Murder in Waiting - Lynn Cahoon Page 0,68

I’d planned on stopping at the ice cream shop on the way home from Bakerstown. Living in sunny California made ice cream a year-round necessity. At least in my mind.

“Oh, well, then I guess I won’t tell you that he was being slowly poisoned. If the damage from the truck hadn’t killed him, Frank would have been dead in a week or two, tops. At least if he’d kept getting his daily dose of poison.”

“Shut the front door.” I stared at him. “Seriously? I thought this was an open-and-shut case of hit-and-run.”

“So did I when the body first came into the building. I always do toxicology screens, just in case, but I’d noticed an odd tinge to his fingernails. I thought it might just be road dust because your main street is all brick, but I added a few additional tests. Did I hit pay dirt or what? Greg certainly was surprised when I called. But he did say I probably ruined his weekend. Did you two have plans?”

I told him all about Amy’s party trip to Vegas after we got off work on Friday. “But now, I guess Greg’s going to be driving to Vegas alone on Saturday night. I should just tell my aunt we can’t make dinner on Sunday.”

He shook his head. “No, I think you and Greg should definitely go to Vegas and to this dinner. It’s not often you get to spend time with friends and family. In my job, you see a lot of people with a lot of regrets. Don’t let this weekend be one of yours.”

“Wow, way to put choices in perspective. It’s just a dinner.” I held up my hand to ward off the response that I saw forming on his face. “But you’re right. My aunt and Harrold are older and none of us are promised tomorrow, so we’ll go. I just don’t like him driving alone.”

“Why don’t you wait for him?”

I finished my coffee. “I would, but then I’d miss Amy’s thing. And right now, as crazy as she is about this wedding, I don’t know if she’d ever forgive me if I missed her party.”

“Never get in between a woman and her wedding fantasy.” The phone started ringing. “I’m sorry, I should get that.”

“No worries. I need to run and get Emma some food anyway. See you soon. And thanks for the great gossip.” I waved and backed out of the room, trying not to eavesdrop on the phone conversation. As the county coroner, Doc Ames had access to all sorts of interesting things. Most of which Greg wanted me to stay out of. I knew he probably shouldn’t tell me half the things he did, but he also knew I wasn’t going to go blabbing what I’d heard all over town. No matter what Darla did to me.

I headed to the pet supply store, and thought about who in Frank’s life would have benefited from his death. I wondered if Greg had talked to the lawyer about the will yet. Did the trail of murder run side by side with the trail of money?

I couldn’t think of what reason I could give an attorney to get additional information about Frank. I could lie and say I worked with Greg. And I did, technically. We worked last month on the back gardens up against the house. They were beautiful now and the lilies were just starting to fan out and fill the planter boxes.

But that was probably pushing the definition. Especially if Greg found out. I consoled myself with a milkshake on the way home. And I’d gotten Emma a new stuffed animal I would give her before I left for the weekend. I hated for my dog to be sad. It was bad enough that Toby wasn’t going to be able to watch her this weekend. But she liked Esmeralda too. Emma probably held a doggy party on the back deck when we were out of town.

Or maybe not.

When I got home, I decided to let the rest of the to-do list set for the next time I did housecleaning. Which would be two weeks if we stayed in Vegas as long as we were planning. Or, if I drove back with Greg, it would be next week, when I drove him home.

I picked up a new book and fell into the story. Greg found me there close to six and showed mercy on me. He’d brought home a Diamond Lille’s fried chicken box.

Life was good.

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