Caught Dead Handed Read Online Free PDF Page A

“This one is stuck. What’s in it?”
    â€œI don’t remember. Try the next one.”
    I selected a pair of dangly hoop earrings, a strand of blue glass beads, and a couple of chunky rings from the third drawer of the little bureau and placed them on top of the red skirt. “That should about do it,” I said.
    â€œLook. Here’s a shawl that belonged to Great-grandmother Forbes .She brought it back from Spain in the twenties. It used to be on top of her grand piano. You could drape it around your hips.”
    I tied the deeply fringed square loosely over one hip. I turned slowly. “Dum-dum-da-da-da-dum-dum-da.” I hummed the repetitive rhythm of “Habanera.” “What do you think? Would I make a good Carmen? Or maybe Esmeralda, the goat girl?”
    â€œI hope not.” Aunt Ibby returned the last of the tissue-wrapped parcels to the trunk and closed the lid. “Carmen was stabbed to death by her lover, and they hanged poor little Esmeralda as a witch.”

CHAPTER 4
    With blouse and skirt spinning in the washing machine and my great-grandmother’s shawl fluffing in the dryer, Aunt Ibby and I returned to the den. I popped one of the disks Janice had given me into the DVD player. The image of a large blond woman in flowing purple satin filled the TV screen. I listened carefully as Ariel delivered a commercial for a local New Age bookstore. The psychic had good diction and a soothing voice.
    â€œShe’ll take some calls after this commercial,” Aunt Ibby promised. “Watch.”
    â€œGo ahead, caller,” said Ariel. “You’re on the air.” She leaned forward, looking directly into the camera. “Go ahead,” she repeated. “You’re on the air with Ariel. Your first name and your question please.”
    â€œAriel?” came the hesitant reply.
    The psychic nodded, hair decorations bobbing and shimmering.
    â€œYour first name and your question please. We have to move right along. There are other callers waiting.”
    â€œShe sounds a little testy,” I said.
    Aunt Ibby grinned. “That’s half the fun of watching her. Some nights she’s sweet as cream, but other times she’s downright bitchy.”
    â€œMy name is Donna.” The girl sounded very young. “Will my boyfriend and I get married?”
    â€œHis first name?” Ariel pressed the middle finger of her left hand to the center of her forehead, closing purple-lidded eyes.
    â€œMark. His name is Mark.”
    Ariel’s eyes remained closed, heavily blackened false eyelashes dark against plump cheeks. “I feel that Mark may be a good friend for you, but nothing more. There will be a number of other men in your life before you find your true soul mate.”
    â€œWell, uh, thanks, Ariel.”
    â€œJust a moment.” Ariel tilted her head back dramatically.
    â€œI see another man,” she said. “A very handsome, tall man. He is coming to you from a . . . It seems to be a large building. It’s a . . . yes, it’s a school. Perhaps a college. Are you planning to go to college, Donna?”
    â€œWell, maybe.”
    â€œTry to, if you possibly can,” Ariel counseled. “There you will find the metaphysical key to your best future.”
    â€œShe always does that,” Aunt Ibby said.
    â€œDoes what?”
    â€œFinds some way to tell the young-sounding ones to stay in school or to get jobs or look for other relationships.”
    â€œGood idea. I could do that.”
    Ariel gazed into the camera. “Do we have another caller on the line? Hello, caller?”
    There was an audible buzzing sound. Ariel’s brows knotted. “We’ve apparently lost that one. Could you people in the control room stay awake?” There was a decidedly unpleasant edge to her voice. “My calls are important.”
    â€œOh, good.” Aunt Ibby leaned closer to the screen. “She’s going to