Yarned and Dangerous Read Online Free PDF

ambulance is on its way,” she said with efficiency. “I’m Officer Coogan. Take me to the injured person, please.”
    â€œUh, this way.” Josie led the way to the back. Officer Coogan scanned the room, then made a beeline for the body. She put her fingertips to the woman’s wrist, then looked thoughtful. “No pulse,” she said. “I think it’s too late, but we’ll wait for the EMTs from the fire department to get here to confirm. Looks like Lillian Woodruff.”
    Josie swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. The woman was dead. In her storeroom. Eb’s storeroom, she mentally corrected. What was she supposed to do now? Fashion school had prepared her to design clothing to wear to funerals, not how to behave in the face of death.
    Officer Coogan’s large brown eyes softened, as she apparently took pity on Josie. “I haven’t seen you around town. Are you Eb’s niece, the one who’s here to take care of him while he recovers?”
    Wow. Big surprise. Everyone in town already knows I’m here . Memories of living in Dorset Falls, where everybody knew everyone else’s business, came flooding back. “Yeah, I’m Josie Blair.”
    â€œWell,” the officer said, giving a wry smile. “I’m sure the Visiting Nurses’ Association is thrilled you’ve come.”
    Josie chuckled softly. She liked this woman, despite her no-nonsense demeanor and the circumstances under which they’d met. Officer Coogan was clearly trying to put her at ease, and it was working. A little.
    â€œEb’s family, and I was the only one available to come.”
    The officer nodded in approval.
    Josie felt her spirits rise as she and Officer Coogan returned to the retail part of the store. Through the expanse of glass in the front windows a set of flashing lights had appeared, and the lights were attached to a big white ambulance with the words D ORSET F ALLS VFD E MERGENCY S ERVICES emblazoned on the side.
    â€œWell, Josie. What happened here? Why is Lillian Woodruff lying in the storeroom with a cord wrapped around her neck? I don’t think that’s a fashion statement.”
    Officer Coogan’s words echoed Josie’s own thoughts. Why was Lillian here?
    Josie looked the police officer in the eye. “I wish I knew.”
    â€œMe too,” Officer Coogan said, returning the look. “Because I’m pretty sure she didn’t die of natural causes.”
    Josie gulped. The officer’s words confirmed what Josie had already suspected. That cord of blue yarn was wrapped too tightly around Lillian’s neck to be anything other than a murder weapon.
    Officer Coogan smiled sympathetically. “Why don’t you sit down? Is there someone I can call for you?”
    â€œI’ll be fine.” Josie realized, a bit ruefully, that there was no one to call. She only knew a handful of people in Dorset Falls. Uncle Eb couldn’t drive until his leg healed. Lorna, with whom she’d barely had time to reconnect, was busy running the general store. And that crabby lady from the Charity Knitters. Diantha, Trey’s mom. Well, nobody was likely to show up at the meeting of their mutual admiration society.
    Josie sat down on the couch by the front window just as the EMTs rushed in. Officer Coogan met them and led them to the back.
    Josie stared outside. Main Street, what she could see of it that wasn’t blocked by the ambulance, was deserted. Despite the fact that she was in semirural Connecticut, she would not have been surprised to see a tumbleweed roll down the two-lane road rimmed with empty parking spaces. Of course, what was there to attract people to downtown? The potentially charming brick storefronts were mostly empty, the windows of the shops papered over. She wondered again how Cora had managed to keep Miss Marple Knits in business. Maybe she’d ask Eb if he knew where Cora’s shop records