Strung Out to Die Read Online Free PDF Page A

about the murder, which wasn’t unusual because she was probably on the phone all day.
    Flora’s mouth formed an ‘O.’ “You mean Ginger’s Doug Sloan?” Nervously she ran her hands through her thick wavy brown hair and pulled it back into a makeshift ponytail. The color seemed to fade from her high-cheek bones, leaving her a little gaunt, making her look her actual age of fifty.
    Slowly, Bernadine and I nodded. Slower, she eased herself on the couch next to us.
    Quietly, she added, “So, this is what the meeting is about.”
    We nodded…again.
    “How? Spill it.” She reached in her bag and grabbed the vibrating phone. Even in an emergency, she still couldn’t leave the phone alone. A good reason I didn’t have a cell. I didn’t want to be tied to it. “I’ll call you back!” she chirped, and then flipped it shut. “It was only Benni,” she explained, “Again.”
    It was like her ex’s name was attached to her eyeballs. Every time she said his name, her eyes rolled.
    “We are actually fighting over who gets the record album collection.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll be damned if I let him and what’s-his-name drink wine to my Cher albums.”
    Her divorce was a messy one. They had been married for twenty years when he came out and told her he was gay. “I’ll make that bastard pay,” she’d say. She didn’t mind telling people how much she got in alimony. Needless to say, it was four times what I got. I guess lawyers really do make a lot more than carpenters do.
    Now, even though her divorce was final, they still hadn’t split all the property. She put her distaste for him aside when I needed the papers filed for the shop. He’d done them free. Flora claimed he still owed her. I wondered if he’d ever done a murder case.
    “Holly, are you okay?” Flora asked.
    I nodded. Not really, but who would be if someone were in my shoes. Everyone needed to hurry up. There wasn’t any sticky situation that we Divas haven’t figured out; only those situations didn’t involve murder.
    The knock at the door made us all jump. I guess we were all on edge.
    Cheri stood on the other side when I opened the door. She was as cute as ever with her plaid beret perched on top of her head.
    She was a college student that rented the one bedroom apartment above the shop. She was rarely home because she spent most her time on campus studying. She did keep an eye on the shop for me every now-and-then, or took Willow on quick walks.
    “I got her message, but I had already heard the news. Thank God I was at the library pulling an all-nighter.” She took the beret off her head and used her fingers to re-spike her hair as she walked in and planted herself in a chair. “It’s all over campus that there’s a killer on the loose.”
    “Carrot?” Bernadine leaned over offering a snack from the bag. Cheri took a carrot stick.
    The crackle from the plastic sent Willow flying down the hall and she planted her butt in front of Cheri, who was a sucker for Willow’s little beady eyes. Cheri fed Willow the carrot. Once in her mouth, Willow darted back down the hall with her tail twirling in the air.
    “Wait.” Flora put her hand in the air. “What exactly happened?”
    I stood in front of my friends. It was now time to put all our real sleuthing that we used on our ex-husbands to the test. I cleared my throat.
    “Doug was found dead on the floor of the Beaded Dragonfly with a strand of black cat eye beads around his neck.” I put my hand to my chest. “I did not kill him, but someone wants the police to think I did.”
    Flora picked at the cat eye bracelet on her arm.
    “Marlene believes that Sean is the murderer, and for good reasons. I will deal with Sean,” I added.
    “Where is that gold-digger, Marlene?” Flora glanced around. “She is an honorary Diva.”
    “I didn’t call her, nor Agnes, or Ginger.” Bernadine glanced around at the other Divas. “We are the original Diva’s and I felt this was a