Cast Iron Cover-Up (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free

go?” I asked my brother after our older sister walked over to confer with the ambulance driver.
    “Oh, I don’t know, how about off looking for Bones’s body in the woods?”
    “I told you before, he was right here,” Peggy said, suddenly snapping back to us. “I don’t know what’s happening.” After pausing for a moment, she began yelling each of her friends’ names in turn. “Henry! Marty! Gretchen! Where are you?”
    “Why didn’t you call out for Bones?” I asked her softly.
    “You didn’t see him,” she said as she shuddered a little. “Even if he were still alive by some miracle, there’s no way he’d be in any shape to call out to me.”
    “Where were you all staying?” I asked as I looked around. “There aren’t any tents here, so I’m assuming that you had a place in town.”
    “No, Bones thought that might be too suspicious, so we all camped here. Some of us stayed in tents, but they’re gone now. We had the camper van, too,” she said. “It’s obviously not here, either. They must have all just packed up and left.”
    “Taking the body with them?” I asked her.
    “Maybe we should wait for Kathleen to come back before we question her any more,” Pat said to me.
    “I’m not sure we have that much time to waste,” I said, and then I turned back to Peggy. “Do you happen to know the plate number of the missing van?”
    “No, of course not. I drove my car down here with Henry, and the rest of them came with Bones. I don’t even know what state it’s registered in. There are cars from all over at school.”
    “At least we know who the van belongs to,” Pat said.
    “Sorry, but we don’t know that, either. Bones borrowed it from a friend at school,” Peggy said as she shook her head.
    “Is there any chance you know the student’s name he borrowed it from?” I asked her.
    “Sort of, but it’s not going to do you any good,” she said.
    “Why not?”
    “We all call him Sniffles at school, because of his allergies,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever even heard his real name.”
    “What are you three talking about?” Kathleen asked us sharply as she returned.
    “The van some of them came in is gone, and so are their camping equipment and tools,” I said. “We can’t get a plate number, or even the owner’s name, for that matter. Maybe they took the body with them when they left.”
    “They wouldn’t do that!” Peggy protested.
    “Not even to rush him to the hospital?” Pat asked her gently.
    “Okay, maybe they’d do that,” she allowed. “But where were they when I found Bones before?”
    “Don’t worry. We’ll ask them that when we find them,” Kathleen said before turning to the ambulance driver. “Sorry for the wild goose chase.”
    “No worries, Sheriff. We’re on the clock either way.”
    “Do me a favor and check with the hospital when you get there,” Kathleen requested.
    “What exactly are we looking for?” the attendant asked.
    “Could you describe him for us, please?” Kathleen asked Peggy.
    “He’s in his mid-twenties, he’s short, and he has dark hair,” she said.
    “And he answers to Bones, if he’s in any shape to answer to anything,” I said.
    Pat gave me one of his critical looks, but I just shrugged. Was anything I’d just said a lie?
    “Peggy, do you happen to know his real name?” Kathleen asked her.
    “I’m sorry, but I don’t.”
    “Wonderful. We have a missing student, four of them, actually, and one of them is injured, if not deceased. The problem? We don’t have anything to go on.”
    “Do you need us for anything else, Sheriff? If not, we’ll keep you in the loop if we hear anything,” the driver said.
    Kathleen looked at the young woman for a moment, and then she said, “Why don’t you take her with you, okay?”
    “What? Why? I’m not hurt,” Peggy protested.
    “We need to get you checked out and cleaned up,” Kathleen said reasonably. “You’re not going to be able to help Bones