Murder Talks Turkey Read Online Free

left the teller behind the counter with the alarm button, and he filled his pillowcase with play money.
“What’s the teller’s name,” I asked.
“Confidential, Mrs. Johnson. This is official law enforcement work. Please take your son and your old dog home.”
Fred stared at Dickey, and a soft but audible growl tickled his throat. What a dog!
    “I’d like to send flowers to the injured woman,” I punted. “I need her name to do that. If you won’t tell me, I’ll have to talk to someone in the emergency room.”
    Dickey pulled a notebook out of his pocket and flipped through it with a sigh. “Angie Gates,” he said.
    “The case is closed, right?” I asked. If Blaze had been well and handling the case, he’d be all done. The distant glare of retirement had blinded my son, and he put most of his energy into making it to the social security line without breaking a sweat.
    “An outside auditor is ascertaining the credit union’s cash. I demanded a full accounting. This investigation isn’t over until I have all the pertinent facts and feel comfortable with those facts.” I have to say this for him, he didn’t give up easily. There was more to learn than we knew at the moment. I was sure of it.
    Fred plopped his head on the desk, causing Blaze to leap from the chair. “Get me a rifle! There’s a bear in here.”
    “Time to go,” I said, steering Blaze out the door, to my truck, and coaxing him in. Fred rode in the back bed to keep my son from overreacting. We drove through our small town, headed south and turned, passing my house and following the gravel road that led to Blaze’s trailer home.
His wife Mary was at the kitchen table, sobbing her eyes out.
“What did they take?” Blaze demanded, when he saw her. “I knew it. The minute I turned my back. Did they get the money?”
“I can’t take it one more minute,” Mary sputtered. “He wanders around day and night. I can’t keep track of him.”
Blaze stormed down the hall.
“He’ll be back in a minute,” she said, “telling us someone stole his money.”
“Someone stole my five million dollars,” Blaze hollered.
    “I moved the hiding place,” Mary shouted back, then turned to me with sad, puppy dog eyes. “See? It was a mistake to bring him home so soon.”
    “He’s better than he was,” I said.
    “That’s not saying much.”
    “All you need is a good night’s sleep,” I suggested. “Why don’t you go visit your daughter at college? Go away for a few days and rest. I’ll take Blaze home with me.”
What was I saying? I could hardly handle what I had, let alone watch over my son.
Mary sniffed. “Really?” Her eyes shined with hope.
“Go pack,” I said to her back end.
She was already running down the hall.

    Chapter 4

    GRANDMA JOHNSON HAD ATTEMPTED TO heat up frozen pasties while I was gone. How many times have I asked her to stay out of the kitchen? A hundred times, at least, and that’s just this week.
    Grandma is my ninety-two-year-old mother-in-law. After Barney died, I went through a typical grieving process, starting with anger and moving slowly through despair. Two years later, I’m still angry with him for leaving me alone to deal with his mother.
    The worst part is, she moved in with me, and I can’t get rid of her. It’s still a mystery why she picked me, since we’ve never gotten along. Personally? I think she’s plotting to drive me insane.
    “’Bout time you showed up,” she snapped “The oven is broken.” She pointed at the dishwasher. “My pasties are wet and soggy. Ruined!”
    Grandma has been known to serve raw chicken to a table of guests. And she’s been known to blow out the stove’s pilot light and turn the burners on, causing deadly fumes to waft through the house. My home is going to explode one of these days, if I don’t get her into a nursing home.
    “I’ll fix it,” Blaze offered, bending and squinting at the dishwasher. “Where’s the chain saw?”
    “What are you doing