3 Service for Two by Kate Kingsbury Read Free Book Online Page A

rather large risk, wasn’t it? How would he know the coffin wouldn’t be opened?”
    “I assume that’s why he waited until the coffin was in the vestry. There would be no reason to open it after that, unless there was a special request. Dr. McDuff had no immediate family, so it was unlikely anyone would make such a request.”
    Baxter rubbed his brow with his thumb and forefinger. “It seems a very odd place to hide a body. Surely the murderer could have just buried it?”
    “There’s always the risk of someone discovering it, whereas no one would think to look in a grave that is presumed to contain someone else. After all, if the boy hadn’tfallen through the ice, Dr. McDuff’s body would not have been discovered, and our mysterious body would have received a proper burial, without anyone ever being the wiser.”
    “But what about when the ice melted? Wouldn’t the doctor’s body have been discovered then?”
    Cecily shook her head. “Our murderer had every reason to suppose it would not. Apparently the doctor’s body was weighted down with a branch. If it hadn’t snapped, Dr. McDuff would even now be lying at the bottom of the pond.”
    Raising his eyebrows, Baxter said smoothly, “I must say, madam, you have a remarkable aptitude for working out some exceedingly intricate puzzles. Such a pity you are not a man. You would have made an excellent police constable.”
    She stared up at him from under lowered brows, quite sure he was baiting her. No doubt to release his resentment of her smoking his cigar.
    “Thank you, Baxter, but had I been a man, I would be in India, serving under Kitchener, and none of this affair would have mattered one wit to me.”
    His hurt look suggested she might have misjudged him, and she softened her voice. “But I thank you for the compliment.”
    “If I might say so, madam, Kitchener would have been fortunate to have you.”
    Peace between them restored, she smiled at him. “Well,” she said, “I have to confess that our theory of the murderer using the doctor’s coffin to hide the body will not hold up to the light of day.”
    “Indeed? And why is that?”
    “Because the question remains,” Cecily said, brushing specks of ash from the polished surface of the table, “as to why the murderer went to all the trouble of putting his victim’s body in Dr. McDuff’s coffin, then taking the doctor’s body all the way out to Deep Willow Pond, when he could have simply taken his victim to the pond and thrown him in.”
    “I must admit that occurred to me, too. It really doesn’t make such sense.”
    “None at all.” Cecily rose to her feet. “But what I reallywant to know is why a copy of our week’s menu was found in the vestry the very night that all this took place. Or indeed, why it was there at all.”
    A wary expression crossed Baxter’s face. “What are you proposing to do, if I might ask?”
    She managed to keep an innocent smile on her face. “Why, I’m simply going to ask Michel and Mrs. Chubb what they know about this matter of the menu, that’s all.”
    “I hope that is all, madam. I might venture to remind you what happens when you get too involved in business that doesn’t concern you.”
    “Baxter,” she said gently, “I never get involved in business that doesn’t concern me. But if someone from this hotel is involved in this matter, then I should say it does concern me, am I right?”
    He looked more uncomfortable. “It is not my place to dictate your actions, but I have a certain duty to observe and I must ask you to refrain from interfering in police business. Inspector Cranshaw has made it very clear how he feels about the matter.”
    “I know how the inspector feels,” Cecily said grimly. She could hardly forget the sting of the man’s tongue. She could also sympathize with Baxter’s concern, considering his promise to her dead husband. “Don’t worry, Baxter, all I’m going to do is talk to Mrs. Chubb and Michel. I am concerned