Mind Over Murder by Allison Kingsley Read Free Book Online

are you going to tell me why you really left New York?”
    Clara paused, nerves tightening all the way down her back.
    “I already told you. I got tired of all the hassles. I missed home. I missed my family. I’d had enough of big-city life.”
    “I know what you told me.” Jessie got up and carried her glass and the jug over to the counter. “I just can’t help thinking there’s a lot you’re not telling me.”
    Clara walked over to join her at the sink. “Quit worrying, Mom. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a grown woman. I know what I’m doing, and right now I’m doing what I want to do. I’m happy to be home. Can’t we just leave it at that?”
    Jessie looked disappointed, but she put down the jug and patted Clara’s arm. “Oh, very well. I suppose you’ll tell me eventually. As a matter of fact, I never did understand why you left here in the first place. One of these days you’ll have to satisfy my curiosity on that, too.”
    That, Clara thought, as she opened the dishwasher, was never going to happen. No one would ever know that she’d inherited the Quinn Sense. No one except Stephanie, anyway. And even Stephanie didn’t know the real reason she’d left New York. That was something else she intended to keep to herself.
    Shutting down the painful memories, she placed the glass on the rack and closed the dishwasher.

4
    Clara arrived at the Raven’s Nest shortly before noon the next day. The yellow tape and the notice had been taken down, and the store seemed crowded with teens and parents taking advantage of the back-to-school sale.
    Clara was relieved to see Molly standing behind the counter, ringing up a purchase for a couple of young customers. She looked up without her usual smile as Clara approached. “Steph’s in the back,” she said, jerking her head in that direction. “Talking to Mrs. Riley.” She handed the bag of books over to the giggling girls and waited for them to leave before adding, “She didn’t want me helping her. Can you believe that?”
    Clara raised her eyebrows. “Stephanie?”
    Molly rolled her eyes. “No, Mrs. Riley. She said she’d feel more comfortable if Steph found her a book. I guess she thinks I killed Ana, and now she’s afraid of me.”
    “That’s nonsense.” Clara walked behind the counter and stashed her purse on a shelf. “Dan would never have let you go if he thought you were a murderer.”
    “That’s just it.” Molly turned mournful green eyes on her. “He does think I did it. He just can’t prove it.”
    “Did he say that?”
    Molly picked up a stack of bookmarks and started loading them into a wooden holder. “Someone told him I threatened Ana that morning.”
    “Yes, but—”
    “He said that I was the last one to leave the store and the only one with a key. There was no sign of a break-in. He thinks Ana was mad at Stephanie and came into the store meaning to cause damage or something and that I tried to stop her.”
    “That’s ridiculous.”
    “It’s what everyone else is thinking, too. The whole town believes I murdered Ana.”
    “Of course they don’t.” Clara put an arm about Molly’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “We know you didn’t do it, and anyone who knows you will know it, too.”
    “A lot of people heard me yelling at her yesterday.”
    “That doesn’t mean you killed her.”
    Molly’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t like her, Clara, but I’d never want her dead. I didn’t kill her, I swear it.”
    The words seemed to fill Clara’s mind, swirling around and settling down like snowflakes tossed by the wind. The voice in her head whispered, soft and insistent. She shut it down, refusing to listen. “I know you didn’t,” she said, squeezing Molly’s shoulders again before letting her go. “And so will everyone else.”
    As if to contradict her, Mrs. Riley’s voice rang out loud and clear as she walked up the aisle with Stephanie. “I’m not giving my credit card to that young woman. I just