Death of a Wolfman (A Lily Gayle Lambert Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free

when he got a call from Reenie about an emergency on the outskirts of town.”
    “What were you doin’ having dinner with Ben?” Ginny piped in.
    “Hush, Ginny,” Dixie hissed. “Who cares why? We want to hear the good stuff.”
    Ginny pouted. “I just wanted to know why she was out with Ben when everybody knows they fight like cats and dogs most of the time.”
    “It’s OK, Ginny,” I soothed. “He is family. I try to get along with him whenever I can.”
    “OK. Enough with that already,” said Mildred Nelson: she of the blue-rinsed hair. I’d grown up with Millie’s daughter Jessica. Jessica was one of those who’d left right after high school graduation to find something better.
    “Anyway, when Ben got the call, he thought it was just a Halloween prank. Kids, probably.”
    “Will you get to the good stuff? Was there really a dead werewolf out there?”
    “Where did you hear that?” I couldn’t believe someone had scooped my big news. Who could it have been?
    Dixie waved her hands around. “It was floating around the Blue Chip Café this morning.” She smiled at me. “But I knew you’d have the real story so I waited.”
    Slightly mollified, I continued. “As a matter of fact, there was a wolf man, not a werewolf, out in the woods.”
    “What’s the difference?” wondered Mildred.
    “I wanted to explain the whole thing to Ben last night, but he got on his high horse just because I told him I’d seen an episode of CSI that had the same thing.”
    “We all know how Ben can be. Go on.”
    “It’s a rare genetic disorder called hypertrichosis. It’s where a person has hair all over their body instead of just in the normal places. Some of them it’s not so bad and they can just shave it or have it removed and go on with their life. But sometimes it’s really bad and there’s nothing that can be done.”
    Dixie’s eyes were big as saucers. “Really? Wow, that must be tough to live with. Did Ben have any idea who it was?”
    “Nope. He said he would call the sheriffs in the surrounding counties to see what they might know.”
    “Uh-oh,” whispered Mildred. “I see Ben coming across the town square.”
    “Everybody act natural,” shouted Dixie, who then proceeded to shove my head into the basin so fast I thought my feet might flip over into the sink. From my position, I couldn’t see what the others were doing, but the sound of hair dryers started up so they must be pretending to be waiting their turn.
    “Oh my God!” Dixie moaned. “The door’s still locked. What if he tries to come in here? He’ll know we’re up to something.”
    From the depths of the sink, I replied, “Don’t worry. He’s never come in here before. Why would he today?”
    Dixie’s nails scrubbed my scalp way too hard.
    “Hey. Careful with the nails. I have a sensitive head.”
    Dixie’s hands continued their assault on me. I struggled to sit up, but my friend pushed my head back down. “Will you calm down before my scalp starts bleeding?”
    “Murphy’s Law. It’s Murphy’s Law. I just know he’s gonna try that door this time.”
    I reached up and grabbed Dixie’s wrists, clamping down hard on the nerve so she couldn’t scrub anymore.
    “Oh, no. He’s looking right at me. He’s smiling. What do I do?”
    “Smile back at him. Stop acting weird. Be natural. He’ll go on by.”
    Dixie let out a big breath, knees sagging. “He went on by.”
    I managed to extricate my head from the sink. Peering into the mirror, I moved my hair around, trying to see my scalp. “Am I bleeding?”
    “Will you stop worrying about your head? We could’ve been clobbered by Ben.”
    I sniffed. “Y’all are the ones who insisted on knowing the scoop. You can’t blame me that he walked by right in the middle of it.”
    “Hey,” said Ginny. “Isn’t that LizBeth Mitchell over there?”
    We all turned to look out the window. Sure enough, the daughter of the Mitchell family could be seen strolling across the