[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.”Smarmy.The man was smarmy.Antoinette Chloe was ever the lady.“Chad, I’ll see what I can do.And I’ll consult my lawyer.How’s that?”He picked up her hand and kissed it.I winced.But ACB didn’t look like she minded at all.Chad stood.“You’ll find me in my motor home in the Silver Bullet’s parking lot for a couple of days yet.”“Matter of fact, Mr.Dodson, I’d advise you not to leave town until you hear further from me,” Ty said, putting his forearms on the table.“You can’t be serious!”“I’m very serious,” Ty said.Chad’s face flushed.“Do you think I killed Nick?”“You’re a person of interest, and I’d like to talk to you in my office this afternoon.Shall we say two o’clock?”“I have nothing to hide, Deputy.”“Excellent.See you at two, then.”Chad turned and hurried out of the restaurant as if his expensive chinos were on fire.I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath.This was too much drama on only one cup of coffee.“Ty, do you really think that he killed Nick?” ACB asked, her eyes wider than the flowers on her muumuu.“Like I said, he’s a person of interest.I also want to talk to Toxic Waste.Call him over, will you, Antoinette Chloe?”“What do I say to him?”“Just thank him for coming.I’ll do the rest,” Ty said.“And, Trixie, you don’t have to talk.”Humpf!“Oh, William! Billy Gerard!” ACB waved him over.“Over here, William!”Mr.Waste hurried to our table after Antoinette Chloe wouldn’t stop calling his name.“It was a nice service,” Toxic Waste said.“Very nice.”“Thank you,” ACB smiled.“And your gifts to him—the shirt and the chef’s hat—were very thoughtful.I want to thank you and the rest of the Rubbers for coming.”“How long will you and the Rubbers be camping, Toxic?” I just couldn’t call him William.or even Billy.He was definitely a Toxic Waste.“I think we’ll stay for a couple of days.We’re actually all thinking about attending the Miss Salmon Contest.”“I want to advise you not to leave town without a green light from me,” Ty said.“What the hell? You got to be kidding,” Toxic said.“The Rubbers have a lot of things to do.”“I don’t kid about murder, and I’m not talking about the Rubbers, just you.”Icicles dripped from each of Ty’s words.“How long?” Toxic asked.“As long as it takes.I’ll let you know.”“Is this because my fiancée left me for Nick?” he asked.“Or because of the screaming matches that I had with him? He started it!”I felt like I was at recess on the grammar-school playground, and Toxic was whining to Sister Mary Mary.“We’ll talk in my office.Four o’clock,” Ty said flatly.Toxic Waste looked like he had swallowed some toxic waste.He was turning purple.“Is that all?”“We’ll talk at four,” Ty said.Toxic Waste left the restaurant as if his black jeans were on fire.ACB chuckled.“You’re really clearing out my breakfast guests, aren’t you, Ty? Oh, well.More for me.”The buffet was ready, so ACB led us there first.Other tables followed.It was a nice buffet with scrambled eggs, eggs Benedict, a beautifully arranged meat-and-cheese tray, a basket full of warm rolls, home fries, sausage, bacon, ham, relishes, and an extensive array of pastries.There were baked beans, macaroni and potato salads, chef’s salad, and other items too numerous to mention.“My new cook is fabulous,” she said.“I hope he doesn’t quit.”“He’s not a local guy, is he, Antoinette Chloe?” I asked.“He just graduated from Paul Smith’s at Lake Placid.I asked the placement office to put an ad on their bulletin board or on their computer—whatever they do.Fingers answered my ad, and I hired him immediately.”“What a great idea,” I said.“I know.”The three of us ate, talked, drank more coffee, and people-watched.Finally, Antoinette Chloe stood up and clanked her spoon on her coffee cup.“Again, I’d like to thank you all for coming, for your cards, your kind expressions of sympathy, and for your support.Please don’t hesitate to visit Brown’s Four Corners in the future.We have a fabulous new cook, as you can tell.Thanks again!”The crowd started to clear out.Some lingered over their coffee, but almost everyone shuffled out.I could hear the Rubbers rev up their motorcycles.And then there were three.I stretched.“I’d better get moving and see what’s happening at the point.”I started to stand, but Ty put a hand on my arm.“Now that we’re all alone, I’d like to talk to you both.”Crap.This sounded like something I wouldn’t want to hear.ACB was concentrating on reattaching the blackbird to her fascinator and wasn’t paying much attention to Ty.Ty snapped his fingers loudly.“Antoinette Chloe, please listen.”“Oh, sure.What’s up, Ty?”“We found a fake fingernail in the collar of Nick’s shirt.” He pointed to ACB’s pinkie finger.“It would fit exactly here.We think that Nick might have been taken by gunpoint or knifepoint from his toolshed to the land where we found him—your land, Antoinette Chloe.”“He must have been scared, poor Nicky.”“Uh-huh.And we found a fake animal—a little yellow rabbit—on your land, too, not far from the body.”“Oh, good! That’s probably the bunny that fell off one of my favorite fascinators.”“Antoinette Chloe, don’t talk,” I said, knowing where this was leading.Ty sighed.“And we found the murder weapon, a filleting knife, wrapped in a fascinator, just like the kind you wear, not far from Nick’s body.”“It has to be my Easter fascinator! The one I’ve been looking for.That’s the one with the robins and bunnies frolicking on the grass.I was going to make it into a fall tableau with autumn leaves and salmon jumping, and wear it to the Miss Salmon pageant, but you found it with a knife wrapped in it? The knife used to kill Nick?”I wanted to put my hand over her mouth, but it would’ve ruined her Wild Irish Rose lipstick.“Would you listen to me? Don’t talk to Ty without a lawyer.”Ty shrugged.“I’m not the enemy, but that’s the hat, Antoinette Chloe—robins and bunnies on pink grass.I knew that it was yours.”“Any prints on the knife?” I asked, holding my breath, praying that ACB’s weren’t there.“It was wiped clean.But there was something else nearby—a silver earring with a little motorcycle hanging from it.”“I was wondering where that went!” she said, completely oblivious.“I wanted to wear them today to the cemetery, but I could only find one.”“Antoinette Chloe.Shut up!” I said tactfully.“Why?”“Because everything Ty is mentioning is all your stuff! And it was all found at the scene where Nick was found.”“I know.I’m lucky he found it.” She laughed, then sobered.Finally the situation hit her.“Oh! Oh, merciful heavens, no!” She turned to Ty.“Are you going to arrest me?”“I’m afraid so, Antoinette Chloe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl centka.pev.pl
.”Smarmy.The man was smarmy.Antoinette Chloe was ever the lady.“Chad, I’ll see what I can do.And I’ll consult my lawyer.How’s that?”He picked up her hand and kissed it.I winced.But ACB didn’t look like she minded at all.Chad stood.“You’ll find me in my motor home in the Silver Bullet’s parking lot for a couple of days yet.”“Matter of fact, Mr.Dodson, I’d advise you not to leave town until you hear further from me,” Ty said, putting his forearms on the table.“You can’t be serious!”“I’m very serious,” Ty said.Chad’s face flushed.“Do you think I killed Nick?”“You’re a person of interest, and I’d like to talk to you in my office this afternoon.Shall we say two o’clock?”“I have nothing to hide, Deputy.”“Excellent.See you at two, then.”Chad turned and hurried out of the restaurant as if his expensive chinos were on fire.I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath.This was too much drama on only one cup of coffee.“Ty, do you really think that he killed Nick?” ACB asked, her eyes wider than the flowers on her muumuu.“Like I said, he’s a person of interest.I also want to talk to Toxic Waste.Call him over, will you, Antoinette Chloe?”“What do I say to him?”“Just thank him for coming.I’ll do the rest,” Ty said.“And, Trixie, you don’t have to talk.”Humpf!“Oh, William! Billy Gerard!” ACB waved him over.“Over here, William!”Mr.Waste hurried to our table after Antoinette Chloe wouldn’t stop calling his name.“It was a nice service,” Toxic Waste said.“Very nice.”“Thank you,” ACB smiled.“And your gifts to him—the shirt and the chef’s hat—were very thoughtful.I want to thank you and the rest of the Rubbers for coming.”“How long will you and the Rubbers be camping, Toxic?” I just couldn’t call him William.or even Billy.He was definitely a Toxic Waste.“I think we’ll stay for a couple of days.We’re actually all thinking about attending the Miss Salmon Contest.”“I want to advise you not to leave town without a green light from me,” Ty said.“What the hell? You got to be kidding,” Toxic said.“The Rubbers have a lot of things to do.”“I don’t kid about murder, and I’m not talking about the Rubbers, just you.”Icicles dripped from each of Ty’s words.“How long?” Toxic asked.“As long as it takes.I’ll let you know.”“Is this because my fiancée left me for Nick?” he asked.“Or because of the screaming matches that I had with him? He started it!”I felt like I was at recess on the grammar-school playground, and Toxic was whining to Sister Mary Mary.“We’ll talk in my office.Four o’clock,” Ty said flatly.Toxic Waste looked like he had swallowed some toxic waste.He was turning purple.“Is that all?”“We’ll talk at four,” Ty said.Toxic Waste left the restaurant as if his black jeans were on fire.ACB chuckled.“You’re really clearing out my breakfast guests, aren’t you, Ty? Oh, well.More for me.”The buffet was ready, so ACB led us there first.Other tables followed.It was a nice buffet with scrambled eggs, eggs Benedict, a beautifully arranged meat-and-cheese tray, a basket full of warm rolls, home fries, sausage, bacon, ham, relishes, and an extensive array of pastries.There were baked beans, macaroni and potato salads, chef’s salad, and other items too numerous to mention.“My new cook is fabulous,” she said.“I hope he doesn’t quit.”“He’s not a local guy, is he, Antoinette Chloe?” I asked.“He just graduated from Paul Smith’s at Lake Placid.I asked the placement office to put an ad on their bulletin board or on their computer—whatever they do.Fingers answered my ad, and I hired him immediately.”“What a great idea,” I said.“I know.”The three of us ate, talked, drank more coffee, and people-watched.Finally, Antoinette Chloe stood up and clanked her spoon on her coffee cup.“Again, I’d like to thank you all for coming, for your cards, your kind expressions of sympathy, and for your support.Please don’t hesitate to visit Brown’s Four Corners in the future.We have a fabulous new cook, as you can tell.Thanks again!”The crowd started to clear out.Some lingered over their coffee, but almost everyone shuffled out.I could hear the Rubbers rev up their motorcycles.And then there were three.I stretched.“I’d better get moving and see what’s happening at the point.”I started to stand, but Ty put a hand on my arm.“Now that we’re all alone, I’d like to talk to you both.”Crap.This sounded like something I wouldn’t want to hear.ACB was concentrating on reattaching the blackbird to her fascinator and wasn’t paying much attention to Ty.Ty snapped his fingers loudly.“Antoinette Chloe, please listen.”“Oh, sure.What’s up, Ty?”“We found a fake fingernail in the collar of Nick’s shirt.” He pointed to ACB’s pinkie finger.“It would fit exactly here.We think that Nick might have been taken by gunpoint or knifepoint from his toolshed to the land where we found him—your land, Antoinette Chloe.”“He must have been scared, poor Nicky.”“Uh-huh.And we found a fake animal—a little yellow rabbit—on your land, too, not far from the body.”“Oh, good! That’s probably the bunny that fell off one of my favorite fascinators.”“Antoinette Chloe, don’t talk,” I said, knowing where this was leading.Ty sighed.“And we found the murder weapon, a filleting knife, wrapped in a fascinator, just like the kind you wear, not far from Nick’s body.”“It has to be my Easter fascinator! The one I’ve been looking for.That’s the one with the robins and bunnies frolicking on the grass.I was going to make it into a fall tableau with autumn leaves and salmon jumping, and wear it to the Miss Salmon pageant, but you found it with a knife wrapped in it? The knife used to kill Nick?”I wanted to put my hand over her mouth, but it would’ve ruined her Wild Irish Rose lipstick.“Would you listen to me? Don’t talk to Ty without a lawyer.”Ty shrugged.“I’m not the enemy, but that’s the hat, Antoinette Chloe—robins and bunnies on pink grass.I knew that it was yours.”“Any prints on the knife?” I asked, holding my breath, praying that ACB’s weren’t there.“It was wiped clean.But there was something else nearby—a silver earring with a little motorcycle hanging from it.”“I was wondering where that went!” she said, completely oblivious.“I wanted to wear them today to the cemetery, but I could only find one.”“Antoinette Chloe.Shut up!” I said tactfully.“Why?”“Because everything Ty is mentioning is all your stuff! And it was all found at the scene where Nick was found.”“I know.I’m lucky he found it.” She laughed, then sobered.Finally the situation hit her.“Oh! Oh, merciful heavens, no!” She turned to Ty.“Are you going to arrest me?”“I’m afraid so, Antoinette Chloe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]