Shadow Waltz Read Online Free PDF Page A

intelligent, brave, or worldly Marjorie managed to appear, there remained, beneath her imperturbable surface, a naïve little girl. “I don’t think you’re cut out for tobacco, darling.”
    â€œNo, I suppose not.” She pulled a face. “Although sometimes I see a film with Jean Harlow or Mae West and I wonder …”
    Creighton stepped forward and kissed his future wife on the forehead. “Well, stop wondering. The only person I ever want you to be is you.”
    Marjorie giggled and threw her arms about his neck and then looked up suddenly. “What’s that dripping sound?”
    He brushed his lips lightly against her hair and moved into the kitchen. “Leaky tap,” he called from the vacant cooking area. “Looks as if Ronnie had a penchant for frying. There’s a pan full of grease on the stove.” He opened and closed the icebox doors and those of the grease-splattered cupboards. “Nothing here but bacon grease, bread crumbs, and—oh, wait a tick.”
    Marjorie joined him in the kitchen, where a set of personalized luggage sat by the back door waiting for an eager traveler to snatch them up and tote them to some exotic locale.
    He bent down over the slightly tattered suitcases. “V.C.,” he read aloud. “At one time Veronica Carter had money.”
    â€œNo,” Marjorie argued. “Those are cheap knockoffs. Mrs. Patterson and I saw a set at Fox’s Department Store just like it when we were shopping for my trousseau. The monogramming was free and you had the option of buying them on time.”
    â€œFascinating, but it still doesn’t tell us what happened to Ronnie Carter. Or why she left her luggage behind.” Creighton popped the spring mechanism on one of the cases only to find it empty. He continued to pry the remaining two lids ajar. Again, all they contained was air.
    â€œOne is missing,” Marjorie noted.
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œBecause the ones I saw were sold in a set of four and they were graduated in size. The smallest is a trai n case for makeup and toiletries. The next biggest is a valise—it’s used for short overnight stays. That big one,” she tapped it with the toe of her right foot, “is about two and a half times the size of the valise and for lengthy trips. But there’s supposed to be a case in between the two. Something that the average woman could take along for a week away, say to Niagara Falls for a honeymoon?”
    â€œI don’t think Veronica was going on a honeymoon, hanging about the likes of Michael Barnwell.” He grinned from ear to ear. “And as for our honeymoon, my dear, considering what I have planned, the valise would be quite adequate.” He ended the statement with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
    Marjorie mimicked the gesture but quickly regained momentum. “Sounds lovely, but at the moment, we’re faced with the matter of a missing suitcase.”
    â€œSimple. Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Carter packed her things into it and ran away with Michael Barnwell. Case solved.”
    â€œThe case isn’t solved. We haven’t a shred of evidence to support your theory and I, for one, would like some cold, hard facts before I tell a poor young mother that her husband has run off with another woman.”
    Creighton bit his bottom lip in thoughtful silence. “I would too, but we can make some pretty strong assumptions.”
    â€œAssumptions? All we have to go on is Mrs. Sullivan’s story, an empty house, and a piece of luggage that may or may not be missing. That leaves a lot of holes, not the least of which is the matter of this key.” She raised the small metallic object in the air. “Is it important to this case? And, if so, what does it open?”
    â€œIs it for the front door?”
    â€œNo, I checked it on the way in.”
    â€œAnd,” Creighton stepped back and examined the back kitchen door,