Arsenic with Austen by Katherine Bolger Hyde Read Free Book Online Page B

to have a look-see.”
    Emily swallowed. That at least sounded efficient. But although she knew what a thumb drive was—only just—she had no way to make use of one nor any clue how. “I—don’t have a computer with me.” She held her breath, hoping not to be informed she could just use Beatrice’s. She hadn’t seen a computer in the house, but neither had she toured every room.
    Evans raised one eyebrow and his mouth quirked. “Chip off the old Luddite block, eh? No prob. I’ve got old-fashioned files too.” He pushed out of his chair and reached the file cabinet in two long strides. With no fumbling, he pulled out a fat but perfectly neat accordion file envelope and placed it in her lap. “That’s everything but the kitchen sink. No mortgage on the sink, I promise.” He winked and returned to his chair.
    Emily decided Beatrice’s employing Evans had not been the first sign of senile dementia after all. In fact, she might be able to trust him to give her an informed opinion on the development issue.
    â€œI would like your advice about something. I’ve been approached by a couple of people who are anxious for me to either sell some properties or use them to help Stony Beach grow. I know Beatrice was dead against it, and I can’t say I’m thrilled by the prospect either. What’s your perspective?”
    Evans leaned forward on his elbows, and his bushy brows drew together. “ Dead against it. Funny you should say it just like that.”
    An invisible caterpillar crawled up Emily’s spine. “Do you mean…” Her mouth went dry. She couldn’t say the words.
    â€œI mean, those people who’ve been pestering you might’ve taken it into their heads to put Beatrice out of the picture. Beatrice die of acute gastroenteritis? Yeah, and my prize stallion might get up and fly.”
    Emily swallowed. “Agnes Beech said the same thing. I thought it was just an old woman’s delusion.”
    He shook his head. “Not much gets past Agnes Beech. Ask me, that doctor and that sheriff up there’re either blind, lazy, or in the mayor’s pocket. I’d bet a hundred to one your aunt was murdered.”

 
    seven
    He was not altered, or not for the worse.… The years which had destroyed her youth and bloom had only given him a more glowing, manly, open look, in no respect lessening his personal advantages. She had seen the same Frederick Wentworth.

    â€” Persuasion
    Emily left Evans’s office in a daze. She hadn’t met the doctor—Sam Griffiths, Evans said his name was—but “blind, lazy, or in the mayor’s pocket” certainly didn’t describe the Luke she used to know. Could thirty-five years have changed him so fundamentally?
    Maybe it was time to find out.
    She drove back to Stony Beach and wove through the streets uphill from the highway, her memory betraying her as to the precise location of the sheriff’s office. At last she spotted a black-and-white SUV parked in front of a building that looked like an ordinary small house. But a demure sign half hidden by a bush said COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE .
    She sat in the car for a few minutes, composing herself. Luke had made it clear yesterday he had something to say to her—some lame apology, no doubt, for abandoning her all those years ago. She wasn’t at all sure she wanted to hear it. Nor did she want to be lured into confessing why his betrayal had mattered so much to her. She was here on business, and she would have to keep the meeting on that footing. Now that the first shock of seeing him was past, surely she could manage that.
    She straightened her cardigan, patted her hair, and walked up to the door. It looked so much like the door of a private home, she hesitated, wondering if she ought to knock. No, one didn’t knock at a public office. She turned the handle and went in.
    She expected a