Darlene Franklin - Dressed for Death 03 - Paint Me a Murder Read Online Free PDF

first, I followed his example. I took my first bite of the mozzarella-filed crust and sighed with contentment. The restaurant’s version of the specialty had bored me, but it tasted nothing like this. Gilda’s pizza deserved the china. How could I resent her presence? All she wanted was to make these last six weeks as easy as possible.
    I forced myself to pause after two bites. Dr. Johnson had warned me not to overeat, and said I could avoid the trap by putting my fork down between bites. He must never have tasted pizza this good.
    While I waited, Jenna’s revelations buzzed through my veins again. Should I wait until Audie and I were alone to share the news? I didn’t think I could. Excitement bubbled through my veins like hot lava, and I refused to let my mother-in-law’s presence in my home deter me from discussing the day’s events over the supper table. “Guess what I learned today.”
    “What is it, dear?” Gilda turned her eyes, almost steely cadet blue in color, in my direction. “Did the doctor tell you the sex of the baby? Usually they can tell by this time.”
    I refrained from reminding Gilda that Audie and I didn’t want to know our baby’s gender before his or her arrival.
    “No. It’s about Jenna.”
    “But she’s your sister . Surely you two don’t have secrets.” So spoke the woman who only gave birth to one child. Maybe she had an older sister; I wasn’t sure.
    Audie arched an eyebrow. I knew he shared my amusement at his mother’s remark. Given the fact that Jenna was five years older than me and left Grace Gulch as soon as she finished high school, she had done a lot of things I knew nothing about.
    “What is it?” Audie asked. I appreciated his restraint in not asking, So what did she do this time?
    “Brad Merriman is Dina’s father.” The words ran together as I blurted them out.
    “What did you say, dear?”
    I didn’t blame Gilda for not understanding.
    “Brad Merr—you mean, the artist Brad Merriman?” Nothing less than this bombshell could have stopped Audie in mid-slice.
    “The very same. No wonder Jenna was shocked when she learned which artist submitted the winning mural.”
    “The painter is Dina’s father?” Gilda was still working out what I had said. She knew the bare bones of the story. Our family had never kept it a secret.
    I nodded and took a couple of bites of pizza. I had earned them.
    “Oh, dear.” Gilda dabbed her mouth with her napkin.
    Audie frowned. “And now he’s dead.”
    “That’s the other news. The body in the studio? It wasn’t Brad. It was Finella Gaynor. Apparently Finella and Brad had been dating.” A pang of guilt assaulted me. Was this the kind of gossip Paul warned us against in 2 Corinthians? After all, this was a family dinner, and Brad was family, in a way. I wasn’t telling outsiders.
    I decided it was okay. I needed to let off steam about Jenna. Before she left, she let me know she planned to hole up at an out-of-town hotel for the night. She needed time to think. If her thoughts followed the same path as mine, she’d wonder why Brad hadn’t returned. His absence made him look guilty.
    “I’m sorry to hear about Finella. She seemed like a nice woman, what little I knew of her.” Audie chewed on his pizza and swallowed. “I wonder how Brad is taking the destruction of the studio.”
    I shook my head. “He’s still missing. Jenna’s worried that the police will suspect he committed the murder.”
    “What murder?” Gilda cut her pizza and lifted a tiny piece to her mouth. “Surely it was just an accident.”
    Audie stared at me. He must have seen the truth and worry in my expression, because he set down his pizza. “Not again.”
    I nodded my head. “They believe a blow to her head killed her.”
    “And you want to investigate.” A smile played across Audie’s lips.
    “You wouldn’t do that!” Gilda exclaimed.
    Suddenly Junior kicked me and reminded me of more important things. “I don’t want to. But