A Dollhouse to Die For (A Deadly Notions Mystery) Read Online Free Page A

we’ll ever have to do in this house.”
    I crossed my fingers. “Shh. Don’t jinx us.”
    Joe smiled as his gaze traveled over my bare legs. I’d slipped off my stockings and pumps, but was still wearing the Dior. “Nice dress. Too bad I didn’t get to take you out to dinner. I was really looking forward to my lamb and mashed potatoes, too.”
    He piled a lump of Stilton on top of an apricot and grimaced. “Sorry. That sounds rather petty under the circumstances, doesn’t it?”
    “It’s okay. But poor Harriet. Who the heck could have wanted to kill her?”
    He shook his head. “No idea. But whoever it was, they went to a lot of trouble. That’s a fairly elaborate way to do someone in.”
    I shivered. We sat in silence for a moment. For Harriet, there would be no more dinners, no more celebrations, no more birthdays, no more anything.
    After we’d finished our cheese and wine, Joe cleaned up while I quickly got changed. I came back downstairs and grabbed Jasper’s leash off the hook on the kitchen wall. “Come on, boy. Let’s take a trip around the block. It won’t be a long walk tonight. I’m beat.”
    Once outside, I managed to put up the umbrella while the wind whipped along the street. Jasper ran behind me and wrapped the leash around my legs, but once I untangled myself, we were off.
    When I’d first opened my store, the local economy was in bad shape, and most of the buildings along Main Street were vacant. I was lucky enough to get a relatively cheap rent, which was a big help for a start-up business. The lease had expired, and now I was month-to-month. I hadn’t requested a new one yet as I didn’t want to rock the boat.
    Lately several storefronts had been rented, and it was nice to see the street vibrant again. Next door to my place was the new cheese and gourmet pantry shop. Across the street on the corner, a former real estate office had been turned into a garden-themed paradise with planters, fountains, terrariums, and birdbaths. A palm reader occupied the space next to Tony Z’s, the barber. The latest newcomer was a chocolatier on the other side of Eleanor, just before the one-room schoolhouse.
    I didn’t need a psychic to tell me that artisanal cheese and handmade chocolates in close proximity spelled trouble for my waistline.
    On the other side of me, and completing the eclectic collection, was the bicycle shop and Sweet Mabel’s, the ice cream parlor. Jasper and I turned around at the end of the street and headed back.
    Wait a minute. Did I just see a shadow moving inside Sometimes a Great Notion?
    My first crazy thought was that it was Harriet, come back to steal the dollhouse, but then I reminded myself that Harriet was dead.
    Fried, in fact.
    Seeing as I wasn’t so stupid to live that I’d try to confront an intruder head-on, I snuck around the back to get a better peek. An alley ran behind the shops, but it was dark now and I couldn’t see much of anything. The rain had eased up so I closed the umbrella.
    Had I imagined it? It wouldn’t be surprising if I was a tad jumpy after everything that had happened tonight.
    Suddenly the back door burst open and someone ran out, clad in a black knit cap, bomber jacket, and jeans. He was carrying my dollhouse in his black-gloved hands.
    “Hey, you!” I yelled, forgetting to be scared. That was
my
dollhouse, damn it. “What do you think you’re doing?”
    Jasper, still not broken of the habit of jumping up on people, launched himself toward the intruder, who swerved and slipped on the wet brick path and dropped the dollhouse with a sickening thud.
    Crap.
    With a muffled curse, he scrambled to his feet and sprinted off down the alleyway.
    Whether it was a good idea to follow the guy or not, I don’t know, because I didn’t have much choice in the matter. Jasper was in full, all-out, enthusiastic pursuit.
    I hung on for grim death to the leash, trying to keep my balance on the slippery stones as I sprinted down the alleyway after him.