A Luring Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

our old Victorian in Saint Paul.
    The majority of our home had half-finished projects which took a way-back seat to Gavin’s paying jobs. I could live with the random electrical outages and having to dance around the sawhorses which littered every floor, but showering in a cubical that had sheets of clear plastic stapled to all four sides instead of walls wore thin my patience.
    Gavin closed the lid of the toilet, sat, and crossed his legs. “I don’t believe for a second you can see where the evidence leads and then walk away. Every murder is personal to you.”
    “Please, let’s not have the, you-take-your-job-too-personally argument again.”
    I stepped into the shower and closed the glass door behind me with more force than necessary.
    “Besides, I’ll be back in plenty of time for the fishy feeding frenzy, or whatever the hell they call their party.”
    Gavin’s friend Bill had described the party as not to miss, best food ever, and the best time we’d ever have. He said it like an addict describing his favorite fix, with the same glassy-eyed, maniacal look on his face.
    I soaped up with my back to him. He didn’t deserve a free show for as pissy as he was being.
    “It’s a fish fry feeding frenzy,” he said, as if giving a party a ridiculous name wasn’t odd.
    “Yeah, well, whatever.”
    I rinsed quickly and turned off the water. I only needed to clean off the puppy calling card and get most of the death and fish smells off me. Without lemon, washing was basically hopeless anyway. A full service shower could wait until I had more time. Gavin handed me the beach towel from the floor. I wrapped myself in the oversize terrycloth and scurried to the bedroom.
    “I’ll be back in plenty of time for the picnic, assuming it’s still on.”
    He shrugged. “I haven’t heard that they’re calling the party off.”
    I couldn’t have been more surprised if Gavin had stood and flicked me between the eyes. You’d think after finding a dead body on the premises the resort owners might not want to have a huge party the same day. The whole notion seemed a little disrespectful.
    “Good.” I dried myself, and then put on my clothes. “Then you can help me scope out suspects. Won’t that be fun?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Nick and Nora Charles we’re not, Catherine. We can barely cook dinner together without driving each other crazy.”
    I raided my duffel bag, found a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
    “Oh, come on. We’ll have fun.” I slung my bra around my chest and hooked it in the back, then pulled on my underwear. I might have to do laundry by the end of the week. I hadn’t planned on changing my clothes twice a day.
    “You always say you want to do more stuff together. This way we get the best of both worlds. Your stuff and my stuff.”
    “My stuff?” He folded his arms and leaned against the door jam. “What part of that is my stuff?”
    “Your fish feeding frenzy thing.” I wiggled my fingers at him.
    I finished dressing then raked my unruly curls back into a ponytail. The dampness in the air made the pony frizz out, but there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. God cursed me with misbehaving curls.
    “It’s a fish fry feeding frenzy.” This time he repeated the party name as if he were speaking to a child.
    “That’s the thing.” I kissed him on the cheek and headed for the door. “We’ll do the fish thing, and we’ll investigate at the same time.
    I heard a sarcastic, “I can’t wait,” as the cabin door closed behind me.

CHAPTER THREE

    Louise, Digs, and the Sheriff all waited for me near the main house of the resort. Sheriff Anderson waved like he was greeting an old friend he hadn’t seen in years.
    “Did you get the dog pee cleaned off?” He asked.
    I glared a Digs who stared off into the sky like the treetops were the most fascinating sight in the world with a devious smirk on his face.
    “News travels fast around this place.”
    Sheriff Anderson gave a