Criminal Crumbs Read Online Free Page B

sister and I have another, Grace and Suzanne have one, and Georgia and Janelle are sharing the last one. Given the short staff here at the resort, they felt that we’d all be happier with our own cottages.”
    Hank looked at Georgia and Janelle and grinned, though there was no humor in it at all. “Doubling up, are you?”
    “Nicole asked us if we wouldn’t mind, given the short staffing issues,” Janelle said. “We were happy to do it.”
    “It’s fine,” Georgia added.
    “Surprise!” a woman announced as she burst into the dining room.
    She hurried toward Nicole, who frowned for just a moment. “Dina, what are you doing here?”
    “I thought I’d take a chance on getting a room and driving up on my own,” the bottle blonde said. “You made it sound so lovely that I couldn’t resist. Surely there’s room for me here as well.” She looked around before adding, “This place is massive.”
    “I’m not sure that they can accommodate you,” Nicole said, and then she introduced the woman to us en masse. “This is Dina Harmon, everyone.”
    “Hello one and all,” Dina said. She had a big personality, and it was pretty clear that Nicole not only hadn’t been expecting her, but she wasn’t all that pleased by her presence.
    “Well, now that we’re all here, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Hank asked. Then he turned to me, Celia, and Dina. Evidently the others had ignored the plus-one part of the invitation. “If you ladies will excuse us, we have some business to attend to before we begin the other activities.”
    Nicole frowned again. “Activities? I hadn’t planned anything for us as a group.”
    “No worries on that front. I’ve already handled it,” Hank said, giving her a sharp-eyed look that dared her to defy him. He might not be able to fire her because of their recent relationship, but clearly he wasn’t above throwing his weight around as her direct supervisor.
    Nicole shrugged, and Grace looked at me apologetically. “Here, Suzanne. Take the packet. It’s got our keys in it.”
    “Sorry, but you’ll be needing that as well,” Hank said.
    Grace looked at him and smiled, but I knew it lacked any hint of sincerity. As she dug out my key, she whispered, “Sorry about this.”
    “No worries,” I said as I took it and, along with Celia and Dina, left them to it.

    I decided to linger in the main quarters before I went off in search of the Hemlock cottage. I found a bulletin board behind glass that displayed photographs there from the 1920s and ’30s, along with menus, activity sheets, and registers from past seasons offering up the names of movie stars, titans of industry and politics, and even a few authors. There was a bookshelf near the fireplace that offered titles across the decades, and I browsed through a few before returning them to their places. There was a fire gently burning away in the hearth, and I was watching the flames when someone nearby spoke to me. “You’re Grace’s friend, right?”
    Celia Thurman was studying me as though I were some kind of oddity. “That’s right, I am.”
    “Are you two together ?” she asked me. What kind of question was that? Then I realized that she was asking me if we were a couple.
    “No, we’ve been best friends since we were kids. I’m married to the chief of police, and Grace is dating his lieutenant.” Celia didn’t seem all that interested in me after that, and I had to wonder if I’d already begun to bore her with my mundane life.
    “How nice for both of you,” she said.
    “Your sister seems really nice,” I said, watching her closely for some kind of reaction. “You’re lucky to have her.”
    Celia was about to say something sharp when she stopped herself. “Lucky. That describes me to a tee. Yes, I don’t know what I’d do without Nicole watching out for me.” There was definitely a hint of anger in her voice, no matter how she might try to disguise it.
    “I think Nicole is fabulous,” Dina said