April Fool Dead by Carolyn Hart Read Free Book Online Page B

and verbena.”
    â€œDid you know Bob?” Max asked.
    Daniel hooked his thumbs behind the straps to his coveralls. “Not till he got here. But I know all my people and I don’t like what’s goin’on now.” He jerked his head in the direction of the cemetery.
    The siren was louder. It cut off in mid-squall. Over the indistinguishable roar sounded the slam of car doors, an occasional shout, the nervous chitter of birds.
    â€œNeither do we, Daniel. That’s why we’re here. Oh, Daniel, I want you to meet Annie and Max Darling.” Emma nodded at them. “Daniel Parker. He helped mewith background when I was writing The Case of the Gravedigger’s Gloves. ”
    Daniel rocked back on his heels. “Yes’m.” He looked at Annie and Max. “She didn’t know graves from nothing. But I set her straight. Listen, Emma, can you figure out what’s going on over there?”
    â€œI intend to do just that.” She sounded crisp and self-assured. “Tell us what’s happened.”
    He plunged one grimy hand into a side pocket and pulled out a crumpled flyer. This one was mint-green, with oversize black letters. Very legible.
    Annie and Emma both reached for it.
    Daniel handed the wrinkled sheet to Emma. “They’s everywhere. At least they was until all those people come. I don’t know if they’s any left by now. All those damn fool people stomping around. I’m going to have to get me some helpers to clean the cemetery. There’s a burial tomorrow.”
    Annie craned around Emma’s broad shoulder to read the flyer.
    Â 
    WHODUNIT?
    Â 
    Clever of you to get this far. Follow these clues:
What happened to the Littlefields’ red Jeep?
Who drives a Range Rover?
Where did the evidence come from?
When did Emma find out about the girlfriend?
Have wedding bells rung?
    Having Fun?
    Keep an eye on the personals in The Island Gazette.
    Â 
    WHODUNIT?
    Â 
    â€œI don’t like this.” Emma spit out the words like Rosie the Riveter welding a bomber. “It’s like trying to catch handfuls of smoke. You grab and there’s nothing there.” She tapped the crumpled green sheet. “What is the point?”
    Annie remembered that Emma had been a battlefield nurse in World War II. She was tough, a survivor, and right now, she was fighting mad. Annie couldn’t imagine why the bogus flyers had been created, but if anyone could figure it out, it was Emma. She’d survived the toughest years of the last century and she handled supercomplicated plots with ease. “Okay, Emma, we’ve got to find out what these new clues mean. We need to split up. You and Max and I can each check out a different—”
    â€œNo.” The orange spikes quivered.
    â€œNo?” Annie repeated.
    Max bent forward. “We can’t give up, Emma.”
    Emma’s eyes were hidden behind the sunglasses, but the jut of her chin was formidable. “Give up?” She gave a dry laugh. “Never. But the clues don’t matter. Oh, I agree that we need to find out who the suspects are.” Her lips twisted in a wry smile. “Actually, I have to hand it to the perp, whoever he or she may be. This is a clever way to embroil the island in gossip and intrigue and possibly it may even flush out some criminals. But that”—her voice dropped almost to awhisper—“can’t be the point. After all, an anonymous letter to the police chief—if there are any real facts to be found—would make a good deal more sense. No, there’s something behind this…smoke…a smoke screen?…smoking gun…”
    Annie wished she had a tape recorder. Emma’s readers would be thrilled beyond measure to hear the stream of consciousness as the plot mistress pondered.
    Abruptly, Emma jammed the flyer in a capacious pocket and turned away.
    â€œEmma, wait a minute. Where are you going? What are you going