A Romantic Way to Die by Bill Crider Read Free Book Online

misdemeanor if anyone was offended by it.”
    “Well, I was sure enough offended,” Mrs. Appleby said. “And I’m just glad that Claude and Clyde didn’t see it. They may joke about it, but it’s not right for boys their age to see things like that.”
    Rhodes didn’t want to speculate on what it was right for Claude and Clyde to see. Thanks to a previous investigation, he knew for a fact that the twins’ choice in magazines had exposed them to a certain amount of female nudity long before now.
    “Did you see where she came from?” he asked.
    “Not exactly,” Mrs. Appleby said. “I think she saw me before I saw her. She was headed into the trees when I saw her, so I guess that’s where she came from. She saw me, and she turned and ran.”
    Rhodes thought about it. It wasn’t far from the college to where they were standing, not if someone had come straight down the hill. There wasn’t really anything in between except the trees. A naked woman could have come from just about anywhere, he supposed, but considering that there was a big concentration of women on the college campus, and considering that they were unfamiliar with the area and might easily get lost, it seemed pretty likely that the woman was someone from the writers’ conference.
    That possibility raised more questions than it answered, however. What was she doing naked in the first place? And why was she running around in the woods? And did any of that have something to do with Henrietta Bayam’s death?
    Because of the time element, Rhodes was sure the two events were connected. He didn’t much believe in coincidence, even though Ivy liked to tell him that life was full of outrageous coincidences, and he’d seen some himself.
    “She didn’t say anything?” Rhodes asked.
    “Just ran.”
    “And you didn’t see her face?”
    “No. She was going the wrong way for that.”
    Rhodes hated to ask the next question, but he did it anyway.
    “And you’re sure she was naked?”
    “She was wearing a pair of those bikini underpants,” Mrs. Appleby said. “But that doesn’t count. Does it?”
    Rhodes wasn’t sure whether someone wearing bikini underpants could be accused of public nudity or not. It was clearly a case for a brilliant lawyer, assuming the woman ever turned up and assuming that Mrs. Appleby still wanted to press charges.
    “What color?” he asked.
    “Red, I think.”
    Rhodes thought Mrs. Appleby must have much better eyesight than he did. On the other hand, if a naked woman were running through his back yard, his eyesight might improve.
    “Did you notice anything else about her? Height? Hair color?”
    Mrs. Appleby shook her head. “No. She was gone real quick.”
    “Why don’t you go back inside,” Rhodes said. “I want to look around back there.”
    “You got a flashlight?”
    Rhodes started to say that he had one in the county car, but Mrs. Appleby didn’t give him the chance.
    “Because I could send Claude out with one if that’d help you,” she told him.
    “Why don’t you do that,” Rhodes said.
    He had a few questions for Claude, anyway. When the boy came outside with the flashlight, Rhodes said, “Now tell me about the naked woman, Claude.”
    Claude gave Rhodes the flashlight and tried to look innocent. It didn’t work.
    “I don’t know what you mean, Sheriff,” he said.
    That didn’t work, either.
    “Yes you do,” Rhodes said. “I saw you grinning at Clyde in there. You saw something. Maybe both of you did.”
    Claude shook his head. “Dang it, Sheriff, I never can put anything over on you, can I?”
    “Sure you can. You’ve done it before, and you might even do it again. But not this time. Now tell me what you saw.”
    “Well, I guess I will. But you have to promise you won’t tell Ma.”
    Rhodes said he wouldn’t tell.
    “Okay. When she went out back, I decided to go out with her. I don’t usually, but it was a nice night, and I thought, why not. I could sort of keep her company. I think