Mother's Day Murder by Leslie Meier Read Free Book Online Page B

corner when Lucy arrived.
    “Oh, good,” said Pam, signaling to the waitress. “Now we can order.”
    Lucy felt a stab of disappointment; she’d expected a warmer welcome. “What? No hello? How are you?” asked Lucy.
    “Sorry. It’s just that I’m in a bit of a hurry,” said Pam, turning to the waitress. “I’ll have my usual two eggs, sunny-side up, toast, and OJ.”
    “Okay,” said Norine, with a shrug. “Regulars for the rest of you?”
    “I think I’ll try one of those sunshine muffins,” said Rachel, abandoning her usual healthy bowl of oatmeal with skim milk.
    “Taking a walk on the wild side?” commented Norine, writing it down on her pad.
    “Hash and eggs for me,” said Lucy.
    “And just—,” began Sue.
    “Black coffee for you,” said Norine, rolling her eyes and finishing the sentence for her.
    Lucy was about to ask Pam why she was in a hurry this morning when Rachel began one of her lectures on good nutrition. “You should eat more,” she was saying to Sue. “And you girls should switch to egg-white omelets,” she added, speaking to Lucy and Pam. “They’re much better for you.”
    “You should talk,” protested Sue. “What happened to that bowl of heart-healthy oatmeal? Do you know how much sugar is in those muffins?”
    “I do,” said Rachel, somewhat shamefaced, “and I want it. To tell the truth, I need some comfort food. I keep thinking about that poor girl’s bones. I can’t stand thinking that she was lying out there, all alone, just a little way from home.”
    “I guess we could all use a little boost this morning,” agreed Pam. “It’s too, too sad.”
    “I feel so bad for her parents,” said Lucy.
    “Those searchers couldn’t have done a very good job,” said Sue.
    “I don’t know how they could have missed her,” agreed Pam.
    “Maybe she wasn’t there when the search parties were out,” said Lucy as Norine set her plate in front of her. Suddenly, the greasy hash and eggs and the toast slathered with butter didn’t look quite so appetizing.
    “You mean she could’ve been held captive?” asked Rachel, shuddering as she broke her muffin in two. “That’s even worse.”
    “Or I suppose he could’ve moved the body, too,” said Pam. “Maybe he waited, kept her in the freezer or something, until things died down.”
    “What creeps me out is thinking that whoever did this probably lives around here,” said Sue, sipping her coffee. “They’re supposed to notify the schools whenever a registered sex offender moves into the neighborhood, but I’ve seen the list, and I don’t think this guy is on it.”
    “I think you’re right. That was one of the first things the police did,” said Lucy. “They went down the list and questioned them all.”
    “This may have been a first timer,” said Rachel, who was a psych major in college. “They usually start peeping and stalking and gradually work up to killing their victims.”
    “Why do we think it’s a man?” asked Pam, and all three looked at her.
    “Isn’t it always?” asked Lucy. “Women have other ways of acting out.”
    “Like those female teachers who fall in love with their students,” Sue said as she flicked an imaginary piece of lint off the sleeve of her tweed jacket with a perfectly manicured finger.
    “What do they see in those kids?” asked Pam, whose son, Tim, was now in graduate school. “Their sneakers alone…”
    “The underwear!” added Rachel, whose grown son Richie was building houses in New Orleans. “No deodorant is strong enough!”
    “Those women are certifiable,” declared Lucy. “But there aren’t very many of them, thank goodness. It seems to me the real danger in high school is the other students, especially the girls.”
    “What do you mean?” asked Pam.
    Encouraged, Lucy began her tale of woe. “Well, Sara got asked to the prom by Chad Mackenzie, and now Ashley and Heather have started a hate campaign against her. It’s outrageous. They took a