Monument to the Dead by Sheila Connolly Read Free Book Online

they know
     enough to pass the torch to someone else?”
    “You’re mangling your metaphors, but yes, I think you’ve got the idea.”
    “Want me to add
how
they died?” Shelby asked with a gleam in her eye.
    Shelby could see right through me. “Maybe. How about whether the places they’d served
     were included in the will?”
    “Lady, you don’t make this easy, do you? How about shoe size and hair color while
     I’m at it?”
    “No, but you might go back through the last twenty or so years of society columns
     and see who was seen with whom at whose parties.” At Shelby’s dismayed look, I burst
     out laughing. “Just kidding. But is there any way to figure out who knew who, retroactively?
     I know some of that is in our files, and you can check the reports from our annual
     galas. You could put in a ‘Friends With’ column.”
    “I sure hope all these board members don’t know that we archive gossip!” Shelby shot
     back.
    “It’s not exactly a secret, even if we don’t go around pumping folks for information.
     They can’t really think we come up with our funding requests out of thin air, or with
     a Ouija board.”
    My phone rang. I checked my watch and was surprised to see that it was after five.
     I’d heard Eric leaving while I was talking to Shelby, so I picked up and said, “Nell
     Pratt.”
    “It’s James. We need to talk.”
    That sounded ominous, and I thought I could guess why. “Another one?”
    “Possibly. Can I meet you there?”
    “Of course.” I thought for a moment before saying, “James, can I bring Shelby into
     this conversation?”
    I could hear his sigh. Heck, Shelby, sitting across the desk, could probably hear
     it, too. I waited while he thought it through. “I suppose it will be faster to talk
     to you both and just say this once.”
    “I think she can help.”
    “All right. I’ll be there in a half hour.”
    “I’ll wait in the lobby and let you in.”
    When I hung up, I found Shelby watching me with an amused smile. “I knew there was
     something going on. You going to fill me in before Mr. Agent Man shows up?”
    Now it was my turn to sigh. “James thinks Adeline Harrison’s death was suspicious
     and may be related to at least one other death from a couple of months ago. Apparently
     now there’s a third that he thinks might also be linked. That’s why he asked me to
     sniff around.”
    “And why you asked me for this information,” Shelby said, nodding to the spreadsheets
     she had given me.
    “Yes. And that’s why I’m including you now. You’ve got access to the information he
     needs, and I know I can trust you. I can’t do this all by myself and still run the
     place.”
    I was hardly surprised when Marty showed up in the doorway. “Jimmy just called and
     said we were getting together here. Somebody else is dead?”
    I nodded. “So I gather, but I don’t know who yet. Marty, I asked Shelby to put together
     a matrix of local board members, and I’d like you to look at it and see what you can
     add. If what James thinks is happening really is happening, it may be useful for us
     to have that information in one place.”
    Shelby stood up. “Let me run off a couple more copies for y’all.” She headed down
     the hall toward the copy machine, leaving Marty and me staring at each other silently
     until Shelby returned. She handed Marty a packet of papers and explained to her what
     she had done. Marty nodded in agreement and made some good suggestions.
    I left them in peace while I worried. Marty was right: James was not an alarmist,
     and he preferred to keep his business life and his personal life separate. At least,
     as far as I knew—I’d been part of the latter for only a few months. When we did get
     together outside of work, we both avoided talking about professional issues—him because
     he couldn’t, and me because . . . I didn’t think they would interest him, compared
     to the things he dealt with daily. And because I