Caught Dead Handed Read Online Free PDF

be nasty.”
    â€œShall we try again?” The tone showed barely concealed exasperation. “Hello, caller. Your first name and your question please.”
    The voice was thin, almost a whisper.
    â€œI . . . I don’t know what to do about my husband. I think I want to leave him. I’m not sure what I should do.”
    â€œYour first name, please?”
    â€œOh. It’s Mavis.”
    â€œYour birthday?”
    The woman gave a December date.
    â€œAnd your husband’s name and date of birth?”
    â€œDo I have to tell? If he found out . . . he wouldn’t like it.”
    â€œNo. You don’t have to tell, Mavis.” Ariel’s voice was softer. “I sense that he has mistreated you.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œPhysically hurt you. I can feel your pain.” Ariel’s forehead furrowed, and she pressed the fingers of both hands against her temples.
    She’s good. I’ll try to learn some of those moves.
    Again came the caller’s answer. “Yes.”
    â€œI see you putting great distance between yourself and this man.” Ariel moved her hands apart.
    â€œThen you think that I should leave him?”
    â€œThat’s not for me to say.” Ariel’s eyes were closed again. “I can only tell you about impressions that I receive. You are a child of the universe, Mavis. You will determine your own path.”
    â€œBut you said—”
    â€œI see you moving away from this man. I see you becoming stronger as the distance becomes greater. Are there children involved, Mavis?”
    â€œNo. No kids. Thank you, Ariel. You’ve helped a lot.”
    â€œLove and light to you, Mavis.”
    â€œLove and light to you, Ariel.”
    â€œDoes she do much marriage counseling over the phone? I mean, did she?” It was hard to speak of her in the past tense. The TV image was so alive.
    â€œYes. She often did it. And quite well, don’t you think? If it seems as though the woman is being abused, as this poor soul obviously was, Ariel usually ‘sees’ her leaving. If it’s just a whiner, she might suggest counseling.”
    The next caller was Bill, a Gemini worried about his relationship with his sister. Ariel advised him to meditate with rose quartz crystals—providing a neat segue into a promo for a sale on healing crystals at an Essex Street shop. A woman thinking of moving and another contemplating the sale of property followed. Ariel advised each of them to wait until after the full moon to make any decisions regarding real estate. Then she announced the next night’s movie, read a commercial for natural vitamins, and wished her audience pleasant dreams.
    â€œWant to watch another? I have those Dark Shadows episodes,” my aunt said. “Or should we stop for lunch?”
    â€œLunch please.” I realized that I was really hungry. “And I think I’ll do a little basic research. Do we still have a copy of Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs? ”
    â€œNonfiction. One-thirty-three point five,” said my librarian aunt.
    Not too many home bookshelves are organized by the Dewey decimal system, but ours was.
    As Aunt Ibby pointed the remote toward the TV set, a close-up of Ariel’s face filled the screen. She nodded slightly, and the image was gone. It seemed to me just then that the little nod might be one of approval.
    For Crystal Moon.
    I made a quick trip to the upstairs study while Aunt Ibby busied herself with lunch preparations. Then, pulling a stool up to the kitchen counter, I propped the copy of Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs against an apple-shaped cookie jar. A grilled cheese sandwich and a steaming mug of tomato soup, my favorite childhood comfort foods, appeared beside me.
    â€œThanks, Aunt Ibby. You’re going to spoil me.”
    â€œMy pleasure,” she said. “Why the astrology book?”
    â€œI noticed that Ariel sometimes asked for a caller’s birth date.