Baylin House (Cassandra Crowley Mystery) Read Online Free

enough to have fought in the Civil War.
    The phone call began with Dorothy Kennelly introducing
herself and explaining she had gotten Cassie’s number from Helen, Cassie’s
mother.
    “Yes? How can I help you?”
    “You can help me by editing and finishing an autobiography and
have it ready for bookstore release before Thanksgiving.”
    “Before Thanksgiving? That’s not enough time to--”
    “Yes it is, Cassandra, most of it is already written. You’ll
do some filling and polishing is all. Helen said you were available when I told
her I can triple what Templeton Publishers paid, plus living expenses of course.
This project is very important to me, Cassandra. Will you do it?”
    Cassie almost choked at the triple-pay offer; Mrs. Kennelly
definitely knew how to hold her attention. “Maybe if you could tell me what the
project is about?”
    “Yes, of course. The subject is Rosalie Baylin. You do know
Rosalie and your grandmother knew each other years ago, don’t you? Well, I
want--”
    “My grandmother?”
    “Noreen Crowley, yes, your father’s mother. Rosalie rented a
room at Noreen’s house in Berkeley when your grandfather was overseas in the
Army. Rosalie was a Berkeley student at the time. It was your grandmother who
put me in touch with your mother when The General and I came to Las Vegas
several years ago. I was working on a fundraiser for Rosalie and I believe you
helped address envelopes for us, didn’t you?”
    “Uhmm . . . yes, I remember that.”
    “Good. I want two things from this endeavor – one, for you
to turn Rosalie’s manuscript into a publishable book, and of equal importance
to draw out information about Rosalie’s life that she has kept to herself until
now. It’s not just about her accomplishment at Baylin House. And you won’t have
that long to work on your part. I’d say three or four weeks if you start right
now, considering production time and distribution. I have already arranged for an
advertising campaign based on Thanksgiving release aiming for heavy Christmas
sales. It’s a focused fundraiser with a University level audience, Cassandra, not
mass market escapism for the grocery store rack. Are you writing this down?”
    She wasn’t, yet, because she was still stumbling over the
idea that her grandmother rented out rooms to anyone. Noreen and Cassie were close;
Cassie was always able to tell Noreen whatever was on her mind, and she thought
she’d heard everything about Noreen’s life too. Obviously not everything!
    Quickly Cassie plugged in the telephone headset and sat down
with the laptop. “Let me get a new file open, Mrs. Kennelly. I can type legible
notes a lot faster than I can write them on paper.”
    The older woman huffed a bit, but stayed quiet until Cassie
spoke again.
    “You said ‘Baylin House’? What is that – a Bed &
Breakfast?”
    “Well . . . not really,” Mrs. Kennelly hesitated. “It’s more
complicated than a B&B, Cassandra. You’ll get all that when you talk to
Rosalie. I’m more interested in collecting her personal life experience, not
just her Baylin House project.”
    They talked for more than an hour after that. Cassie learned
Rosalie Baylin was only a few years younger than Noreen, and already a licensed
RN before she started pre-law at Berkeley. She left school to serve in a
M.A.S.H. unit in Korea where she nursed Mrs. Kennelly’s injured husband – so
that’s how Dorothy Kennelly got into the mix. When Rosalie came back to the
states after Korea she enrolled at UCLA and majored in Psychology, moved to
Sacramento for a while, then to Texas, and eventually founded Baylin House in
the south Texas Gulf Coast city of Cordell Bay. And that was where Dorothy
wanted Cassie to come to work with Rosalie, to coax her into completing a
manuscript suitable for publication and distribution, and to give up some
hidden secret that Dorothy Kennelly wanted for herself.
    She was succinct about it all as though outlining boot camp
to a new recruit.