A Deadly Draught by Lesley A. Diehl Read Free Book Online

world of … cobwebs. Uck.
    “Hey! Come back here. We’ve got a meeting, or did you forget?” Sally asked.
    Oh, damn. I did forget. I’d cancelled a dinner with Sally last night so that I could organize the paperwork needed for my loan application. I assured Sally we could find time today before my meeting to talk about our business. The weight of worrying about the bank loan along with the issue of Dad’s death made me forget Sally was dropping by. Oh, be honest, Hera, I said to myself. Most of your morning has been taken up with thoughts of men—Dad, Michael, Jake—and the satisfaction of getting the better of Jake on this case.
    Sally’s head appeared over the edge of the trap door. “I left Homer in charge at the bakery, but you know how he is.” I did know. Homer was Sally’s five-by-five, part-time assistant, not a bad baker in his own right, but more likely to taste the product than to sell it.
    “C’mon up.” I reached back and helped pull her into the attic.
    “Look at all this stuff. You haven’t been up here since …”
    “Since Dad’s funeral. I never could face clearing this out.”
    “So you choose today for your cleaning spree?”
    “I’m looking for something,” I said. “We can talk and go through this stuff at the same time. Give me a hand.” We moved some old cane-backed chairs and a small bureau out of the way to clear a path to the back of the attic.
    “Looking for what?”
    “A murderer,” I replied.
    Sally’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Ramford’s?”
    “Jake thinks there may be some connection between Dad’s death and Ramford’s.” I told her about the gun sale.
    “I can’t see Claudia as a pistol-packin’ mama, can you?” she asked.
    “Not likely. Let’s take on this filing cabinet first.” We left unspoken the names of the Ramford brothers, boys who, like all boys in the valley, had grown up with guns.
    “What am I searching for?” asked Sally. She had extracted papers from the overstuffed cabinet, piled them on a broken rocker, and was sorting through them as she sat on the attic floor.
    “I don’t know, Anything that looks suspicious. Maybe a letter threatening to close an account for nonpayment or any kind of a personal threat. I don’t know!”
    “You don’t have to yell. I’m just trying to help here. Hey, look at this bunch of personal letters to your dad. Looks like they’re from old college buddies. ‘Dear Stanton,’ this one begins, ‘Guess you won’t make this year’s reunion. We all heard you got shipped off to Korea.’ I shouldn’t be reading these.”
    “Go ahead. You have my blessing. That was a long time ago, and with Dad gone, I hardly think there are any dark secrets from his college mates. Here are some more letters.” I handed them over to her. “You skim these while I examine his business correspondence.”
    “Didn’t you look at any of this stuff when he died?”
    “No, I did not. I shoved everything up here, figuring anything important in the way of business would come to my attention through his lawyer.” I kicked a corner of the bottom drawer to align it so I could pull it out. “Now, about the tastings. I think we’d do well to include someone selling food other than your breads.” I tugged more papers out of the filing cabinet. “I don’t mean anything that would cut into your baked goods, but something like sausages, cheeses, savory items that might go well with my brews. What do you think?”
    “How about some herbs, too?”
    “Great idea.” I stood up and stretched. “The only thing left to look through is the steamer trunk.” I pointed to the trunk, then remembered.
    “Damn, I’ve got to run. I almost forgot my appointment with the bank president about my loan.”
    “I can just take all these letters home with me and read them tonight, if that’s okay.” Sally looked at me and laughed.
    “What’s so funny?” I asked.
    “I think I’d consider removing the cobwebs and the dust from your