Murder for Bid Read Online Free PDF Page B

having an affair?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    I was watching Sheila closely. Her zealous reaction just confirmed what I already knew: Richard Schmidt was having an affair and Sheila suspected it. Women, especially women like Sheila, with their whole life wrapped up in their social status, knew things about people. The problem was that even if Sheila knew something about Schmidt, she would never tell me. She was loyal to her own kind.
    “I’m certain he was having an affair, Sheila,” I boldly stated. “I think he murdered his wife, probably because of his mistress.” 
    “What? He doesn’t have a mistress. You’re crazy. That type of thing doesn’t happen around here.”
    “What you mean to say is that this type of thing doesn’t happen in your social circle.”
    “No, that’s not what I mean,” Sheila snapped. “Richard Schmidt is a wonderful man. Why it’s rumored that he may be running for mayor in the next election. His business is good, his health is good.”
    “How was his marriage?”
    “Of course his marriage was good. Why, he and Amanda were married for years. He was devoted to her. Just ask anyone. There’s no way that he was cheating on Amanda. Besides, if he was, I would have heard about it.”
    “I bet.”
    Sheila glared at me, stepped out and slammed the car door. I had to struggle to keep pace with her across the parking lot.
    “Once we’re inside,” Sheila said, staring straight ahead and increasing her stride, “I’m going to make myself scarce. I want as few people as possible to know that we’re here together, clear?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “David would kill me if he knew that I’d brought you here,” she added.
    David was David Scholstein, Sheila’s husband. He was ten years her senior and quite stuffy and not at all attractive; but, very rich. I suspected his wealth and prominence probably made it easy for Sheila to overlook David’s less than desirable qualities. Sheila was quite fortunate to marry into the Scholstein family. Anywhere you stood in Naperville was, at one time, Scholstein family land, sold off to residential and commercial developers for millions. Their roots could be traced back to the original settlers of the area. They were ‘old’ money people.
    “Don’t worry, Sheila. I’m always discreet. David will never know.”
    A weird twisted laugh escaped Sheila’s lips. “Believe me, Phillipena,” she said, glancing sideways, “there’s nothing discreet about you in that getup.”
    I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but we were inside, and true to her word, Sheila disappeared. I shuffled around for a while, trying to act like whatever a club member acted like. I can’t say that I’d had a lot of experience in that area. The only time I had ever been in a country club was with my high school prom date and I’ve been trying to put that night out of my memory for years.
    After a few minutes of aimless wandering, I made my way to the pro shop.
    “Can I help you, Miss?” I turned to find a sales woman eyeing me with forced friendliness. “We just had a new shipment of apparel come in this morning, perhaps I should show you something,” she said in a sweet voice that didn’t quite match the apparent abhorrence in the scrutiny she was giving my outfit. I couldn’t quite understand what the ugly up-and-down stare was about; I thought I was looking better than I had looked in a long time.
    “Sure,” I replied, matching her sweetness with my best phony smile.
    She directed me to a display table. “Here we have several different styles of sweater sets, yellow is very popular this spring.”
    I made a noncommittal type of noise.
    “Or maybe you’re in the need of some golfing shorts? We have some of the latest fashion designs.”
    “Oh, I like that pair,” I gushed. “Actually, I think Amanda has some just like … oops, I mean had some like this,” I added with a small shudder.
    “Oh dear, were you two close?”
    “I know she enjoyed