Ed Lynskey - Isabel and Alma Trumbo 03 - The Ladybug Song Read Online Free

Caribbean cruise,” said Sheriff Fox. “I can
ill afford to wait until I can locate a different medical examiner to fill in and
perform Ladybug’s autopsy.”
    “By
then her killer will be gone,” said Alma.
    “Her
killer will be long gone, in point of fact,” said Sheriff Fox.
    “So,
what are you going to do?” asked Alma.
    Sheriff
Fox had a crafty smile. “You’ve got it backward, Alma. What are you sleuths
going to do is the right question to ask.”
    “You
are asking a lot of us,” said Alma. “Suppose we sleuths fail to crack the case
with the speed it requires?”
    “Then
I’d say the chances are good Ladybug’s killer gets off scot-free,” replied
Sheriff Fox.
    “Unacceptable,”
said Phyllis.
    “Then
you better get busy doing whatever it is you do so well and get me some results,”
said Sheriff Fox. “I’ll be checking in with you in a day or so.”
    “We’ll do
our sleuthing best,” said Isabel. “We also have a large stake in solving her
murder.”
    “Then we
have reached an arrangement,” said Sheriff Fox.
    “Not so
fast,” said Alma, her words packing a punch. “This time had better not be another
one of your dirty, underhanded tricks.”
    “You must
have your town sheriffs mixed up, Alma.” Sheriff Fox did his best to look earnest.
“I don’t have to resort to dirty, underhanded tricks to do my job.”
    “Except
for the time you duped Megan to come to your office to give her written statement
for Jake ’s murder, and then you jailed her.”
    Megan
Connors was the Trumbo sisters’ grandniece who lived in the same distant city
that their youngest sister Louise did. Megan had left Quiet Anchorage after Sheriff
Fox had falsely arrested and imprisoned her for the murder of her fiancé Jake
Robbins. Isabel and Alma had to enter the fray, investigate the murder, and
reveal the actual killer’s identity. Left heartbroken on top of humiliated,
Megan felt she had no choice but to move away and restart her young life. They
kept in regular touch, and she said she bore no grudges while she seemed
content.
    Isabel
and more so Alma held out the hope Megan would feel reconnected to her roots
enough to return to Quiet Anchorage. It would probably take some time for her
change of heart to occur if it ever did. On the other hand, maybe she’d meet a
nice young doctor or lawyer, and they’d start a family where she presently
lived.
    “Alma, you’ll find our working relationship will go a lot smoother if you lose your crankiness,”
said Sheriff Fox. “Obviously whatever mistakes have been made in the past can’t
be undone now. What can I say?”
    “That you
are sorry you did Megan wrong,” replied Isabel. “I’ll pass it along to her.”
    “My apologies
to Megan,” said Sheriff Fox. “There you go. I said it. Are you satisfied?”
    “Marginally,”
replied Alma. “Your apology came off as sounding a little too perfunctory and
not contrite enough for me.”
    “Tough
noogies because it’s the best I can do,” said Sheriff Fox. “Give me an idea of what
your first move will be.”
    Isabel clutched
her pocketbook and stood up from the chair. “We do just what you’d expect from sleuths.
We investigate until we are tired, and we rest up only to do it again. Repeat
as many times as necessary until we achieve the final goal.”
    “I’ve
questioned the three-man brain trust seated on Main Street if that tops your to-do
list,” said Sheriff Fox. “As I expected, they were of little or no value to me.”
    “You
don’t enjoy the same rapport with them as we do,” said Alma.
    “I can hardly
believe that is true,” said Sheriff Fox. “I’m their elected sheriff, and I am
sure they voted for me.”
    Alma bit her tongue.
    “There is
one big difference,” said Isabel without a trace of smugness. “We are their longtime
cronies.”
    “Every
town sheriff understands how cronyism works,” said Alma.
    “Just leave
me and go do your thing,” said Sheriff Fox, pointing a finger