Eggs in a Casket (A Cackleberry Club Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page B

why she was in the cemetery this morning,” said Suzanne.
    “Let’s
hope
she does,” said Toni.
    * * *
    AT one-thirty that afternoon, Suzanne was standing in line at the bank. She’d been so busy she hadn’t had time to deposit all their receipts from the previous week. So here she was, with a bulging blue plastic envelope stuffed with dog-eared ones, tens, and twenties as well as assorted checks.
    “Hey, Suzanne,” said the teller. She was a plump woman by the name of Jana Riesgraff. Jana had worked at the local bank for twenty years and probably should have been named as the new bank president, instead of the ineffectual young man who was in that position now. “I heard you were the one who found Lester Drummond this morning.”
    “Does everybody know about that?” Suzanne asked.
    Jana nodded as she quickly counted bills, punched in numbers on her machine, and handed Suzanne a receipt. “Pretty much.” Jana grinned. “That’s the beauty of a small town.”
    “Or the
problem
with it,” Suzanne murmured to herself as she turned to leave. But just as she got to the door, Havis Newton, the brand-new director at the Historical Society, flagged her down. As Suzanne could have predicted, Havis was also aflutter over Drummond’s death in the cemetery.
    “Fancy seeing
you
,” said Havis, putting more meaning into her words than she ordinarily would. She was a young woman, just a few years out of graduate school. With her solemn eyes, straight hair, and no-nonsense horn-rimmed glasses, she was taking her job as seriously as if she’d just been appointed executive director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
    Suzanne sighed inwardly. It was probably going to be like this for a few days. Until the shock of Drummond’s death wore off, or his killer was apprehended. Or both.
    “How are you doing, Havis?” Suzanne asked.
    Havis just shook her head, looking exasperated. “What can I say? My plate is full.”
    Suzanne wasn’t sure what that meant, so she said, “Is the rededication ceremony going on as planned tomorrow morning? In light of what happened at the cemetery?” She didn’t want to talk about the fact that she’d been there. That would all come out soon enough.
    “Yes, it’s still happening,” said Havis. “But I fear this strange death or accident or whatever it was may have frightened people. That it might keep them away.”
    “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Suzanne. “For one thing, folks in Kindred are a curious lot. If anything, a mysterious death might actually bring even more people out.”
    “Really?” said Havis. “You think they’d come just to see the actual scene of the crime?”
    “What’s left of it anyway.”
    “What an awful thought!” said Havis, looking increasingly worried. “I better speak with the cemetery people. Make sure that grave is filled in immediately and the area secured!”
    “Do that,” said Suzanne. “Otherwise it will surely be a huge curiosity.” She smiled warmly and reached a hand out to steady Havis, who looked awfully upset. “Really, it’s going to be fine. Don’t worry about it.”
    “But I do,” said Havis. “I have to. The Logan County Historical Society is my first curatorial job. Actually,
director’s
job. I don’t want to blow it.”
    “That’s not going to happen,” said Suzanne, “because you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re just a victim of circumstances.”
Kind of like Missy probably is.
    “Drummond’s death in the cemetery just came whizzing out of nowhere,” said Havis, shaking her head.
    “Nothing you can do about it now,” said Suzanne. “Except ride it out. Besides, I know tomorrow’s rededication ceremony will be a lovely event. A lot of people in Kindred have relatives buried there, so your ceremony will be particularly meaningful to them.”
    Havis seemed to brighten at her words. “And we really have an entire
calendar
of events.” She smiled. “Our candlelight tours on