Murder in a Basket (An India Hayes Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

officer in our front yard. Ina gestured wildly as she spoke. The cop, whose back was to me, had his arms crossed in front of his chest. I wondered if this was to exude authority or provide protection. Theodore, an obese Maine coon cat and Ina’s charge, sat at her feet, munching on fallen leaves. Theodore was my brother’s cat, but when Mark hit the road, I turned the cat over to Ina. My feline roommate, Templeton, had a personality disagreement with Theo, and I didn’t want to referee a feline version of professional wrestling until my wanderlust sibling found himself.
    I approached the pair cautiously. Ina waved me over. “India, thank goodness you’re home. Tell this boy playing cops and robbers I’m not a crazy old woman.”
    Isn’t lying to a police officer a crime? I wondered.
    “What’s going on?” I asked. As I did, the officer turned to face me. Oh great, it was Officer Knute. Knute was one of the cops I’d had trouble with last summer when my brother was in a legal mess. He was a sun-bleached blond, tan-skinned fit guy, who looked better suited for the beaches of California than the mild streets of Stripling, Ohio.
    Knute grimaced. “Mrs. Carroll here is trying to report a crime ,” he said as if that was in question.
    Ina sniffed. “That’s Ms. Carroll to you. I never got married, thank you very much. Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I’ve ever been hitched.”
    Knute looked heavenward.
    “Don’t roll your eyes at me. I can tell you don’t believe me. It’s true. A crime has been committed.”
    I collected my mail from the box next to my front door. I flipped through it quickly. Bill, bill, junk, bill, junk, postcard. The postcard’s picture was of Delicate Arch in Utah. I flipped it over even though I already knew who sent it. It was from my brother Mark, who was off seeking himself in the wild, wild West. It read, “India, I saw a moose today up in the mountains near Park City, Utah. Did you know there were moose in Utah? I sure didn’t. Having a great time. Hope Theodore is doing well.”
    I looked down at Theodore, who was polishing off the fallen oak leaf that had drifted onto Ina’s half of the porch. His girth spread around him like a deflated balloon. He looked fine to me.
    “What’s that?” Knute asked in alarm as he stared at Theodore.
    “ It’s a cat,” Ina said.
    “ It’s huge. I thought it was a rug.”
    Theo squinted at Knute as if sizing him up for dessert.
    “Are you all right, Ina? What kind of crime was it?” I asked.
    “ Of course, I’m all right,” she replied.
    Knute gave me a sideways glance. “The crime is jaywalking.”
    “ Jaywalking?” I tried to keep the disbelief out of my voice with little success.
    Ina put her hands on her narrow hips. “I could’ve been killed this morning walking downtown. This crazy man almost ran me over as I was making my way down the sidewalk in front of the Lutheran church, then he ran across the street onto the square, nearly getting hit by a car. You don’t even want to know what the driver of the car called him.”
    She was right, I didn’t. All I wanted to do was get a bite to eat and sit down on the couch to watch mind-numbing reality TV. Was that too much to ask after the day I’d had?
    “If you don’t believe me, you can ask Juliet Burla. She was few steps behind me and saw the whole thing.”
    Ina didn’t mention that Juliet, her best friend and co-conspirator, as sweet as she was, was just shy of blind and verging on senile. Juliet’s eyewitness account of anything would never hold up in the court of law.
    “ I called that detective of yours to tell him, and he sent this kid over in his place.”
    I knew who m she was referring to—Detective Richmond Mains, who assisted me last year with my brother’s case. Knute knew, too, since Mains was the only detective on the Stripling police force. I felt myself blush. “He’s not my detective.”
    Knute’s eyes narrowed.
    “I thought because of my