Death of the Couch Potato's Wife: Cozy Christian Mysteries (Women Sleuth, Female Detective Suspense) Read Online Free PDF Page B

tonight. I’d almost forgotten in all of the craziness.
    Who knew what kind of speculation I’d hear there.
    Maybe enough to figure out who’d sent me that threatening note.

Chapter 5

    “The best advice I can give everyone here tonight is to lock your doors, don’t eat pork rinds, and report any suspicious behavior.” Harry stood at the podium on the stage of the aptly named Boring High School, and nodded repeatedly to the large turnout of concerned citizens seated in the hard wooden seats. Harry appeared to be trying to make eye contact with everyone at the association meeting to drive home his point. His over-the- top antics were enough to make me want to burst out laughing. I didn’t, of course, because death was no laughing matter.
    But with safety tips like those, I could have stayed home and still been all the wiser. Organizing my sock drawer seemed more appealing than this waste of time.
    Besides, I could very well be the next corpse found here in the ‘burbs. Someone wanted me either dead or quiet, and to keep me quiet I’d probably have to be dead. My odds weren’t looking good.
    Awkward silence fell over the auditorium. Finally, Hillary stood from her seat at the side of the stage, made her way to the podium, and cleared her throat.
    Come on, Hillary. Don’t do it. Don’t show your prickly side.
    “Thank you, Harry, for that groundbreaking advice.” Her cheeks reddened.
    The start of a smile tugged at my lips. On second thought, this was much more entertaining than organizing my sock drawer. These were the kind of uncomfortable moments that were usually reserved for reality TV.
    Hillary tugged at the collar of her navy blue suit. “Does anyone have any questions?”
    The silence did a 180. Suddenly, everyone began talking at once as hands shot in the air.
    “Do the police know who did this?”
    “How did Candace die?”
    “Does anyone know where Jerry is?”
    “Are we really safe?”
    Hillary held up her hands. “One at a time, please!”
    It was a moment for the history books. Hillary was losing her precious control. Kent and I looked at each other and grinned. That was one thing I had to give Hillary credit for: Our mutual disdain for her had pulled us closer together.
    “Do the police have any suspects? Probably a city slicker,” Emma Jean theorized. Emma Jean’s family went back a hundred years in this town. For Emma Jean, newcomers weren’t welcome in sweet little Boring. We were corrupt—and, as she often liked to say, litterers.
    Harry shook his head. “The police aren’t sharing any theories as to who they feel is guilty. But they do assure me that they’re on top of this investigation.”
    More than likely, they’d told him to mind his own business.
    “Are we safe? I mean, really safe, because I haven’t been sleeping at night, I’m so worried that someone’s going to get me too!” Tiara knitted her eyebrows together, looking much younger than her thirty-eight years.
    Harry pushed his chest out further, and the Neighborhood Watch emblem on his knit shirt caught my attention. He must have a closetful of those shirts, one for each day of the week. “We can’t live in fear. We have to resume our normal lives. After all, there’s no evidence that would lead authorities to think that this is the work of a serial killer.”
    “A serial killer!” Pandemonium exploded again.
    Hillary’s face turned red, and her eyes shot daggers at Harry. “I’m sure this was a crime of association. Nobody has anything to worry about!”
    “How can you be sure? Did the police tell you that?”
    “I’ve got children to think about! Speculation just isn’t good enough.”
    “I moved here because it was supposed to be safe.”
    Hillary looked speechless. The gavel dangled in her hands, and her bottom lip dropped slightly.
    An idea struck. Before I lost courage, I stood up and rubbed my hands on my slacks. “I have an idea, everyone.”
    Silence. All eyes zeroed in on me.
    I swallowed