Body in the Woods (A Reverend Annabelle Dixon Cozy Mystery Book 3) by Alison Golden, Jamie Vougeot Read Free Book Online Page A

crisscrossed between the vegetable plots. Annabelle hopped through some nettles, mouthed her frustration, and crouched behind a tree as she rubbed her stinging hands. In her ludicrous position, she was clearly visible to anybody passing by on the paths, and she prayed that she would not required to explain herself. She peered around the oak tree trunk and watched as Louisa strolled up to a particularly beaten-looking shed and placed her carpet bag down carefully on the ground. Louisa unlocked the multiple padlocks which held the shed door shut, and went inside.
    Annabelle watched the door close behind the teacher, and shuffled her feet as she tried to find a comfortable position in the nettles. She looked around and, mercifully, saw no-one. How she would explain what a vicar was doing hiding behind a tree, in the midst of a patch of nettles, in the middle of a field, she had no idea. She kept her fingers crossed that her solitary status wouldn’t change as, judging by the closed shed door, she was going to have to wait.

    After about half an hour, Annabelle gave up all pretense of stealth. The excitement and thrill of the chase had evaporated, leaving her feeling ridiculous and in pain. Her crouching position had given her an incredible cramp, and each time she shuffled around to make herself more comfortable, she gathered another nasty sting on her hands, which were now red and swollen.
    She had been lucky to not be seen from the path, but every additional minute was test of her fortune, and she had had about enough of this “game.” With no sign that Louisa was about to emerge from her shed anytime soon, Annabelle stood up, brushed down her cassock, and dolefully limped back along the path, soothing her hands by rubbing them gently.
    The lingering taste of strawberry cupcake, and her deep and sincere belief that she had earned another one, compelled her to return to Flynn’s tea shop. As she opened the door once again, its sugary aroma struck her closely followed by an idea. She wondered briefly if the two were connected. Sugar. Idea.
    Shaking her head, Annabelle returned to the matter in hand. Who better to ask about the enigmatic Louisa Montgomery than Katie Flynn, who no doubt saw the teacher frequently from across the street? Annabelle was also reminded of a remark that Barbara had made about some sort of “fuss” between the two. It was a perfect excuse for another cupcake.
    “Hello again, Reverend,” smiled Katie, with a wink. “Have you come in for another bite to eat?”
    Annabelle chuckled. “You know me too well, Katie.”
    Katie laughed as she placed a cupcake on a plate and began fixing Annabelle more tea.
    “Actually, Katie,” Annabelle said, “do you have a moment to talk? I have something I’d rather like to ask you.”
    Katie looked around the tea shop, taking in the quiet atmosphere, then spoke to her niece and assistant, a wonderfully pretty girl who always had her head tucked into a book. “Sally? Would you mind taking care of any customers while I speak with the Reverend?”
    Sally shrugged and nodded, before bowing her head once more into her paperback. Katie rolled her eyes, then walked with Annabelle to her table by the window.
    “So, what’s on your mind, Reverend?”
    “Well, I was rather hoping to pick your brain about your neighbor across the road,” Annabelle said, nodding toward Louisa’s home.
    “Oh,” Katie said, her lips pursing disapprovingly, “I can tell you plenty about her, but it wouldn’t be very neighborly.”
    Annabelle frowned with curiosity.
    “I heard you had some fuss?”
    “‘Some fuss,’ indeed, Reverend. If she had had her way, this place wouldn’t even exist.”
    “The tea shop?”
    “The very same,” Katie said, nodding toward the strawberry cupcake between them.
    “Why so?”
    Katie looked across the road wistfully.
    “It was a long time ago, but you don’t forget that kind of thing. You see, I grew up here – in this very tea shop. It