Star Spangled Murder by Leslie Meier

Author:Leslie Meier [Meier, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9780758275417
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2004-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Despite the comforting food, Toby’s absence cast a shadow of tension over the meal. Bill reported that the boat was sitting in its berth but he’d found no sign of Toby. He’d even checked the Bilge, where the fishermen hung out, but nobody there knew his whereabouts. Or if they did, they weren’t telling.

Elizabeth took the news of the deaths coolly. She only considered things that directly affected her as real tragedies, like a late paycheck at the inn or getting her period early or discovering a big, ugly zit on her chin. Those were real disasters.

The younger girls, too, had little sympathy for the neighbor.

“Mrs. Pratt was mean to animals,” said Zoe, spearing a noodle with her fork.

“She mistreated those chickens, you know,” said Sara. “I think poor Kudo was only trying to liberate the chickens from their terrible conditions.”

Lucy’s and Bill’s eyes met across the table.

“We all loved Kudo. . . .”

“Not me,” insisted Elizabeth.

“As I was saying, I understand you want to remember the good things about Kudo, and there were lots of good things . . .”

Elizabeth snorted.

“. . . but to him those chickens were an irresistible combination of fun and food,” said Bill, finishing her sentence.

“Mrs. Pratt may have had her faults, but I think she took pretty good care of her chickens. She was always winning blue ribbons at the fair. She must have known what she was doing.”

“That’s not true!” exclaimed Sara. “You should have seen it. The chickens were in a little tiny space and there was tons of poop and they’d step right in it. It was disgusting! They’d even poop in their water dish.”

“Well, that’s chickens for you,” said Bill.

“They’re not the cleanest, or the brightest creatures on this good earth.”

“That’s no excuse to treat them badly!” exclaimed Sara.

“There were no toys, Mom,” said Zoe. “Chickens can’t read, they can’t watch TV, so what are they supposed to do all day if they don’t have any toys? Poor things. They must have been awfully bored.”

Lucy was beginning to wonder if Zoe was getting the wrong idea about animals at Friends of Animals day camp. “As much as we love our pets, they’re not people, you know. Animals are pretty much happy just being, they don’t need to be entertained.”

“Mrs. Pratt wasn’t just mean to the chickens,” said Sara. “She was mean to her own son.”

Now this was interesting, thought Lucy. “How so?”

“We saw her yelling at him. Telling him he was a piece of . . . well, a lot of bad things. Worthless. Stupid. Lazy.”

“You heard her say these things?” asked Bill.

“She was yelling. We couldn’t help it,” said Sara, self-righteously.

“You wouldn’t have heard if you hadn’t been snooping around,” Lucy reminded her. “Mrs. Pratt didn’t know she was being overheard.”

“Mom, you always say we should be as polite to each other at home as we’d be if we were visiting friends,” said Zoe. “Mrs. Pratt was not polite to Wesley.”

“Maybe he did something very wrong and that’s why she was mad at him,” said Lucy.

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