A Little Yuletide Murder by Jessica Fletcher Read Free Book Online Page B

charged him, at least not much.”
    “Then maybe Seth would have success talking sense to Jake, to get him to realize that the only sensible course is to cooperate with you, answer your questions, and put to rest any accusations that he killed Rory. Provided, of course, that he didn’t.”
    “Maybe you’re right, Mrs. F. I’ll call Seth and run it by him, see if he’ll come out to Jake’s place with me.”
    “Good idea,” I said. “If Seth agrees, would you have any objection to my coming along?”
    “I don’t see any,” Mort said. “You might be helpful, considering Mary Walther came to you.”
    “I’ll be waiting for your call.”
    I heard from him five minutes later. “I got hold of Seth just as he was leavin’. Told him the situation. He says he didn’t charge Jake for treating him because he knew he was down on his luck and didn’t have any money to speak of. Jake seemed real appreciative, according to Seth.”
    “Did Seth agree to go out to Jake’s house with you?”
    “Ayuh. He suggested we not go in my car. Might set Jake on edge. We’ll go in Seth’s.”
    “That makes sense,” I said. “You’ll pick me up?”
    “Be there in a half hour.”
     
    Seth pulled into my driveway exactly thirty minutes later. By then it had really begun to snow, the flakes big and wet and sticking to the ground. At least the wind had abated, lessening the effect of the cold.
    I got in the backseat and we headed for Jake Walther’s farm.
    “Seems to me an unusual way for the sheriff to interrogate a witness,” Seth said grumpily, both hands on the wheel, eyes focused straight ahead.
    “No rule about how I approach a suspect in a murder,” Mort replied from the front passenger seat. He’d pulled his Stetson down low over his eyes and tucked his chin against his chest. “Seems to me we’re doing it exactly the right way, considering what might happen if I did it by the book. No sense adding to the problems of having a leading citizen murdered here in Cabot Cove by ending up in some stupid standoff. Better to try and get Jake to cooperate. I’d hate to have to go out there, guns drawn, and drag him off. More people might get hurt.”
    “I think you’re right,” I said from the backseat. “The impact of Rory’s murder is just really settling in on me. These kinds of things just don’t happen in Cabot Cove, especially at Christmas.”
    Seth grimly reminded me of a couple of other murders that had occurred in our idyllic Maine town, although they had happened a number of years ago.
    “Now tell me, Morton, how you want me to proceed with this,” Seth asked.
    “Depends on how brave you are, Doc.”
    Seth glanced over at the sheriff. “What in hell do you mean by that?”
    “Well, according to Mrs. F., seeing me will only set Jake off, and we sure wouldn’t want to send her up there to knock on the door. The way I figure it, we’ll park out on the road a little bit away from the house. You’ll go up to the door and tell Jake who you are and why you’re there.”
    I leaned forward and placed my hands on Seth’s shoulders. “That could be dangerous,” I said. “If Jake is in as tormented a state of mind as Mary says he is, he’s liable to panic. He might have guns with him.”
    “Somehow, no matter how mean-spirited Jake Walther is, I just can’t see him shooting anybody,” said Seth. “I don’t think I’ll have a problem getting him to talk to me. He’s one of those fellas who’s got a gruff exterior, but down deep there lurks a decent person. At least, that’s the way I read him.”
    “What kind of medical problems did he have?” I asked.
    “Can’t discuss that,” Seth said. “Doctor-patient privilege.”
    I didn’t press him, but he volunteered, “Man has wicked arthritis. Neck, shoulders, hands, back. In lots of pain. Maybe that’s why he’s so jo-jeezly all the time.”
    I silently thought that Seth was probably right, and felt a twinge of compassion for Jake.
    As we