Let There Be Suspects Read Online Free

embellished with wire-rimmed glasses. I watched a prominent Adam’s apple bounce as he swallowed convulsively. Cliff Grable, who was already going gray, was as average to look at as Ginger was extraordinary. Our pathetic, ragged four-year-old was now a voluptuous red-head of the Julianne Moore variety. Cliff was more Richard Benjamin than Brad Pitt.
    Cliff stepped forward and extended his hand to no one in particular. I was closest and knew I had to be first. I wrenched my arm from Sid’s grasp and stepped forward to shake his hand. “I’m Aggie, Cliff. Welcome to our house.” Then, before my slide show could progress any further, I turned to my ersatz foster sister and took her hand. “And Ginger. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
    Ginger was dewy-eyed and breathless with emotion, but if it serves a purpose, Ginger can have a good cry over her grocery list. “Agate, you’ve hardly changed at all.”
    Junie clapped her plump little hands, all fingers of which were glittering with rings. “I just knew you would be so surprised. But how could we have a reunion without our darling Ginger?”
    Let me count the ways .
    I struggled to find something to say, but Ed, who has occasionally thrown himself between warring factions at weddings and wakes, stepped up to the plate. He introduced himself to Cliff, kissed Junie’s cheek, then Ginger’s. I remembered the last time Ginger and Ed were in the same room. Junie had invited Ginger to our wedding. Ginger had taken a fancy to one of the wedding gifts. Ed had quietly taken it back.
    I motioned Deena and Teddy forward to meet Cliff and Ginger, but I didn’t fall into the trap of introducing Ginger as their aunt. Since Sid is a healthy twenty-eight, there are a lot of years ahead when I don’t want every sisterly phone conversation to begin with “I can’t believe you . . .!”
    The girls were polite to Ginger and Cliff and ecstatic to see their grandmother. With one at each arm they tugged Junie into the living room to view our Christmas tree. That left Vel, Sid, Ed, and me to face the Grables alone.
    Vel, who always does her duty, stepped forward. There were no dimples with this smile, and her eyes were the color of sleet. But she put out her hand and murmured a greeting. Then she stepped back and waited.
    Ginger’s smile was cotton candy cloying. She held her hand out to Sid. “And Cliff, this is Sid. We grew up together. Just like twins. Sid, it seems like forever.”
    Sid’s eyes blazed, but the manners Junie had drilled into us took control and she, too, extended her hand. The two brushed fingertips. I swear an electrical charge passed between them. Then Sid shook more naturally with Cliff.
    “I’m afraid we’re just about to have an influx of guests,” Ed said. “In fact we have to change before they get here.”
    “Oh, Junie told us about the open house,” Ginger said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I whipped up a little something to add to your table. I’ve been working on recipes for my next cookbook. Have you had the opportunity to try Kobe beef?”
    Even after a year of Emerald Springs, I’m not such a rube that I don’t know what this means. I saw dollar signs piling on dollar signs. Kobe is the most expensive premium beef on the market, a product of a prime breed of Japanese cattle. I suspected that if Ginger was telling the truth, this might be the first Kobe beef to cross our city limits.
    As for the cookbook? For once I can be fairly sure Ginger is telling the truth. For years Junie has told us about Ginger’s success as an author and cooking show host. In the fall during my short career as a bookseller, I had ordered Ginger’s first cookbook for a customer, although I had been afraid to try any of the recipes myself. Old habits.
    Before I could reply Junie twinkled back into the room. “Oh, just wait until you see what Ginger brought you. I swear, she’s made me a carnivore again. I’ve never in my life eaten anything so