5 - Choker: Ike Schwartz Mystery 5 Read Online Free Page A

voice. “Two of her sons work for the sheriff. She’d know how to…you know…ask.”
    Blake realized there would be no convincing Mavis to do otherwise, and on reflection, thought she might be right. Whether Dorothy Sutherlin’s sons, and daughter-in-law for that matter, worked in the sheriff’s office weighed less on his decision than Dorothy’s well known common sense. She, he believed, could penetrate the murky recesses of Esther Peepers’ mind better than anyone in town.
    “Fine. Good idea. I’ll call her and see if she will do it.”
    Mavis Bowers looked as if she’d received a last-minute pardon from the governor. He retreated to his office and made the call.
    Dorothy Sutherlin answered the phone on the third ring. Blake held the receiver away from his ear. Dorothy had raised seven boisterous boys and in the years of their upbringing had been forced to communicate with them in a voice which could only be described as stentorian.
    “Hello. That you, Father Blake?”
    “Yes, Dorothy. Listen, we have a problem here at the church. Mavis has discovered the silver cruets and a small chalice we evidently never use are missing. Before we call one of your boys in, she thought we might call on Esther Peepers first…on the outside chance she might have taken them home to polish and forgot to return them.”
    “And Mavis said maybe I’d be a better choice to brace Esther than her?”
    “Yes.”
    “Figures. Mavis has the backbone of a slug.” Blake spun around to see if Mavis was within earshot. He doubted Dorothy would care if she’d been overheard, but Blake tended to assume the embarrassment of others. Mavis was nowhere in sight.
    “Oh, my, the old gal isn’t there, is she?”
    “No, she’s not.”
    “Well, that’s good, I guess. When do you want to call on Esther? I’m tied up ’til three. We could go after that.”
    “We’ll plan on meeting here at three, then. I’ll call Esther and set it up. If you don’t hear from me in the next twenty minutes, it’s a go.”
    A call to Mrs. Peepers resulted in her agreement to see Blake.
    “Oh, gracious, do come by. Can you take tea? I’ll make tea. I hope regular tea is acceptable. So many of you young people want decaf these days, or green, or something new, you know…herbal. But it isn’t the same is it? You’re not one of those people are you? It’s not a church thing, I hope. No, of course it isn’t, we have a coffee hour, don’t we? Would you rather have coffee?”
    Blake assured her that he did, indeed, drink regular tea and coffee and had no feelings for or against the use of caffeine, nor did the church. Mrs. Peepers seemed relieved by that.
    “You haven’t seen Ogden, have you?” she asked.
    “Sorry. Who?”
    “I’m missing my cat, Ogden. I named him after my first husband. He was so sweet. My husband, I mean. And the cat, too. That’s why I—”
    “Yes, I see. No, I haven’t seen your cat, I don’t think. What does he look like?” Cats for Blake were an amorphous category. Seen one, seen them all.
    “Black. Black as the ace of spades, Father Blake, and sweet.”
    “I’ll try to remember to look around. See you after three.”
    He hung up and stared out of his office window. The leaves were beginning to turn. He made a mental note to invite Mary Miller, for an afternoon drive along the Skyline Drive to look at the fall colors. Officially, Mary was the church’s organist. Unofficially, to Blake, she was considerably more.
    Except for drug money, why would anyone break into a church and steal silver that is only used in a church ritual. What other possible use could it have?

Chapter 5
    It had been a while since Ike had run down a preflight check list. He circled the Cessna 170S pausing to inspect, adjust, and study the plane and its exterior. The agent from Delmarva Aviation stood off to one side with his hands in his pockets, watching. In addition to serving as a local fixed-base operation, the company rented planes and gave