Murder at the Big T Lodge: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman Read Free Book Online

that
we're in a very remote area of Texas.”
    “Not to worry,
Mrs. Langley. Mr. Mercer has it flown in fresh daily. I think you'll be pleased
with it.”
    “I trust your
judgment. That’s what I’ll have. Thank you.”
    “And for you,
sir?” he asked turning towards Roger.
    “I’ve never
had venison before. I see you have venison hash on the menu. Do you think it’s
something I’d like?”
    “I can only
speak for myself,” Jesse said. “It’s one of my favorites. It’s a traditional
type of hash with potatoes, onions, red peppers, and green peppers, but the
meat is venison. It's topped with two fried eggs, or you can have them any way
you’d like, and it’s accompanied by freshly baked sourdough bread.”
    “You’ve sold
me. I’ll take it, but I’d like my eggs poached. Thanks.”
    “Okay, now
that we’ve ordered, I want to hear all about the hunt,” Liz said.
    “No, first I
want to hear if you were able to get ahold of Milt’s widow and if the mortuary
people came.”
    “Not much to
tell. I called the number you had on your phone for his wife, but she wasn’t
there. Evidently her parents are visiting from Italy, and she took them on a
little trip. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving a death message on her answer
phone, so I decided to try again tomorrow. The mortuary picked up Milt’s body,
and for all intents and purposes, that chapter is closed. Now about the hunt.”
    “It was very
interesting” Roger said. “As you know, we left before dawn. Actually, I would
prefer to hunt when it’s light. Guess it’s having practiced law too long, but I
have to admit I was afraid some yahoo would think he saw something and fire his
gun in the dark. Anyway, there were two guests plus a guide in each duck blind.
The guide uses a duck call to get the ducks to come into our area. The dog that
was assigned to our duck blind was a black Labrador retriever by the name of
Snoopy. Don’t even ask why he has that name. I have no idea. He’s there to
retrieve the birds, so he lies down on the ground next to the blind while the
hunters sit on a bench inside the duck blind.”
    “So, how does
it work?” Liz asked.
    “Using his
duck call, the guide calls the ducks. All of a sudden there’s a bunch of
flapping wings and each of us stood up and started shooting. And in answer to
your unasked question, yes, I did get a couple. I’d been worried I’d totally
embarrass myself, but I made a credible showing. Anyway, when one of us got a
duck, Snoopy would hear the splash in the marshy area in front of the blind,
and he’d race out and retrieve the duck. Then we’d watch for another flight of
ducks, and we’d do it again.”
    “Okay, it’s
not my thing, but I’m glad you had a good time. I’ve got a question. Even
though there’s a river and a lake, this is pretty dry land. You mentioned a
marsh. How can there be a marsh around here?”
    “Good
question. Jack created it from the lake you see from our suite. It’s actually
quite a large lake, and at the far end he’s built some small dams that make
that area kind of like a marsh or a swamp. Jack had ten duck blinds built, all
far enough apart from each other to be safe from gunfire coming from a nearby
blind. It’s really quite an engineering project. Ah, here comes Jesse. I am
definitely starving.”
    Both of them
were quiet as they focused on breakfast. Roger was the first to finish. “Liz,
why don’t you stay here and finish your coffee? I need to go up to the room for
a couple of minutes. The quail hunt begins after breakfast, and Jack told us to
meet him in the great room when we’d finished breakfast. Sorry for leaving you,
but I want to wash up, and I have to change clothes before we take off again.
As Jack told us last night, they’re serving us lunch while we’re out in the
field, and then we’ll hunt till around 4:30 or so. Try and stay out of trouble,
although as big as Sam is and as attached to you as he’s become, don’t