Chocolate-Covered Crime by Cynthia Hickey Read Free Book Online Page A

Belle’s sandpaper personality turned off many people. Today it showed.
    “There’s a few of the names on your list here.” Ethan motioned toward the attendees milling in front of the building. “That little woman is Edna Mobley.”
    Edna looked as if a strong wind could pick her up and move her fifty yards down the road. She’d pulled mousy hair streaked with gray into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. A serviceable brown suit completed the stereotype of a librarian. Ethan continued talking as we slid from the truck.
    “That man staring at her is Hubert Smith, Edna’s former fiancé and the local dentist. Edna works for him.” The man reminded me a bit of Mr. Toad. Skinny legs, round belly, balding head, and wire-rimmed spectacles that slid down a flat nose.
    Ethan grasped my elbow and steered me toward the doors as he continued his commentary. “You’ve met Lewis Anderson. The man he’s speaking with is Larry Bell.”
    Bell shuffled a sneakered foot in the gravel while listening to whatever it was Anderson had to tell him. Bell shrugged and disappeared into the small crowd, his plain gray slacks and shirt blending in with the surroundings.
    It seemed considerate that Mae Belle’s disgruntled clients would come to the service. I hated to think of how small the crowd would have been had they not. I searched for the other two names on the list. One face I’d recognize if I saw her. Renee Richards. The head cheerleader and homecoming queen of my senior year. It had grated on my nerves to stand beside her as one of her ladies-in-waiting. I’d drooled over that crown for two years. No sign of the former queen.
    Sherry, the “I don’t do blood” lady, sat on a marble bench, a cigarette clenched between her fingers. Her hunched shoulders showed she carried more burden than Mae Belle’s own mother.
    Anderson announced it would be time to start in a couple of minutes, and the not-so-large crowd shuffled inside and filled the first two rows of the funeral room. I sat between the Meadows relatives and the Sweeneys in the front middle section of seats.
    Mae Belle’s lovely bronze casket graced the floor in front. From my seat, the only part of her I could see was her nose, rising above the pink velvet interior like a smokestack.
    Aunt Claudia fidgeted in her seat, glancing over her shoulder. “Ain’t many people here, is there? That’s what happens when you have a funeral in the middle of the day. Otherwise, this place would be packed. Nothing draws the curious like a funeral of someone murdered. Which of them do you think killed her?”
    My gaze scanned the group. Not a likely looking murderer in the bunch. Joe rushed in and took a seat in the back. He met my gaze and shook his head as if to signal me not to let on he was there. Did he think the same thing I’d thought earlier? That Mae Belle’s killer would be here?
    Aunt Eunice elbowed me, eliciting a grunt, and forced me to turn around. Maybe I could study people more at the grave site.
    The pastor spoke of how Mae Belle came from humble beginnings to business owner. He went on to speak of how much the only child was loved by her parents. Then he shot my idea out of the sky. Graveside services were for immediate family only. Now why would Aunt Claudia agree to that? She seemed to seek attention. Her wails threatened to drown out the pastor’s words. I flashed Aunt Eunice a look. She shrugged.
    Service completed, everyone stood and filed past the casket. I paused and laid a hand on Mae Belle’s hard cold one. The cosmetologist had made her look almost pretty— different, but pretty. Again, I promised to find her killer and blinked away tears of remorse. If I’d thought to check on her earlier, I might have spared her this. Instead, I’d chosen to finish my coffee and give her time to show up at the bookstore.
    Once through the line, I made a beeline to Joe. “Who do you think it is?”
    “What?” His gaze flicked to mine then back to the