Lemon Pies and Little White Lies by Ellery Adams Read Free Book Online

was one thing to wander uninvited through an acquaintance’s house and quite another to burst into her bathroom. “Mrs. Drever? It’s Ella Mae LeFaye. I’m coming in, okay?”
    She slowly opened the door and for an instant she thought the room was vacant. But then she noticed the folded towel on the closed toilet seat and the drawn shower curtain. Her stomach knotted with dread. “No,” she whispered and tiptoed across the tile floor.
    Before she could protest, Reba sprang in front of her, pulled the shower curtain aside a few inches, and peered into the tub. Her face went taut and she made a hissing noise. And then she frowned. Her shocked expression was suddenly replaced by one of confusion.
    Ella Mae reached for the curtain, but Reba grabbed her hand.
    “Someone’s in here, but it’s not Mrs. Drever,” she said. “And the poor thing isn’t a pretty sight. I’d say this lady’s been in the tub for quite a while.”
    Thinking of the uneaten toast in the kitchen, Ella Mae hesitated. “Do you recognize her?”
    “No,” Reba said.
    “Maybe I will.” Steeling herself, Ella Mae took Reba’splace and stared down at the figure in the water. It was difficult to look at the naked, submerged flesh without flinching, and Ella Mae’s initial reaction was one of shame. This person, whoever she was, didn’t deserve to be gawked at, but Ella Mae forced her gaze to travel up the woman’s doughy body and until it came to rest on her bloated face.
    “I think I’ve seen her before,” Ella Mae said, taking in the curls of dark gray hair floating around the woman’s head like a tarnished halo. She studied the thin lips, the mole above the left eyebrow, and the flaccid skin of her cheeks and chin, which was as colorless as bread dough.
    “She takes care of her nails,” Reba said quietly. “A French manicure on her fingers and fuchsia on her toes.”
    Ella Mae backed away and closed the shower curtain. “I’m guessing that’s her car out in the driveway and her suitcase in the second bedroom. If so, she must have a handbag somewhere in the house.”
    Ella Mae was ready to get out of the bathroom. The woman’s bloated visage was terrible to behold, and though Ella Mae was tempted to release the drain plug and let the water disappear down the pipes so she could cover the stranger with a towel, she knew she had to leave her be.
    “I’ll call for help,” Reba said as Ella Mae headed into the second bedroom.
    It didn’t take her long to locate the woman’s floral handbag. Inside was a matching wallet containing three credit cards, a library card, a blood donor card, forty-four dollars in cash, a photograph of a handsome, sandy-haired man in his thirties, and a Georgia driver’s license.
    “Her name is Joyce Mercer,” Ella Mae told Reba after Reba had placed the call to emergency services. “I recently saw her at Canine to Five. She was picking up her dog, a Shih Tzu, from the groomer’s. I remember because the hot pinkribbons in the dog’s fur were the same shade as Mrs. Mercer’s toenails.”
    “So why is she taking a bath in Mrs. Drever’s house?” Reba wanted to know.
    “I can’t even begin to imagine.” Ella Mae shook her head. “And where is Fiona Drever?”
    The women retreated to the kitchen, where the remains of Joyce Mercer’s breakfast sat on the table.
    “Looks like she was about to fix herself some tea,” Reba said. “Maybe she planned to have another piece of toast with her tea and that’s why she didn’t put the jam away.”
    Using the dish towel, she picked up the kettle by its handle and gave it a little shake. It was almost empty.
    “She must have gone back into the sunroom to read while waiting for the kettle to boil,” Ella Mae said. “It would have whistled when it was ready. Mom has one just like this.”
    “So Mrs. Mercer returns to her book and her cozy couch,” Reba continued the narrative. “The fire’s been on for a while because the sunroom’s on the chilly