Corpses & Conmen (Rosewood Place Mysteries Book 2) by Ruby Blaylock Read Free Book Online

treeline behind it. It seemed to Annie that the bird was watching her and her mother, waiting for an invitation.
    “You know what they say about red birds visiting you, don’t you?” Bessie smiled.
    “No, what do they say?”
    “That it’s the spirit of a loved one, come to visit you.” Bessie sighed. “That’s your father, I’m sure of it.”
    Annie watched the bird hop from foot to foot, peering down at the water below it. It was a lovely superstition, and part of her wanted it to be true, but it was a little disconcerting to think of her father flying around and watching her from a bird’s body. Before she could reply to her mother’s cryptic comment, the bird flew away, disappearing into the woods on the other side of the pond.
    A glint of metal caught Annie’s eye as the bird departed. She looked down at the deck below where the bird had been perched and saw a cell phone lying on the edge of the deck.
    “Well, now, that’s lucky,” she mumbled, rising from her seat. She walked over and picked up the phone. “Someone left their phone out here,” she called to her mother. “They’re lucky it didn’t go in the pond during the night.”
    Annie noticed that the phone’s screen was locked and required a password to unlock it. “I guess I’ll just take this inside and ask around. Someone will be missing it, I imagine.” As she turned to walk back to her mother, something in the water caught her eye. She leaned over the edge of the deck, trying to get a better look.
    “What is it?” Bessie asked, already making her own way to where Annie stood.
    Annie didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. Bessie’s gasp matched her own, and both women stepped back from the edge of the deck as though the thing in the water might just rise up and bite them.
    “Is that--is he--”
    “Dead? I think so,” Annie finished her mother’s question.
    “Who is it?” Bessie asked, putting a hand to her mouth.
    “I can’t tell,” Annie replied, peering over the edge once more. “Do you think it’s one of the guests?”
    Bessie shook her head. “I don’t know, but I know how we can find out.” She knelt down by the edge of the deck.
    “Mother! You are not touching that body!” Annie’s voice was louder than she’d intended.
    “You’re right--I might contaminate the crime scene,” Bessie conceded, rising to her feet.
    “How do you know it’s a crime scene? He could have just fallen in and drowned,” Annie said, hoping that this was the case, yet praying that it wasn’t. An accidental drowning could mean the kiss of death for her business, but a murder could be even worse.
    “Let’s go inside and give Emmett a call,” Bessie suggested. “He’ll know what to do. And we can do a headcount to see if anyone is missing,” she added.
    Annie didn’t like the idea of leaving the body unattended in the pond, but she knew her mother’s plan was the best one. She glared at the cell phone in her hand, hoping that she hadn’t just contaminated a piece of evidence, like her mother suggested. Grabbing her coffee cup from the table, Annie squared her shoulders and headed for the house. It was going to be a long day, and she was definitely going to need another cup of coffee.

6
Questions, Alibis, and Answers
    Emmett Barnes loved visiting Rosewood Place. He enjoyed fishing in its quiet pond on lazy Sundays. Food served at Bessie Purdy’s dinner table always seemed to taste better, and he’d taken a shine to the little family that had transformed the rundown farmhouse into a spectacular bed-and-breakfast. Emmett would have been happy to come out to the old farm for a visit at any time, but the reason for today’s visit was definitely one that he could do without.
    He watched as Alan Sherman from the fire department hauled the soggy body out of his beloved fishing hole. “Oh, yeah, he’s dead.” The fireman’s statement was blunt and unnecessary. Unless blue skin was an indicator of perfect health, it was pretty