A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge Read Online Free PDF Page A

grimaces. “I can’t say more than that. It’s a privacy issue, but I wanted you to know that your question was not out of line.”
    Back home, I call a few people Jenny is friendly with in town and tell them her mother passed away. In the best of times, Jenny is not a cook, and the food that people will bring her will be helpful. I make a fair beef stew myself, and I throw the ingredients into a Crockpot.
    As I’m leaving for headquarters, Jenny calls and asks if I’ll come to her mother’s house later. Some of her mother’s friends will be visiting this afternoon. “I need somebody to help me entertain them. You’ve got a gift of gab.”
    I spend a couple of hours at work and then go over to Vera’s house to help Jenny slog through conversations with the mourners. They all press to know when the funeral will be and what they can do to help. Jenny tells them she’ll decide with the preacher tomorrow and let them know.
    Mrs. Matthews has been fluttering around Jenny like a hummingbird and suddenly she says, “Jennifer, I hope I’m not out of line. Have you phoned your brother and told him Vera passed?”
    Jenny’s reaction takes me by surprise. Usually unflappable, she couldn’t look any more stunned if the woman had slapped her across the face. When it’s clear that she isn’t going to reply, one of the other ladies says, “I’m sure Jenny will do what’s right. This isn’t the time to bother her.”
    â€œI just meant . . .” Mrs. Matthews’s voice trails away, and then she looks around the room. “Can I get anybody a refill of coffee?”
    When the conversation returns to normal, Jenny signals me that she wants me to follow her. She takes me out onto the back porch. We stand looking out over the yard. “I just need a minute to collect myself,” she says.
    The grass is freshly mowed. “Smells good out here,” I say. “You mow this yourself?”
    She smiles and says, “You know me better than that. It was Nate Holloway from next door. As soon as I got here and told him Mamma was gone, he came over to clean up the yard and mow. He said he wanted everything to look as nice as Mamma would have wanted it to.”
    â€œSounds like a nice young man,” I say.
    â€œYou wouldn’t think a twenty-five-year-old man would take any notice of an old woman like Mamma. Shows how much everyone loved her.” She crosses her arms, hugging herself. “Listen, I called you out here to ask you something. Did Dr. Patel have a particular reason for requesting an autopsy?”
    â€œI think he just wanted to get as much information as he could. Why do you ask?”
    â€œI don’t know. He just seemed like he had something particular in mind.”
    â€œHe did mention one thing.” I tell Jenny her mother had a visitor who upset her.
    â€œWhat do you mean he wouldn’t tell you who it was? Why not?”
    â€œHe said it was a privacy issue.”
    â€œShe’s dead. How much privacy does she need?”
    â€œMaybe he’ll tell you; just not me. Now, you want to tell me what that was all about in there? I didn’t know you had a brother.”
    She gets that same strained look on her face, but at least she doesn’t stonewall me the way she did Mrs. Matthews. “For all intents and purposes, I don’t,” she says.

    I’ve become more accustomed to the horses in the past week and feel comfortable leading them into their stalls for the night. I could get Truly to do it, but I don’t want to put him out, and besides, I haven’t minded getting to know the horses. So when I get Mahogany to the door of his stall at dusk, I’m surprised when he balks and dances backward. “Come on in here. I’m not doing anything different,” I say, hoping the sound of my voice will calm him.
    I pull on his lead, and he takes a few steps in,