Ax to Grind Read Online Free PDF Page A

looked out the corner of his eyes, he saw Meg staring him down.  He took a deep breath, then turned to Liz. 
    “Not at the moment,” he answered. 
    Liz breathed a huge sigh of relief.  As Connor kept talking, she realized she wasn’t quite out of the woods. 
    “I still have a number of other suspects to investigate and some test results I’m waiting to hear back on.  At the same time, don’t go leaving town on me,” he warned. 
    Meg saw her friend starting to tremble.  She leaned over and gave Liz a hug to try and soothe her.  It was clear that as long as Connor was in her living room, she’d remain a basket case. 
    Meg turned to the detective.  “Can I have some time alone with her?”
    Connor nodded.  “Sure.  I have some work to be doing anyway.”
    Connor then made his exit, leaving Meg and Liz alone in the living room. 
     

 
    Chapter Eight
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    With the detective gone, Liz no longer had to put on a good face anymore.  She could let her true emotions out.  As expected, Liz was a jittery mess.  While Meg completely understood her friend’s feelings, she needed to find a way to calm her down.  There were enough problems to deal with already without having to worry if Liz was going to have a complete meltdown.  Besides, Meg needed some answers from her friend in order to try and make sense of the situation.  In the meantime, Meg had serious damage control to do. 
    “I can’t believe this is happening,” Liz said.
    Meg gave her friend a hug.
    “You’re not the only one,” Meg replied. 
    “Connor actually thinks I could have done this.”
    Meg sighed.  “He’s just doing his job.  And, given the circumstances--”
    Liz didn’t let her friend finish.  “I didn’t do this.”
    “Of course you didn’t.”
    “Meg, I’m being serious.  I didn’t murder Ethan.  I could never kill anyone, no matter how terrible they happened to be.”
    Liz locked eyes with Meg, staring at her long and deep.  Meg didn’t doubt her friend in the least.  She could say with a hundred percent confidence that Liz was telling the truth.   
    “I know you didn’t,” Meg replied.
    Liz breathed a sigh of relief.  “Good.  Now I just have to find a way to convince Connor of that.”
    Liz started trembling.  She was coming unraveled.  This wasn’t something words or a hug could fix.  Meg had to call on something more powerful—a spell.  This would take some finagling. 
    “I know just what you need.  A cup of tea always calms me down,” Meg said.
    Liz was critical of that suggestion.  “Tea?  Meg, you know I usually love your advice, but it would take a horse tranquilizer to calm me down right now.”
    Meg smiled.  “Trust me.” 
    Meg excused herself, then headed into Liz’s kitchen, where she began to prepare some tea.  This wouldn’t just be any old cup of chamomile.  It would be spiked with a special ingredient. 
    Meg prepared the tea, then whispered under her breath as she stared at the cup. “Tranquillitas, tranquillitas, tranquillitas.”
    Liz would never taste the difference, but Meg had just cast a calming spell on the tea.  One sip and Meg’s friend would feel like she just finished a day of meditating. 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
     
     
     
    The spell worked like a charm.  As expected, it only took one sip of the enchanted tea for Liz to calm down.  Now, Meg could get down to the most pressing matters. 
    “Wow.  That actually worked.  Maybe I should make tea more often,” Liz said. 
    “I know it’s hard to believe it now, but I’m going to get you out of this,” Meg insisted. 
    Liz furrowed her brow.  “How are you going to do that?”
    “By finding the real killer myself.”
    Liz’s eyes opened wide.  “Really?”
    Meg nodded.  “Unfortunately, I don’t see any other way.”
    Liz still wasn’t convinced.  “I know you solved that other case, but this could really be dangerous.”
    “I can take