Deadly Valentine (Special Releases) Read Online Free Page B

Jack said to the cantankerous old veterinarian/councilman/ coroner.
    White-headed, stooped-shouldered and more temperamental than a de-hibernated grizzly in spring, Ramsey guffawed, then put down his bag. ‘‘I’m really looking forward to working with you,’’ he said. ‘‘Yeah, right.’’
    Ramsey asked Dobson if he’d shot the scene as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves from his bag. Dobson nodded. Jack sent Deputy Reed to keep the Sanderses company and make sure they remained in the living room until they could have their foyer back.
    With a series of creaks and groans, Ramsey lowered himself to the floor, obviously being careful not to touch any of the candy around the body. Jack watched him check Peggy’s throat.
    ‘‘Want the gist of it? Nothing stuck in the throat to choke on, too young in my opinion to have had a stroke. Unless she has a medical history to explain this, I’d say you got yourself a murder, McAllister,’’ the coroner said quietly after a moment. Then without turning, Ramsey pulled his bag closer and told Dobson to bag the chocolates as evidence, handing the young deputy latex gloves and evidence bags. ‘‘You’re sure?’’ Jack foolishly asked.
    Ramsey shot him a look over the shoulder. ‘‘Don’t tell me you didn’t already suspect as much based on her blue skin color. She bit her tongue more than once, indicating convulsions. I’d guess she was poisoned but we won’t know for sure until we check her stomach contents.’’ A Ramsey ‘‘guess’’ was a good bet any day, Jack thought as he watched the coroner take out tweezers and remove the nut from Peggy’s clenched fist, then scrape off the chocolate from her palm into one of the evidence bags.
    Jack watched as the old coroner carefully opened her other hand. ‘‘Well, what do we have here!’’ Ramsey said.
    ‘‘A valentine.’’ Tempest had been watching as Ramsey opened it with the tweezers. ‘‘The kind we used to give each other as kids.’’ Her gaze lifted for an instant to meet Jack’s, then dropped again to the coroner’s gnarled hands.
    Tempest was right. It was a kid’s valentine, bright colored with a clown on the front, folded in half so it fit into the flimsy paper envelope. It read: ‘‘You’re one smart cookie, but I’m smarter because I have you.’’ It was signed: ‘‘You Know Who.’’
    ‘‘Do you recognize the handwriting?’’ Jack asked.
    She didn’t answer. He watched her frown as she stared down at the valentine. She seemed to be miles away. He remembered the valentine boxes they made in grade school. By the end of the day, some boxes would be stuffed with valentines. There was always at least one kid who wouldn’t get any, like Peggy Kane. Kids could be so incredibly cruel.
    But now Jack wondered how many Tempest had gotten.
    Ramsey bagged the valentine, then took a peek in the shopping bag near the edge of the foyer table next to what Jack assumed was Peggy’s purse. ‘‘Hmm, interesting,’’ the coroner said and shot Jack a look. ‘‘There’s another box of chocolates in here. Looks identical to the one on the table.’’
    ‘‘Maybe she bought herself a box at Sweet Things when she got this one for Mitzi,’’ Jack suggested. And charged it to her boss.
    ‘‘I don’t think she’d do that,’’ Tempest said.
    He raised a brow.
    ‘‘Buying yourself a huge satin-quilted, heart-shaped box of expensive chocolates on Valentine’s Day—’’ She waved a hand through the air. ‘‘What woman would purposely make herself feel that badly?’’
    ‘‘Maybe Oliver told her to buy herself one,’’ Jack suggested.
    ‘‘Yeah, right,’’ Tempest said, echoing Ramsey’s earlier words. She shrugged. ‘‘I suppose she could have bought the box of chocolates as cover. Pretend to the clerk that the chocolates were for someone else. Still, I don’t think Peggy would do that.’’
    Jack had never understood the workings of a woman’s mind, but he did