Murder Has a Sweet Tooth - By Miranda Bliss Page 0,43

class on Tuesday nights and Vickie was supposed to be with you. But I bet she had excuses, right? She didn’t feel well. She was busy. Once, I can see, and you’d never question it. Twice, it happens, and you offer to help out if she’s so overwhelmed she can’t take care of things by herself. But I think after three times, her friends would start asking questions.”

“Hurry up with that broom, Celia!” Glynis called from the great room. It was a perfect excuse for Celia to cut and run, and cut and run she did. I was left with unanswered questions.

Of course, I had every intention of finding out more before I left there that night.

With that in mind, I had just stepped out of the kitchen door when I ran smack into Edward Monroe. Good thing I had that roll of paper towels clutched to my chest. It cushioned the blow.

“I’m so sorry.” At the same time that I automatically smoothed the wrinkle the paper towel roll put in his tie, I stepped back into the kitchen. “I didn’t see you come around the corner.”

“No problem.” Edward didn’t say this in a tone of voice any different from the one he’d used when he was praising Michael to the high heavens. “Didn’t want to leave a mess for Beth and Michael.” He held up his glass for me to see. It was empty. “I need to head out.”

“But the kids aren’t done with their movie.” I didn’t need to be a mother to know this would be a major bone of contention.

“They’re staying here tonight but I’ve got to run.” Edward crossed the room and put his glass in the sink. “Beth invited them, and I think it will be good for them to be with their friends for the evening.” He took a step toward the doorway and I had not one doubt that he was going to say his good-byes and leave for home.

I sidestepped my way in front of him. “That’s really nice. Beth and Celia and Glynis, they were good friends to Vickie.”

“Yes, they were.” For the first time, Edward actually took the time to look me over. Apparently, I wasn’t all that interesting, because it didn’t take all that long. “It was nice meeting you, Annie,” he said in the perfunctory way people do when they just want to get something over with. “Maybe I’ll see you again sometime.”

My smile was as brief as my pretending to go along with the pretended niceness. “Before you leave . . .” I wormed my way directly into Edward’s path again. “There’s just something I wanted to ask you about. Just something I was wondering.”

I can’t say he was thrilled about being cornered. But he was nothing if not polite. Edward waited semipatiently.

And I wondered how I could ease my way into asking what I needed to ask, and then realized there was no way, and I might as well just get it over with. “I was just wondering . . .” I smiled. Decided I was being too sociable. Wiped my expression clean. “Celia, Glynis, and Beth go to cooking classes every Tuesday evening,” I said.

Edward didn’t so much shrug as twitch his shoulders, as if he could barely be bothered with what was bothering me. “I’m sure they’d let you tag along.” He moved to his left.

I angled myself to my right. “I’m sure they would. Only I don’t want to. And apparently, Vickie didn’t want to, either.”

He went as still as a statue.

I held my breath.

This time when Edward looked me over, he took his time. Maybe he’d decided I wasn’t so easy to dismiss after all. But before I could figure out if this was a good thing or a bad thing, he backed up a step, cocked his head, and said, “You didn’t even know Vickie. Why do you care?”

I knew it would come to this. How could it not?

Have I mentioned that in real life I’m a completely honest person, but that when it comes to an investigation, I sometimes have to compromise my honesty and I do it without even a hint of guilt?

I did it right then and there. “It’s so glaring,” I said. “I mean, I can’t believe the cops haven’t asked you. Well, I bet they have!” I laughed because right about then, Edward looked like a volcano that was about to blow, and I knew I needed to defuse the situation—and fast. I morphed from