Toni L.P. Kelner - Laura Fleming 05 - Tight as a Tick by Toni L.P. Kelner

Author:Toni L.P. Kelner [Kelner, Toni L.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery: Cozy - Flea Market - North Carolina
ISBN: 9781625670441
Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency
Published: 1996-01-24T01:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

With the auction going strong, everybody had gone inside except two women talking quietly at the picnic table farthest from the barn. We’d gotten paper cups of iced tea on our way out, so we picked a table and got comfortable.

It was a beautiful night, just enough cooler than it had been during the day to cover the benches and tables with dew. There were crickets chirping and lightning bugs blinking past us. Right then, I didn’t mind missing Cape Cod at all. But unlike my planned trip to Cape Cod, in Byerly I had a job to do.

“All right, Aunt Nora,” I said. “Now that I’ve got you alone, what can you tell me about the folks at the flea market?”

“Not much.”

“You’re kidding. You know everybody in Byerly.”

“The folks at the flea market aren’t from Byerly. They’re from Rocky Shoals and Hickory and Granite Falls and Con-over and who knows where.”

“I never thought of that,” I said. How in the Sam Hill was I going to find Carney’s killer without Aunt Nora’s help?

“Can’t you ask Aunt Maggie about them?” she asked.

“You know Aunt Maggie. She’s not interested in—In people the way you are.” I’d almost said gossip, but I was afraid that would sound rude. “She doesn’t know much about their personal lives. I was hoping you’d be able to fill in the gaps.”

“I’m sorry, Laurie Anne, you know I’d do anything I could to help.”

“I know you would.” It wasn’t her fault that I’d come to rely on her for information. “Are you sure you don’t know any of them? Wasn’t Carney Alexander from Byerly?”

“Nope, his people are from Wilmington, and he lived in Rocky Shoals. All I know about him is what I read in the Byerly Gazette. He was single and had an apartment over his sister’s garage. The sister was out of town when he was killed, so she’s not a suspect.”

“Is she married? Are there other brothers or sisters?”

I asked, hoping for a family squabble.

“Just the two of them, according to the paper. She’s been divorced for years, and their parents are long gone.”

At least that eliminated some possibilities. “You know the Cawthorne brothers, don’t you? You were talking about them the other night.”

“I used to know them because they grew up in Byerly, but Evan lives in Rocky Shoals now.”

“Bender may still live here, depending on where the town line is.”

“What do you want to know about them?”

“Anything you know. Aunt Maggie hasn’t mentioned either of them having a reason for wanting Carney dead, but maybe you know something she doesn’t.”

She took a sip of her iced tea. “I always felt sorry for the Cawthornes, particularly Evan. You see, they never had any money. We Burnettes never had any money either, but we always had a place to sleep, and clothes to wear, and enough food to eat. There were many times that the Cawthornes didn’t. Evan and Bender’s mama died when Bender was six or seven and Evan was two, and their daddy Russ never was the same afterward.

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