Becklaw's Murder Mystery Tour (Jo Anderson Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

can’t imagine anyone actually coming here and breaking in. And even if it wasn’t already open, no one ever comes around here anyway.’
    He looked so smug that I felt compelled to point out that the paper person managed to come around every morning. This earned me a derisive snort from Leslie.
    LJ, bless his reticent heart, took a ‘pass’ in the game of “Kick Jo When She’s Down”. I gave him the benefit of my sunniest smile, which sent a ripple of color across his face. This earned me another glare from Leslie.
    Finally, it was Miss Bea’s turn.
    To my surprise, and also to my delight, Miss Bea took my side. If I hadn’t already begun to admire the woman, this would have been the start.
    ‘I happen to find your tale quite believable, my dear.’ I smiled in triumph at the others, relishing their looks of incredulity.
    She continued in a matter-of-fact tone, ‘I think that you might have encountered a local scourge known as raccoons.’ This sounded so ridiculous that I burst out laughing, causing Leslie to give me the ‘stare of death’ with eyes narrowed to virtual slits in her face.
    That girl needed to be careful; her face could freeze like that one day and then where would her acting career be?
    The idea that forest creatures could actually manipulate doors and find their way into a house without the aid of a human repelled me. Never one to glory in animated movies featuring sweet fawns bounding playfully through trees or birds chirping merrily as they did housework, I felt a smidgeon of fear tiptoe from the recess of my mind and go tripping down my spine. Visions of mice and raccoons in cahoots, planning feverishly to run me out of town, gave me a sudden headache.
    This called for serious strategizing. This was war.
    Despite Miss Bea’s many assurances that raccoons could not purposely hunt me down and hurt me, especially if I locked my bedroom door, I could not shake the image of a stealthily creeping animal, moving up the stairs and straight to my bedroom door in the dead of night. Leslie must have had similar thoughts. I saw her shiver and move closer to LJ, who, in turn, edged his huge body nearer to her. As upset as I was, I had to grin at the sight. Just who was comforting whom?
    The troupe was feeling a bit awkward with me since Miss Bea had exonerated me of my sin. I, on the other hand, was feeling quite magnanimous, and proved it by offering to do the dishes alone.
    I had hardly begun to run the water when Leslie joined me, standing off to the side as if we had never met before. I tossed her a towel, keeping up a stream of chatter about this and that. We were soon joined by LJ, then Derek, each of the boys looking a little sheepish.
    I let them all suffer for a few minutes more, then turned and gave them all a brilliant smile. ‘I hope,’ I said, ‘that this ends the issue.’
    Talking over one another, they each assured me that yes, indeed, this proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was both sane and sage, and did I have any plan in mind to prevent this from happening again?
    Miss Jo was back in the saddle again.
    I rallied the troops once again (pardon the mixing of analogies) and laid out the plans for the day. Tomorrow morning we would be picking up camp and moving to Manchester, a mountain town not too far from Copper, north-east up Highway 25 and the site for the county fair. We were booked to perform nightly at the barbecue tent, and Miss Bea wanted to meet up with the local talent a little earlier than we had for the Moose Lodge performance.
    Leslie was put in charge of gathering and packing the costumes and accessories we would use. To Derek, I assigned the task of checking on our accommodation, which would be in a KOA – Kampgrounds of America – campground just outside of Manchester. I told him to make sure – doubly sure –that there would be electrical outlets. I needed my blow dryer. LJ was set to washing the faithful station wagon, shining up the tires, and