A Vineyard Killing by Philip R. Craig Read Free Book Online Page B

jackets, Zee was at work, and I was alone with the pesky, plinking leak and a final cup of breakfast coffee, thinking about the coming need to split more wood for the heating stove in the living room. When you lived as I did, you used your wood for fuel just as you used your garden and the sea for food. It takes work to live the simple life.
    When the phone rang the snow had been washed from the cold ground but the rain continued to whip through the barren trees and slap against the windowpanes. March weather. I picked up the receiver. It was a voice I did not know.
    â€œHi, is this Mr. Jackson?”
    A telephone sales pitch so early in the morning?
    Some poor soul trying to sell me a condo? What a sorry way to try to make a living.
    â€œYes,” I said.
    â€œThis is Maria Donawa. My mom says you helped get her out of jail. I wanted to thank you.”
    â€œI didn’t have much to do with it, but I’m glad she’s out. Dodie never struck me as the hoosegow type.”
    â€œI agree. From now on she’ll be sure to check the pockets of the coat she’s wearing before she goes to yell at somebody.”
    â€œA good policy.”
    â€œI need to talk to someone who’s a friend of hers. I heard that you used to be a policeman, and that puts you at the top of the list. Can I come by for a few minutes and talk with you? Mom’s here, in the next room, and I’d like to talk with you in private. I need some advice.”
    Women’s best friends and confidantes are usually other women, so I was a little surprised.
    â€œWhat about?”
    â€œCan I tell you when I see you?”
    â€œDo you know how to get here?”
    â€œYour mailbox is at the head of your driveway, isn’t it? On the left, just beyond Felix Neck, coming from Vineyard Haven?”
    â€œThat’s it.”
    â€œThanks a lot. I’ll be right down.”
    As I hung up, I considered what I knew about Maria Donawa. She was a nurse, a slim young woman of middle height, with her mother’s yellow hair and independent spirit. Aside from that, I knew she’d started dating Paul Fox, thereby infuriating her mother. That was about it.
    I couldn’t imagine what she wanted to talk about.
    A half hour later, I found out.
    â€œIt’s John Reilley,” said Maria, accepting a cup of tea as we sat in front of the living room fire. The rain lashed against the windows and drummed on the roof. In the far corner of the room, drops of water splanked steadily into the bucket.
    â€œWhat about him?”
    â€œHe’s courting Mom. He spends more and more time with her. I think they’re getting serious. It worries me.”
    â€œYour mother is a smart, grown-up woman.”
    She shook her head. “You don’t know how silly grown-up women can be sometimes. She doesn’t know a thing about him. He comes to see her and she just beams and I swear her brain gets turned right off! Maybe he’s dangerous or one of those men who lives off women. I think he’s about to move in with us. I want to know more about him. Is he a gigolo or is he serious?”
    â€œYou’re worried about your mother and John Reilley, and she’s worried about you and Paul Fox.”
    She shook her head. “She’s mad at Paul because of Donald. She liked Paul just fine until she learned his last name. When he came to the house the first time, she was happy because she thinks I should be settling down and I didn’t seem to be doing that with Rick.”
    â€œThat would be Rick Black, I presume.”
    â€œYes. Rick is the guy I’ve been going with lately. You know him? He just got himself a new pickup a couple of days ago, but until then he used to drive a beat-up old Land Cruiser like yours. You must have seen it.”
    â€œI remember seeing it.”
    â€œHe’s a carpenter. We went to high school together and we’ve been dating. Mom likes him. She feeds him good meals when he