Murder, Simply Stitched: An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

the best of our ability, but after a while we stopped taking her complaints as seriously as we should have.”
    “She cried wolf too many times?” I asked.
    His aquamarine eyes turned sad. “That’s what we thought, but now I think that was a mistake.” Worry creased the sheriff’s forehead. “You can rest assured that I will be taking her death
very
seriously.”
    Did that mean he would treat the case as a murder investigation? Thinking of the fry pie again, I wondered what that would mean for Rachel.
    Mitchell led me a few yards farther away from the canning shed, out of earshot of the crime scene techs collecting evidence. He dropped my arm. “Do you have any idea of where that fry pie came from?”
    “Umm . . . well . . .”
    He eyes snapped on my face again. “Angie . . .”
    I grimaced.
    “How did she get it?
    I kicked a tuft of grass with the toe of my boot. “Rachel gave it to her.”
    “Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something else important?”
    Because I wasn’t. I wasn’t going to tell him about Wanda and Rachel’s argument. He would have to learn about that on his own.

Chapter Five
     
    T he coroner arrived not long after that, and Mitchell became preoccupied with the scene. I sidled up to Deputy Anderson, Mitchell’s young and perpetually flummoxed deputy. “Would it be all right if I take Oliver back to the merchants’ tent?”
    Deputy Anderson turned to the sheriff, but Mitchell was in deep conversation with the coroner.
    “He won’t go unless I go with him.” I lowered my voice as if I were trying not to alarm the dog. “He’s very skittish.”
    The deputy’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he thought. “I guess that would be all right if you come straight back.”
    “Okay,” I said, already leaving.
    Jonah raised his eyebrows as I strode by with Oliver tucked under my arm.
    I was halfway to the merchants’ tent when I heard the sheriff’s voice behind me. “Are you on your way to Rachel Miller?”
    My heart leaped into my throat.
    The sheriff came up alongside me.
    “N-no. I’m just taking Oliver back to my setup in the merchants’ tent. All the commotion makes him nervous.”
    His mouth twitched as if he were trying to fight a smile. “I’ll walk with you.”
    I gritted my teeth. “Shouldn’t you be here? What if the coroner needs you?”
    “I’ll just be in his way.”
    I didn’t say anything more. Inside the tent, Mattie’s eyes widened when she saw the sheriff with me. I set Oliver on the ground, and he belly crawled under my table as the sheriff made a beeline for Rachel. I was on his heels.
    Rachel smiled. “Good afternoon, Sheriff. Would you care for a fry pie?” She held one up to him.
    I winced. That was the wrong question to ask, and Rachel did it so innocently. Clearly, she was unaware of anything going on outside.
    “Rachel, there’s—”
    Mitchell stepped in front of me and blocked my view of her. Although he wasn’t as tall as Linus the auctioneer, he was over six feet and could block my line of sight. “Did you give one of these to Wanda Hunt?”
    “Ya,”
Rachel said. Confusion laced her voice. “Did she complain to you about it?”
    I sidestepped the sheriff. “Rachel, something has happened.”
    “Miss Braddock, I will ask you to go back to your table now,” Mitchell’s voice was ice-cold.
    “No.”
    His jaw twitched. “Fine, but don’t talk.”
    I gave him my best withering glare.
    Mitchell turned his attention back to Rachel. “Rachel, Wanda Hunt is dead. Her body was found behind the canning shed here at the auction.”
    The sheriff didn’t tell Rachel that I was the person who found her.
    Rachel gasped. “What? How? Was she sick?”
    He picked up one of the fry pies in his hand as if testing the weight of it. “We don’t know yet, but a blueberry fry pie was found with her. Did you give it to her?”
    “
Y-ya
, I gave it to her. I hoped she would accept it as a gift.”
    “A gift for what?” Mitchell