Cast Iron Conviction (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free

he was about to kick Albert while he was still on the ground, when he told him, “That was just a warning, Albert. Next time it’s going to be a whole lot worse.”
    To my surprise, Albert just laughed, making no effort to get up, or even to wipe the blood off his face. “Just remember. You can run, but you can’t hide, Ollie.”
    The aggressor was about to say something in reply, but evidently he thought better of it and stormed off toward his car without another word.
    I turned and reached a hand down to Albert. “Do you mind telling me what that was all about?”
    He took it, and I helped him stand. As I offered him my clean handkerchief, Albert took it and shrugged.
    I wasn’t about to let him off the hook that easily. “Seriously? You get decked out in front of the Iron by one of the nicest guys I know, and all you can do is shrug?”
    Albert grinned at me, but it was devoid of humor. “I’m stirring the pot a little, Pat. You know what they say. You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.”
    “Clichés and mixed metaphors aside, you can break a nose, too.”
    “This?” he asked with another grin as he wiped some of the blood away with the handkerchief. “In prison, this was an easy Tuesday, if you know what I mean.”
    “Fighting might have been fine in there, but it’s not acceptable out in the real world,” I said.
    “Spare me the lecture,” Albert said as he tried to hand my bloodied handkerchief back to me.
    “Tell you what. Why don’t you keep that?”
    “Thanks,” he said. “Who knows? I just might need it again.”
    “Does that mean that you’re not done causing trouble yet?”
    “Pat, my friend, I’m just getting started.” It had appeared that he’d already forgotten his earlier outburst toward me and my sisters. “By the time I’m finished, this town isn’t going to know what hit it. A great many people in Maple Crest wanted to see Mitchell Wells dead, and I plan on talking to every last one of them before I’m through.”
    “Well, if their reactions are anything like Ollie’s, you’re in for a hard time of it.”
    “I can do hard time standing on my head,” he said.
    It was time to try a different approach with him. “Albert, have you thought about talking to Kathleen about your suspicions? No matter what you think of her, she’s a good sheriff.”
    He stared at me a moment before he spoke again. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t place my trust in law enforcement officers, seeing where it got me the last time I did.”
    I don’t know what made me say it, but the words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself. “If you’d like, Annie and I could look into it for you, instead.”
    “That’s right. I heard that you two solved Chester Davis’s murder a while back.”
    “How did you manage to hear about that?”
    “You’d be amazed what you can pick up if you know the right people to ask, even if you’re in prison. I might have been gone, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t keep in touch.”
    “Who was your source, if you don’t mind me asking?”
    “If it’s all the same to you, I don’t want anybody to know that just yet. All in good time; everything will be revealed.”
    That was certainly cryptic enough. “Annie and I can help you, Albert. All you have to do is ask. There’s just one catch, though.”
    “Why am I not surprised to hear that there are strings attached to your offer?” he asked me.
    “No worries, it’s an easy one. If we agree to help, you have to tell us everything. You can’t hold anything back. It’s hard enough to investigate a murder without credentials or standing, but if we don’t know the truth from our main source, we won’t have a chance. What do you say?”
    “Can I think about it?” he asked softly. It was clear that trust didn’t come easily to him, and after his experiences over the last ten years, I didn’t know that I could blame him.
    “Take your time, but surely you can see that this isn’t