Pickled (An Alex Harris Mystery) Read Online Free

the one that solves murders, right?”
    “Well, yes, but I’m not with the police.”
    “I’ve overheard your grandmother talking about you. She’s very proud. She’s a lucky woman to have such a nice granddaughter.”
    “Thank you. I feel pretty lucky to have her, too. Do you have grandchildren, Mrs. Bryson?”
    “Sophie, please.” She took a sip from the cup I had just placed in front of her and looked up at me. “Yes, I have a granddaughter. Janet. An awful child. Listen to me. She’s in her thirties, for heaven’s sake, but she takes after our son. Robert is an only child and I’m afraid we created a monster. Humph bullied the poor boy and I coddled him. That combination does not make for a good man with an abundance of self-esteem and kindness. I’ve failed miserably as a parent.”
    I wasn’t sure what to say about that so I just poured boiling water into another cup and waited for her to continue.
    “I’d like to hire you to look into Humphrey’s death. I have plenty of money so whatever your normal fee is will be fine with me. I have the utmost confidence in our police force and I know they will get to the bottom of this, but I’m not sure they’ll handle things in a sensitive manner.”
    “A sensitive manner?”
    “I started to tell you last night, but we were interrupted. Humphrey Bryson was a bully, a cad, a cheat, a scoundrel, a rat and an all around horrible man. I have no idea why I’ve been crying over him. I guess I’m mourning what we had at the beginning or what I hoped we would have had all these years, but the sad truth is he slept with or at least tried to sleep with every female he met, he was involved in shady deals and God knows what else. I want you to find his killer as quickly as possible before all our dirty laundry is hung out for all of Pirates Cove and the surrounding towns to see.”
    I almost gasped at the intensity of her words. But if she thought she could contain her husband’s less than reputable reputation, she was wrong. The cat was already out of the bag according to Meme.
    “Oh, and one more thing, Ms. Harris. Humphrey planned to divorce me after fifty-five years of marriage and he vowed I would get nothing. He said he would rather kill me than see me get a penny of his money. I would imagine when that gets out I will probably ascend to the very top of the suspect list.”

 
     
     
Chapter 6
     
     
    I wish I had a normal fee for Sophie Bryson to pay, but as I didn’t have any credentials as an investigator except for the marketing my grandmother was obviously doing on my behalf, I simply told Sophie I would help in any way I could. Of course, I was acutely aware of the fact I may have just been scammed by a murderess and the more I thought about it, shoving a pickle down Humphrey Bryson’s mouth did seemed like something a woman might do. Sophie was taller than Humphrey, but she was also thin and fragile looking. Would she be able to hold him still long enough to get the pickle down his throat? I tried to remember what she was like last night when I first offered to help her find her husband. She had been a bit agitated, which at the time I took for anxiety at not finding him, but maybe she had just killed him and was trying to compose herself.
    Mrs. Bryson might turn out to be a murderer in the end, but I also had another pretty good suspect and once again, I was able to find his address on the list Meme had supplied.
    Sid and Marie Dupre also lived in Pirates Cove, but in a slightly more modest neighborhood than that of Sophie Bryson. While their house was a good size and they had a lovely corner lot with several big trees, they were a couple miles inland from the Sound.
    I had to park a block away because of the snow pushed up along the sides of the road, but I was dressed for the weather and the exercise would do me good. I had consumed my fair share of potato salad and spätzle last night and the walk up the slightly inclined road felt good.
    I rang