The Diva Wore Diamonds Read Online Free PDF Page A

longer the case.”
    “ Yeah,” I said. “I figured something like this would happen.”
    “ We’ve come to protest, Hayden,” said a white-haired woman whom I know only as Miss Ethel. “We have a right to protest. It’s guaranteed in the Constitution.”
    “ Absolutely,” I said. “But you’ll need a permit.” I pointed to the police station on the other side of the square. “Lieutenant Parsky will be happy to help you.”
    “ We’ll go and get it, Brother Hog,” said Miss Ethel. She and another lady toddled off in the direction I’d pointed.
    “ Thank you kindly,” called Brother Hog after them.
    The rest of the elderly mob had divided, half going into the bookstore to check out the latest issue of Mature Digest , the other half peering through the window of The Ginger Cat at the alimentary knick-knacks that were inviting but unattainable, at least until the restaurant opened for lunch.
    “ Are all these folks members of your church?” I asked.
    “ Heavens, no,” said the minister. “I made some calls, then went around to several churches this morning and collected our concerned citizens.” He held up his fingers as he counted them off. “Sinking Pond Baptist, Melody Mountain Baptist, Brownwood Pentecostal Holiness, Maranatha Four-Square Church of God With Signs Following, and a few folks from Sand Creek Methodist. We’ve been making protest signs for about an hour.”
    “ I notice that all your protesters are of a certain age,” I said.
    “ Retired folks. Everyone else is working, but we’ll have a good group out in force on Saturday.”
    “ Who are you going to picket?”
    “ We thought we’d picket the mayor’s office, but then we found out she doesn’t have one,” said Brother Hog with a smile. “Then I thought, who stands to gain by beer sales on Sunday?”
    “ And?”
    “ The answer is obvious. The Bear and Brew. They’re the only establishment open on Sunday that would have any reason to sell liquor.”
    “ So you’re going to picket the Bear and Brew?”
    “ We’ll be having prayer meetings outside until they change their mind about wanting to serve liquor on the Lord’s day.”
    “ Okay,” I said, “but here’s the deal. You stay on the other side of the street and you don’t interfere with any customer who’s going in or coming out of that place of business. You do, and this protest is finished, and I’ll lock you up until the election’s over. Do we understand each other?”
    “ We understand each other perfectly,” said Brother Hog with a happy grin. “We’ve got the Lord on our side on this one.”

Chapter 3

    “ I’ve got news,” said Marjorie promptly at 6:48.
    Choir practice, during our exile, had been scheduled on Thursday nights, a departure from our traditional Wednesday evening routine, but the St. Germaine chapter of Shopaholics Anonymous had first dibs on the courthouse rotunda since they’d been meeting there on Wednesdays for a few years. Rehearsals were moved to Thursdays at 6:30 which meant that Marjorie’s proclamation was right on time, just barely preempting my own second announcement that we needed to get started.
    “ Noylene Fabergé-Dupont is pregnant!” Marjorie said with a flourish.
    “ What?” said Georgia, aghast.
    “ What?” said Meg, equally aghast.
    “ Noylene’s what?” said Bev, not sure she heard correctly.
    “ She’s what?” said Rebecca.
    “ You heard me,” said Marjorie, smiling the smile of the cat that ate the Pentecostal pigeon. “I heard it from Mr. Christopher.” Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial level. “He’s Dr. Dougherty’s nurse’s yoga instructor’s interior decorator, and she told him that Noylene was due in November.”
    “ Maybe he misunderstood,” said Fred from the bass section. “Maybe her bill is due in November.”
    “ He didn’t misunderstand,” sniffed Marjorie. “I know of what I speak. The wonders of the grapevine shall not be besmirched.”
    “ But I thought