Casket Case by Fran Rizer Read Free Book Online

sure you get to his memorial, but I don’t know when it will be. Depends on when the autopsy is completed.”
    “What do you think killed him?”
    “Probably had a stroke or heart attack in the Jacuzzi.”
    “The way you attract murder, I’m surprised you still don’t think that young wife of his killed him for his insurance money.” Jane grinned.
    I confess that I probably blushed. Jane couldn’t see it, but she sensed my embarrassment. “Oh, I’m sorry, Callie,” she said. “I don’t mean you attract murder. I just meant you’ve gotten involved in several of them lately.”
    “Let me tell you this,” I said. “If I ever have anything to do with another homicide, I’ll be a basket case, for sure.”
    Jane laughed. “A basket case or a casket case?”
    “Probably a casket case. Otis and Odell will be laying me out in one of our finest models.” Even in the June heat, I shivered when I said that. I had once been locked in a casket, and it wasn’t a pretty memory.
    Apparently, Jane had the same thought and the same reaction. “Don’t even joke about that, Callie. You’re giving me the heebie jeebies.”
    “Tell me about it. I don’t want to work on any more murder victims, nor get involved with their killers.”
    Several minutes passed. We didn’t talk, just enjoyed the food. I hoped Rizzie’s restaurant became a smashing success because I could eat her cooking forever. Seagulls flew above us. I love to watch them. They seem to flap their wings more slowly than most birds when they fly.
    “Want some watermelon?” I asked as I pulled the green sphere from the plastic bag.
    “Not yet.”
    “Jane,” I said. I folded my trash and stuffed it back into the plastic Piggly Wiggly bag. “Let’s talk about you. I know we usually spend time together at your place, but you’ve been to my apartment. The one next door is the exact floor plan in reverse, a mirror image. It hasn’t been rented in a good while because it needs repairs, but I don’t think there are any major problems. Could you look at it tomorrow if I can set it up with my landlady?”
    “Sure.” Jane giggled. “I’ll be happy to go tomorrow, and you can tell the landlady that renovations for appearance aren’t important to me. I just want a safe place with all the appliances working.” She broke into a belly laugh, and added, “Especially the stove. I’m going to learn to cook as well as Rizzie.”
    Now, Jane is no slack in the kitchen. She’s a far better cook than I will ever be and gives Rizzie a run for her money. They just cook different styles. Jane leans toward Italian and occasionally Mexican.
    “I assure you, Jane, if you move in next door to me, you’ll have two ranges to cook on, because I don’t ever use mine!”
    I stuffed our trash bag under the towel, then put the watermelon and shoes on the corners to keep the towel from blowing away. We took a walk along the edge of the water, letting the waves wash up over our toes. I felt like I could stay forever.
    “I need to get home and see how my benne wafers turned out since they cooled,” Jane said. “Besides, I have to take a short nap before I start work.”
    On the way back to our belongings, loud seagull squawking drew my attention again. Just as I looked up at the sky, I heard a sound I knew too well. The crack of a rifle shot. Both Jane and I jerked toward our left as a bleeding seagull landed about twenty feet away from us. I’d followed the falling bird visually. Jane must have been able to hear the thud when the bird hit the sand.
    “Isn’t it against the law to hunt here?” she said.
    “Not only is it against the law to hunt at this park, it’s illegal to shoot seagulls even during bird season.” I know these things because Daddy and my brothers all hunt, and I used to go with them.
    Jane and I hurried toward the towel. We had both sat down to put on our shoes when the sound cut through the air again, with a simultaneous splash! Our watermelon