Framed For Murder (An Anna Nolan Mystery) by Cathy Spencer Read Free Book Online

safely into the city and parked in the university lot. Hurrying through the rain into the main building and down the hallway, I passed a couple of early bird students waiting for their instructors. I arrived at the Kinesiology Department office, unlocked the door, flicked on the lights, and hung my coat on the back of the door. Re-opening it, I looked across the hall and saw that my boss hadn’t arrived yet. Grateful for some early morning peace, I sank into my chair and turned on the computer. Seconds later, Dr. Bryan Carmichael materialized on my door step. Bryan, a muscular young man with a shaved head and a silver ear stud, was dressed casually in a t-shirt and sweat pants. The dress code was pretty relaxed for Kinesiology instructors because their teaching involved physical demonstrations and lab work.
    “Hi Anna, how’s it going? Did you have a good weekend?” he asked. Obviously, he hadn’t read the Record’s report of Jack’s death.
    “Not bad,” I said. “You?”
    “Pretty good. I’ve got my spring course outline ready for printing. Do you have any Printing Services forms?”
    “Sure – they’re right over there on top of the cabinet,” I said, pointing to the credenza that held all the forms.
    “Oops, I always forget where you keep those things. My bad.” He grinned. “I’ll just grab a few and get out of your hair.”
    “Okay Bryan,” I said, entering my computer password.
    After he left, the mail cart rumbled down the hallway and stopped outside my door. Alice Cobb, the Chinook University mail person for the past twenty-seven years, walked into my office with a bundle of mail in her arms. She was a compact, wiry woman who always wore her long grey hair plaited in a single braid down her back.
    “Morning Anna,” she said, dumping her load into my inbox and removing the outgoing mail. “How was your drive in this morning?”
    I looked up at Alice and smiled. I liked Alice; she had taken me under her wing when I arrived four years ago, explaining how things worked and where to find the kinesiology labs. “Pretty dismal with the rain. How was yours?”
    “The same,” Alice said. Like me, she preferred living in a small town outside of Calgary and commuting to work. “Say Anna, I saw a picture of Jack Nolan in Saturday’s paper. He was your ex-husband, right?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Sorry for your loss but, gee, he was a good-looking guy. Thick hair, nice eyes, great body. Yum! I wouldn’t have been too quick to kick him out of bed.” Alice talked big, but she’d been with the same guy for thirty-five years. I’d never met her Mike, but I’d heard so much about him over the years that he seemed like a good friend. She sat down on the edge of my desk and fiddled with her braid.
    “I don’t know about that, Alice. You were probably a lot savvier when you got married than I was. Maybe you wouldn’t have let him into your bed in the first place.”
    “Oh. You mean pretty boy, but not a lot of substance, eh?” she said, winking at me.
    “That about sums him up, Alice,” I replied with a smile. Alice had a way of getting to the point that I appreciated. Unfortunately, our conversation was interrupted by the sound of high heels tapping down the hallway. Alice jumped up and said, “Catch you later, Anna,” before hurrying out the door.
    “Bye Alice,” I called after her.
    Magdalena stuck her perfectly-coiffed head into my office and said, “Good morning, Anna.”
    “Morning Magdalena.”
    “I have a meeting with the Dean at 9:00. Have you got that budget report ready?”
    I scooped up a binder from the top of my desk and held it out to her. Magdalena walked the rest of the way into my office, as beautifully turned out as always in a brown tweed suit with a lavender scarf tucked into the neckline of her cream-coloured blouse. The strap of her tailored leather briefcase was slung over one shoulder, and her pointy-toed, chocolate-brown stiletto pumps didn’t look as if they