Ben’s childhood friends had moved away from Blue Valley, and other than Owen and their father, he didn’t really have many male friends.

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