A Lonely Way to Die: A Utah O'Brien Mystery Novel (Minnesota Mysteries Series Book 2) by Jonni Good Read Free Book Online Page A

I’m afraid.” I glanced at Mort again. He was nodding, the deep vertical creases in his face making him look even sadder than he was. I turned back to my task. “Mildred, I found the body of a woman out at the east end of the river walk this morning. On that land Susan Webb owns. It was Gwyneth. I’m afraid she’s dead. I’m so sorry.”
    Things naturally went downhill from there. Mildred’s hand flew to her mouth, and I thought she was going to faint. She didn’t. Instead, she started to keen.
    I’d never heard anyone do that before, and it chilled me to the bone.
    Emma flew out of the kitchen, a spatula in one hand, and an oven mitt on the other one. “What’s happening?” she cried. She ran to her mother. Mildred, now sobbing, told her the news, while I relieved Emma of her cooking tools. I laid them on the coffee table.
    “But are you sure it’s her?” Emma asked. “Was it an accident? What happened?”
    I gave her a fast rundown of the morning’s events, while Mildred held herself and rocked back and forth.
    I found myself mirroring her movements, and made myself stop. Mort reached for a tissue box on the coffee table, and handed it to Mildred. She took one, and blew her nose.
    “Why would she be out in a field, in the middle of the night?” Mildred asked.
    We told her we might know more when the coroner was done with his report. “Her son turned up shortly after I found her,” I said. “Gabe identified the body.”
    Emma stood abruptly. “Her son? She wasn’t supposed to bring the children. We agreed. Not until next time. We agreed, didn’t we, Mom?” She looked to her mother for confirmation, but Mildred could only wobble her head, feebly.
    “Where’s the baby?” Emma said. “She didn’t bring the baby, too, did she?”
    “The baby is fine,” I said. “Josie is taking care of her. Really, she’s fine. The sheriff called Gwyneth’s husband. He should be coming soon. I don’t know how long …?” I looked at Mort.
    “He’s on his way. They say the snow won’t last long and the wind is supposed to die down, but it’s going to be pretty bad for a while. No telling how long it will take, really. Maybe this afternoon, maybe tomorrow morning.”
    I said. “I didn’t know your daughter was famous, Mildred. Why didn’t you ever say?”
    “Things got all …” She waved her hand around, vaguely. The hand went back to her lap.
    Emma finished the thought. “She went to live with our father after their divorce, and … well, Mother took that hard. So did I, really. We haven’t seen her since then. Mark goes and visits with her a few times a year, and she writes letters, but we don’t answer them. It sounds crazy, when you say it like that. It was a long time ago, but, well, you know. Things happen. Families get kind of …”
     
    Emma sat on the arm of Mildred’s chair, with her hand on her mother’s shoulder. Now that most of the emotion had been spent, Mort scooted forward and I leaned back, letting him take over.
    “Mildred,” he said, “I need to ask you a few questions for the sheriff. If you don’t mind.”
    She nodded, but didn’t look up.
    Mort glanced at me, and then continued. “See, we’re trying to figure out where Sonje, I mean Gwyneth, where your daughter went yesterday after talking to Carol Kramer at the diner. Utah saw her there.” He looked at me. “About what time?”
    “Just before closing, about three-thirty. Maybe a little later,” I said.
    “Do you ladies have any idea where she went after that?” He waited for an answer from one of the women, but he didn’t get one. Emma shrugged, Mildred shook her head.
    “Did she call yesterday, to let you know she was in town?”
    No.
    “Did you know where she intended to stay last night?” Mildred and Emma looked at each other, and both shrugged. Emma said, “I thought she’d stay at a hotel in Randall and drive out this morning. I can’t imagine why she was talking to Carol. They haven’t been