Murder the Tey Way: A Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery (The Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries 2) Read Online Free PDF

to say they’d be coming to pick her up, they were told that Gayle had packed up and left school. She called them days later to say she was in England. She made it clear that she didn’t want them to call her, that she didn’t need their money, and that she was finally leading the life she’d always wanted. She spent the next few years traipsing around Europe. She’d call me or our parents every few months to let us know she was all right. I worried about Gayle, but I was a single mother. Working and raising Jesse while getting my PhD took up every waking moment. I loved my sister and wished her well, but I knew nothing of her life.
    I pulled into the parking spot closest to Prentiss Hall where I taught my classes, and reached for my briefcase. In broad sunlight on this crisp October morning, I told myself that even if everything she’d told me was true, Gayle had no reason to fear this Shawn while she was on Long Island. The police here could protect her. Brian would, I knew.
    It was a relief to immerse myself in administrative paper shuffling and students‘ problems. Even hearing about one girl’s parents‘ divorce and another’s sick grandmother was better than dwelling on the awfulness I’d left behind. It all flooded back the moment I stepped into my car to drive home.
    Where was my sister now? Had she killed that man? Was he working for Shawn? If he wasn’t, what was he doing in my backyard?
    I mulled over these questions again and again, which got me nowhere. I was a mental mess by the time I turned down Magnolia Lane. When I saw no sign of a police car or the crime team, I released the lungful of air I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I’d go bonkers if I stayed alone in my house, rehashing my concerns. I left the car in the driveway and walked across my neighbor’s lawn to ring Joy’s bell.
    She looked frazzled when she opened the door, a finger to her lips. And she was still in her bathrobe. “Brandon’s sleeping. He was up all night teething.”
    “And you were up with him,” I said.
    “Natch,” she said sourly. “Who else?”
    “Mike?” I offered.
    “Mike,” Joy said, and laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound.
    Puzzled, I followed her into the living room strewn with toys. Joy plunked down on the sofa and closed her eyes.
    “Brandon finally fell asleep at dawn. The commotion at your house woke him up.”
    “Sorry about that.”
    “Not your fault.” After a minute, she said, “How weird is it that the peeping Tom from last night ends up dead in your backyard?”
    “The weirdest,” I agreed.
    “I’m starving,” Joy said, but made no move to get up.
    “Did you eat lunch?”
    She shook her head. “Nor breakfast, if I remember correctly.”
    With a pang, I remembered how distracted and upset she’d been last evening. Something was dreadfully out of kilter. “What’s wrong, Joy?”
    That awful laugh again. “You mean, what happened yesterday between the two times I saw you?”
    “Yes.”
    “I found out Mike, the bastard, is having an affair.”
    I pressed fingers to my lips to keep from laughing. Mike Lincoln was the last man on earth who would cheat on his wife.
    Joy opened her eyes to gaze balefully at me. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, but I have proof. And proof is indisputable.”
    I swallowed, not at all happy to hear this. “What kind of proof are you talking about? Don’t tell me you came home and found Mike in bed with someone? Not with Mrs. Horton here.”
    “Of course not! It happened when I was baking the gluten-free cookies. I’d fed the kids, and Mike was giving Brandon his bath. I went upstairs to check on things, when I heard him on the phone with my innocent baby son in his arms!”
    Joy, the tough and the brave, looked like she was about to burst into tears.
    “What was he saying?”
    “For one thing, he called this woman ‘sweetie’.”
    “He calls me that sometimes,” I pointed out.
    “Yeah, but he was holding the phone cupped in his hand