Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek: A Samuel Craddock Mystery (Samuel Craddock Mysteries) Read Online Free Page B

will take over and get all the glory.”
    He laughs. “That’ll be okay with me. As long as I don’t get shot at, Sissy will be happy.”

I stop home to grab some lunch and find Loretta waiting for me on my front porch in the sun. She’s working on one of the shirts she’s making for her grandsons. The shirts are the loudest red-and-blue flannel plaid I’ve ever seen. Her grandsons are eleven and eight, and I hope their folks have taught them the art of thanking someone who gives you a present—and acting like you really mean it.
    “I thought you’d never get back here.” She tucks the shirt into her workbag. “Why didn’t you tell me Gary Dellmore was killed?”
    “I didn’t find out until after you left. How’d you hear the news?”
    “How would I not hear news like that? It’s all over town. That’s a terrible thing, young man like that. Do you know who did it?”
    “They didn’t leave a calling card. Let’s go inside and I’ll tell you what’s been going on.”
    She follows me inside, complaining that she was cold out on the porch. She has a key to my door, so she could have come inside and waited, but she’s particular about appearances and doesn’t like to if I’m not home, afraid someone will gossip. While I make a sandwich and coffee, I fill her in on the visit to Barbara Dellmore.
    “How did she take it?”
    “Pretty shocked, but she’ll be okay.” I tell Loretta I was surprised that Barbara went on with her gardening after hearing that her husband had been murdered. “She said she had to finish up transplanting and then she’d call her mother.”
    Loretta says, “I’ve always found Barbara a little standoffish, but her going back to her gardening doesn’t mean anything. You not being a gardener, you don’t know what a comfort it is to work in the garden when you’re upset. I’ll take her some coffee cake tomorrow morning.” She frowns and sets down her coffee mug. “What was she transplanting this time of year?”
    “Roses.”
    “It’s not the right time to move roses, but I guess you can’t argue with success. I never was much good with roses.” I hear a tinge of jealousy in her voice. Every year Barbara enters her roses in the county fair contest and almost always wins.
    “What do you know about Gary Dellmore’s folks?” I ask.
    She puts a finger to her lips and ponders. “I don’t know Clara. They’re Episcopal. She’s quiet. Not in a standoffish way like Barbara, just doesn’t say much. But I do my banking with Alan Dellmore, so I know he’s a fine man. He and Clara will be devastated. Their only son.”
    “They have a daughter, too, I recall.”
    “Yes, she’s older than Gary. She married a man in the insurance business in San Antonio. I think they do pretty well. Not that I know anything but what I’ve heard. Now, you haven’t said a word about last night’s meeting. You said it was a free-for-all. You think somebody got riled up enough to shoot Gary Dellmore?”
    “There were some hard words, but it was mostly hot air. I can’t imagine anybody shooting anybody over it.” The meeting seems like it was two weeks ago instead of last night.
    “How many people did you have there?” She pulls one of the shirts back out of her bag and starts working on it again.
    “There were eight. Besides Rusty, Gary Dellmore and me there was Marietta Bryant, of course.” She’s the city administrator who discovered the disastrous state of the town’s finances. “And Jenny Sandstone.”
    She looks up. “Why Jenny Sandstone? She grew up in Bobtail.”
    “You don’t have to have been brought up here to understand the problems. Jenny being a lawyer, I thought she’d have something to contribute.” Jenny is also my next-door neighbor and a good friend. She and I had a disagreement over her horses for a time after she moved next door to me, but that has been smoothed over and I’ve come to appreciate her wit and wisdom.
    “Who else was there?”
    “Oscar