Minnie Crockwell - Will Travel for Trouble 01 - Trouble at Happy Trails by Minnie Crockwell Read Free Book Online Page B

fact, Ben was the only man I liked at the moment.
    Thank you, Minerva! I am honored.
    Don’t get a big head, Ben. It’s slim pickins’ around here.
    Nevertheless, I am flattered by your good opinion of me.
    “Do you think he said anything to Carl?” I asked. “Why would Carl kill himself?”
    “I don’t know,” she whispered. She moved closer to me. “And like I said, I don’t think he killed himself.”
    “Are you suggesting he was murdered? Wouldn’t the police have figured that out?”
    “Why would they? It’s just a matter of putting the gun in his hand and firing, right? Maybe if he was knocked on the head first? It seems like the gunshot would have ruined evidence of a blow to the head.” Her blue eyes flashed, and her tears stopped cold.  
    Slightly repulsed, I wanted to back up but stood my ground. She had it all figured out, didn’t she?
    “Who do you think would do such a thing?” Her answer seemed obvious. She was going to say her husband.
    “His wife or my husband,” she said in a bitter note.  
    “Sally?” I squeaked. “Your husband?”
    “Yes! I hope you’re not good friends with her because that’s what I think.”
    My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head.
    “Are you going to tell the police?” She wouldn’t incriminate her husband, would she?
    “I’m thinking about it.”
    I thought I might as well come clean.
    “I have to admit that I saw you dump something into the sewer drain this morning. I wondered about that.”
    Karen drew in a sharp breath, and she turned to look at the sewer drain.
    “It was a packet of notes Carl had sent me over the past month. He would tuck them under the mat by the front door. I didn’t want anyone to find them and try to incriminate me. You know, Jim or someone.”
      “For a moment, I thought it was a gun or something.”
    Karen swung her head toward me. “A gun! Why would you think it was a gun of all things?”
    I shrugged, feeling foolish. “Oh, I don’t know. Something wrapped in plastic. The events of the night. I was being silly.”
    “I’ll say. They found the gun with Carl, didn’t they? If not, they wouldn’t be talking about suicide.” Karen’s voice seemed so coldly matter of fact, where earlier she had been distraught.
    She nodded and looked at her watch. “Well, I’d better get lunch started. Jim gets upset if lunch isn’t on time. See you later.”
    I watched her walk away, and I walked toward the rear of my RV to look down the road. Jim sat on the picnic bench by Sally’s RV, his head in his hands—almost the picture of grief. Or guilt, I suppose. Some strong emotion, at any rate. What on earth was going on?
    “Ben, what’s happening. What do you think?” I whispered as I returned to the RV.
    I am at a loss, Minerva. Somehow, traversing the uncharted territories of the United States in 1804 seems much less complicated than does this day.

Chapter Five
    I climbed into the relative calm of my RV, paid bills on the computer, answered a few emails and pulled out a map to study the Spokane area. My entire visit here couldn’t possibly consist of who was killing whom in my local RV park, could it?
    I mapped out a few places I thought I wanted to visit over the next few days. Spokane itself looked like an interesting city, well worth a visit. Plus, it had several specialty stores that I wanted to shop in for those favorite foods that weren’t carried on traditional grocery store shelves. Riverfront Park and the Spokane River with its falls seemed very enticing.  
    “Is there anything in particular that you want to see, Ben?”
    Why, thank you for asking, Minerva. It seems only yesterday that the expedition traversed the mountains and we found ourselves entering what you now call Washington at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Do you contemplate a visit to that area in the near future? I would be most curious to see what the trail looks like now.
    “Let’s see where that is.” I