Louisiana Longshot (A Miss Fortune Mystery, Book 1) Read Online Free

there.” She opened a door at the back of the kitchen and the dog strolled outside. Gertie motioned to me and we stepped out behind him.  
    Bones did the whole sniffing routine at the edge of the bushes, then leaned against the side of the back porch to prop himself up and hike a leg. The necessary business completed, he then headed toward the dirty stream that ran across the back of the lawn.  
    “Is that the same dirty water running through town?” I asked.
    “Yes, that’s Sinful Bayou. Creates a bit of a problem with mosquitoes and snakes, but alligators rarely come into the lawns, so you probably won’t have to worry about that.”
    Oh goody. I might not have to kill anything my entire visit.  
    Bones waded at the edge of the bayou and stood there as if he were soaking his feet. His head was down, with his nose close to the surface, but he wasn’t drinking. Thank goodness. Lord only knew what was in that water besides my shoes.
    Gertie frowned. “There he goes again. That dog.”
    “What’s he doing?” I asked, just as Bones began to dig. “Is he going to be all right? He looks like he’s going to drop any minute.” The dog wobbled like a drunk, throwing water and dirt around him at a faster pace than I would have thought him capable of.  
    Gertie waved a hand in dismissal. “He does it all the time. Tracks mud everywhere.”
    All of a sudden, he stopped and put his nose right up to the surface of the water, then completely submerged his head in the murky mess. A couple of seconds later, his head popped up with a large white object in his mouth. Looking extraordinarily pleased with himself, he trotted back to where we stood, dropped the object at our feet, and shook bayou water on us.
    I put one hand up to shield my face and looked down as Bones dropped on his belly and began gnawing on one corner of the object. “Gertie? That’s a bone.”
    Gertie lowered her hand and looked down at the hound. “Well, of course it is. We had to install cement footers around the entire cemetery because of that dog. How do you think he got his name?”
    I narrowed my eyes at the object between Bones’ paws, making certain my initial thought was correct. “You sure those footers went around the entire cemetery?”
    “Yes. Why do you ask?”
    “Because that bone is human.”  

Chapter Three

    Gertie stared at the bone, then back up at me, and for a moment, I was afraid the prunes were going to repeat on her. The color drained from her face and she whispered, “What do we do?”
    “Did you kill him?”
    Gertie’s eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. “Lord no! I…I don’t…I can’t…”
    “Then we call the police. You have police here in Mayberry, right?”
    “Of course. We have the sheriff and a deputy.”
    “Then let’s head inside and dial them up.”
    “What about the…you know? We can’t just let Bones keep gnawing on it. I mean, that’s someone’s family.”
    I took a look at the hound, who was stretched out on the lawn, gnawing the bone in slow motion and about to nod off to sleep. “I don’t think he’s going to do much damage. He probably doesn’t even have any teeth left.”
    Gertie didn’t look convinced, but she trailed after me as I headed back inside the house. I located the phone at one end of the kitchen counter and passed it over to Gertie, then proceeded to fix myself another cup of coffee. It was going to be a long evening.  
    Gertie took the phone, then bit her lower lip. “Maybe I should call Ida Belle.”
    I paused before taking a sip of coffee and looked over the cup at Gertie. “Your sheriff’s name is Ida Belle?”
    “Of course not. Robert E. Lee has been the sheriff here forever.”
    I blinked. Surely she meant figuratively. “So why would you call this Ida Belle before you called the sheriff?”
    “Ida Belle is the president of the Sinful Ladies Society.”
    I waited a couple of seconds for more information, but apparently Gertie thought that one sentence