Hopscotch Homicide (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 16) Read Online Free PDF Page A

sister, Harper, was feeling. The last time I’d seen her, my mom had been concerned that the cold she’d been fighting wasn’t going away as quickly as the doctor said it would.
    When I arrived at the store it was Pappy, my grandfather, rather than my dad behind the counter.
    “Where’s Dad?” I asked.
    “It seems your mom came down with the flu Harper has been dealing with, so I volunteered to come in so your dad could stay home and play nurse.”
    “Poor Harper. She just can’t seem to shake the darn thing. And poor Mom. It’s no fun being sick.”
    “Yeah, your dad seems pretty worried about it. You should stop in when you have a chance. Actually, maybe you should just call. There’s no use you getting sick too.”
    “I will. Has Mom been to the doctor?”
    “Your dad said the doctor called in a prescription. So what are you up to today?”
    “I guess you heard about Mrs. Brown?” I queried.
    “I did. It’s a real shame.”
    “Did you know her?”
    “Sort of. Evelyn and I have lived in Ashton Falls for decades, and we came into contact from time to time. She seemed like a nice enough person, although she did have a few quirks. Have you heard who might have done this to the poor woman?”
    I jumped up onto the counter and crossed my legs Indian style, then plucked a hard candy from the jar and popped it into my mouth.
    “No, not yet,” I answered. “Salinger said he found a button in her hand from a man’s dress shirt, and it appears she was initially attacked in the kitchen and then chased outside. I’m afraid that’s not a lot to go on.”
    “No.” Pappy sighed. “It really isn’t. How can I help?”
    “I don’t know. I guess just tell me what you know about the woman, and maybe something you say will lead to a clue.”
    Pappy leaned his elbows on the counter to support his weight while he considered my question.
    “Evelyn first moved to Ashton Falls as a young bride about forty years ago.”
    “I remember Salinger mentioned Evelyn was sixty-two, so she would have been in her early twenties when she moved here?”
    “Sounds about right. When I first met her, she spent her time volunteering at the hospital, reading to the sick. I had broken my leg, and due to the severity of the break, I ended up spending almost a week in a hospital bed.”
    “How come I never knew about your leg?” I asked.
    “I guess it just never came up. It happened before you were born and it healed up right nice and really hasn’t bothered me since.”
    It was times like this that I wondered what else there was I didn’t know about the people I was closest to. “Go on,” I encouraged.
    “About a year after Evelyn and her young man moved to Ashton Falls, he was killed in a fire. He was the first on the scene at a residential structure that was completely engulfed in flames. He died saving the life of a young child.”
    “Oh, my. What happened to the child?” I asked.
    “He lived. Evelyn’s husband was deemed a hero, and the entire community rallied around her. She didn’t have any money saved and didn’t have any skills to speak of, so she bounced around from one job to the next for years.”
    “So how did she end up with the job as lunch lady?” I had to ask. She certainly didn’t get the job based on her cooking skills.
    “When Jim Bower took over as principal he hired her, and she’d been there ever since.”
    “Why did he hire her in the first place? Her cooking was lethal.”
    “He was the boy her husband died saving.”
    “Oh.” Suddenly at least part of the puzzle had fallen into place. Of course he felt a deep gratitude for the woman. I’m sure that short of actually poisoning someone, her job had been pretty secure.
    “Poor Mr. Bower. He must be really upset by what happened.”
    “I haven’t spoken to him, but I’m sure he must be,” Pappy agreed.
    “So I take it Mrs. Brown never remarried or had children.”
    “She did not. I heard her say more than once that she didn’t care