A Deadly Encounter (A Seagrove Cozy Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

asked.
     
    “You weren’t there?” he asked. “It felt to me as if the entire town was in the room.”
     
    “No,” Sadie said. “I didn’t know the Rumsfelds.”
     
    “He was late,” Lance said. “Normally you expect the family will be the first people to arrive, but the room was already full when he got there. He makes a big show of limping up to the casket, putting all his weight on his cane, moving slow as dirt and his head low. Then he looks in and everything changes. His head snaps up and you could feel the electricity in the air. All the conversations in the room faded and all eyes were on Victor.”
     
    “Then what happened?” Sadie asked.
     
    “He exploded.  He ran at me, his face a livid red. I was afraid he was going to hit me, and I even took a couple of steps backward. He shouted right in my face how I’d made his wife look like a whore and a clown. How I was a disgrace and he’d see that I’d never work again. One of his sons pulled him away and out the door.”
     
    “That must have been very traumatic,” Sadie said.
     
    “I didn’t sleep for weeks. I was appalled, angry, embarrassed and afraid the business would fail. But people came by to tell me that Victor was wrong. That I’d done a good job, and many people still brought their dead to me. I’m fine. He did me no damage. He’s dead, I’m alive. I think I win.” He smiled a sickly smile that made him look unhinged.
     
    Sadie felt suddenly cold, but the moment passed and Lance’s face returned to normal.
     
    “Are you okay, Sadie?” he asked. “You looked green for a moment there.” He had a look of genuine concern on his face.
     
    “I’m fine. Just had a dizzy spell is all,” she said. Mr. Bradshaw was scratching at his collar. Sadie watched him for a moment, but he didn’t seem at all concerned. She must have imagined Lance’s strangeness because Mr. B would have picked up on it. He always did.
     
    Sadie and Mr. B headed home. She needed to make lists for Spain: packing lists, shopping lists and what I should see lists. Plus, she needed to write emails to other junkers who had been there in the last year or so and find out where they found their best stuff. Her network was integral to junking trips. You could miss all the best places without a little guidance.
     
    Betty was talking to a customer when she walked in, so she settled herself in her office with a pad of paper and a cup of coffee she’d picked up next door. Mr. Bradshaw curled up in his bed under her desk. It had been an active morning for him and rodent patrol would have to wait.
     
    Sadie found her travel file and pulled out the packing list from her last trip. She’d been in Ireland, which was colder than Spain, and she’d been hiking, which she wouldn’t have time for this trip. She hand copied the list leaving off the heavy sweaters and the hiking boots. She didn’t keep these lists on the computer on purpose. The act of writing triggered memories and ideas, and besides, she was much more likely not to leave off something important if she was rewriting the entire list rather than using the word processor.
     
    She was deep into her ‘what I should see in Spain’ list when there was a quiet tap at the door. She turned to see Justin Ives standing there, looking pale.
     
    “Professor Ives,” she said. “Won’t you come in and sit down?”
     
    He dropped heavily into a chair and sagged, looking like the world was about to come crashing down on him.
     
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
     
    “I think the cops think I killed Rumsfeld,” he blurted out. “And I swear I didn’t, but I would say that, wouldn’t I, even if I had killed him.” He rubbed his face, leaving his hand partially covering his eyes.
     
    Sadie thought she must be getting cynical, because the gesture made her wonder if he were acting.
     
    “Why do you think you’re a suspect?” she asked.
     
    “He was after my job, wasn’t he? And he made my professional