Murder and Salutations Read Online Free Page B

was waiting to speak with Bradford as well. I knew some folks in town called her Jolly Polly, but it wasn’t from her disposition. The woman was nearly as wide as she was tall, and she had a tongue that could scorch the paint off the side of a barn from thirty feet. The only one left was Kaye Jansen. I didn’t have a clue she’d even known Eliza.
    I touched my aunt’s arm, and whispered, “Did Kaye know Eliza very well?”
    Lillian frowned, then said, “She knew her well enough to sue her for slander. Nothing ever came of it, but they weren’t big fans of one another. I heard that it didn’t help matters when Kaye’s father-in-law hired Eliza to do their books. I can’t imagine what they had to talk about tonight.”
    “ Eliza and Polly didn’t get along either, did they?”
    Lillian said, “No, Polly always complained bitterly that she should be the chamber’s president, but Eliza kept getting reelected year after year. From what I’ve heard, there were accusations of stuffed ballot boxes during more than one election.”
    I was about to ask about the others, since my aunt knew most of the skeletons hanging in Rebel Forge’s closets, but Bradford broke up our conversation when he returned with Sara Lynn. “Lillian, I’ll see you now.” He turned to me and added, “Jennifer, do you mind taking Sis home with you? Sara Lynn doesn’t need to be alone tonight.”
    “ I’ll do it,” I said.
    “ I don’t need a babysitter,” my sister insisted.
    “ And you’re not getting one. To be honest with you, I’m not crazy about staying home alone tonight myself.”
    Sara Lynn scowled. “You’re never alone, Jennifer. You’ve always got your roommates.”
    “ I doubt they’d be much comfort tonight.” That wasn’t fair to my cats, but I had to come up with an excuse to be with Sara Lynn. I doubted Oggie and Nash would even notice I was gone, as long as their meals came on time. I loved the little scoundrels, but there were times when I wondered if the feeling was mutual. “Let me just go by the apartment and feed them, then I’ll come home with you.”
    Sara Lynn shook her head. “Jennifer, I have no desire to go back to my house tonight.” She hesitated, then added, “It’s too empty without Bailey there. I’ll gladly take your couch instead.”
    “ Nonsense, you can have the bed and I’ll sleep out on the couch. It will be like camping.”
    She rolled her eyes at me. “Jennifer, you’re nearly a foot taller than I am, and I barely fit on it. You would dangle over from both ends. I’ll be fine.”
    We were still debating our sleeping arrangements when Lillian rejoined us. As Bradford called to Addie Mason, our aunt said, “Are you two still here?”
    “ We’re trying to decide where we’re going to sleep tonight,” I said.
    “ I thought it would be obvious. You two are going to be my guests tonight.” Lillian had a huge old house, and I knew she had plenty of room for guests, even though she’d converted one entire bedroom into a closet.
    I could see Sara Lynn wasn’t crazy about the idea, so I had to plow ahead. “We’d love to. I just have to feed Oggie and Nash first.”
    “ By all means, bring them with you. You know how the rascals love to explore my house.”
    That was usually a sticking point with Lillian whenever I dared bring them over, but I wasn’t about to argue with her. “They’ll love it. Come on, Sara Lynn, it will be fun.”
    She raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t back out of the arrangement, so I considered it a victory.
    As we walked out of Hurley’s, I noticed that Hank was watching us. My first reaction was to stick my tongue out at him, but I settled for an icy stare and an aloof manner. That would teach him to try to order me around. When I glanced back to see how my withering treatment had affected him, I realized he’d dismissed me and had moved on to the next person in his line. And I’d wasted a perfectly good freeze on him.
    There was a chill in