Murder by Artifact (Five Star Mystery Series) by Barbara Graham Read Free Book Online Page A

missed anything.” The search had lasted for days. Mike and his bloodhound Dammit had combed every inch of the park and located just about enough bones to make one body. A couple of the smaller bones of the wrist and ankle had not been found. Those were probably carried off by some kind of critter. “If you had turned up three thigh bones or something, I’d say well, maybe there was something wrong.”

    A fleeting grin lit Mike’s face. “Do you want us to go back out there?”

    “No,” said Tony. “You’ve covered it all. Plus, we have nothing for a scent.”

    “True.” Mike looked thoughtful. “How about cold cases? Have you learned anything there?”

    Tony shrugged. “I’m not sure. I asked Harvey, and he said there was nothing like that, at least not that he could remember. He talked a while about old cases inside the national park and even mentioned a case of animal mutilation.”

    “Really?” Mike’s eyebrow flew skyward. “But?”

    “I didn’t believe him.” Tony stood and began pacing. “I can’t shake the feeling that he was still keeping something from me.”

    “Who is keeping something from you?” Wade trotted in carrying the mail. On the top of the stack was an envelope in an evidence bag. “Looks like another one.”

    Tony automatically reached for the antacids and then the bag. The envelope, including the Cincinnati postmark, looked exactly like the one from the day before.

    “Okay, Wade, check the outside for prints. I can hardly wait to see what’s inside.”

    Mike and Tony sat staring at the first clipping. It occupied the center of his desk.

    Deputy Sheila Teffeteller came to the open doorway.
     
    Tony looked up. Sheila’s face looked drawn and tired. The normally immaculate deputy looked like she’d been fighting a wildcat in a dustbin. Beyond her, Ruth Ann sat at her desk watching them carefully. It slowed her application of a fresh coat of polish to her long fingernails. Even from here, Tony could see the green glow. It wasn’t a nice green.
Bilious
came to mind.

    Mike laughed. “Geez, kid, you fall down a chimney?”

    Tony waved her to a chair. “What’s wrong, Sheila?”

    “It sounds so ordinary. I was driving my route, minding my own business.” Sheila settled onto the unoccupied chair and released a weary sigh. “Nellie Pearl Prigmore flagged me down.”

    “How is the old bat?” Mike asked.

    “As mean as new.” Sheila fanned her face with her hand. Moisture dappled her fair skin, and her sweat-soaked shirt clung to the body armor beneath it. “She started out by making a complaint about someone stealing some of her yard art.”

    “I don’t suppose it was replaced with a donkey and cart?” Tony still guessed a prankster was simply rotating the pieces.

    “Nope. Nothing took its place.” She consulted her notebook. “The missing item is a blue and yellow elf sitting on a two-foot-tall pink toadstool and holding a bouquet of flowers. Mostly daisies. According to Nellie Pearl, it was there when she went to bed last night because she remembered seeing it from her bedroom window.”

    “Did she have any idea who might be responsible?” Tony asked.

    “Only everyone in the county.” Sheila glared at him. “Then she pulled out the ‘poor old woman’ routine, and the next thing I knew, she had me carrying boxes of books or lead pipes or something heavy like that, up and down the stairs. I know I carried a plastic crate filled with jars of something containing lots of camphor. Brand-new jars.”

    Mike pinched his nose with his fingers as he asked, “Is that why she smells like that?”

    Tony was preparing his own politically incorrect comment when Wade returned, waving the evidence bag containing the latest mysterious envelope. “It’s clean, just like the last one.”

    Every trace of levity vanished.

    Tony took the bag. Using a souvenir letter opener, he slit open the top of the envelope and turned it upside down over a clean sheet