Murder in a Basket (An India Hayes Mystery) by Amanda Flower Read Free Book Online Page B

wait.”
    He stopped. “Need help with something?”
    “ Can you wait here for a few minutes?”
    His forehead wrinkled. “Why? I need to set up.”
    I bit my lip.
    “Is something wrong?”
    “ Well . . . Tess . . . I . . .”
    “ Tess? This has to do with Tess? Is she here?”
    “ What time did Tess leave last night?” I glanced behind me, looking for Mains, for any cop, even Knute.
    “ I don’t know. I left around seven and headed over to my forge. She was still here then . . .” He trailed off. “What’s this about?”
    “ You mean you haven’t seen your wife since yesterday?”
    Jerry’s eyes flashed in annoyance. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m in the middle of working on a huge custom gate order. That means long hours and lots of noise.” His face softened. “I called the house around midnight to tell her I’d sleep on my cot over there, but she must already have gone to bed. She didn’t answer the phone. Why? Are you looking for her?”
    I felt the blood drain from my face. “Jerry, I’m so sorry . . .”
    He froze. “Sorry? Sorry for what?”
    “ Uh—”
    “ I’ll take it from here, India.” Mains’s voice came from behind me, and I jumped.
    Jerry looked from Mains to me and back again. “Who are you?”
    “ I’m Detective Richmond Mains of the Stripling Police Department. Mr. Ross, I need to speak with you for a minute.”
    Despite the chill in the air, beads of sweat appeared on Jerry’s brow. “Wh-what’s this about?”
    I didn’t move.
    Mains touched my arm. “You need to give us some privacy.”
    I jogged back to the practice field, the granola bar forgotten.
    In my haste to get away, I ran directly into Derek. His eyes were bloodshot. He knew.
    “ Derek, I’m so sorry.” It was the best I could do, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
    He blinked at me.
    Officer Habash stood a foot away and cocked her eyebrow at me.
    I smiled at her. “I know him. He’s one of my students. Derek, let’s go over to that picnic table.”
    We sat on the bench. “Are you okay?”
    “ No.”
    I smiled sadly at the honest answer. Most people were too polite to tell you how they really feel, but not Derek.
    My shoulder began to ache as it always did when I tensed up. “Who told you?”
    “ Detective Mains. Last night. He found me at the dorm.”
    “ I don’t know if you should be here.”
    “ I had to come. I had to see where it happened. Not that I actually saw anything. The police wouldn’t let me get close.”
    “ That’s good. You don’t need to see that.”
    “ I brought these for you.” For the first time, I noticed the white bakery bag in his hand. I took the bag. Two fresh jelly donuts sat at the bottom. “I know they’re your favorite. I brought them to apologize about yesterday.”
    “ That was very thoughtful,” I stammered. How could he think of bringing me donuts the morning after he learned his mother was murdered? Under the circumstances, it seemed rude not to take the bakery bag, so I decided to forgive the no-gifts rule this once. I doubted I’d be able to eat them.
    “ I just don’t understand. The detective said she was murdered. That doesn’t make any sense. No one had anything against my mom. Everyone loved her. She was so easygoing.” A tear slid out of the corner of his eye, and he gruffly wiped it away.
    “ It doesn’t look like she left last night. Her cart wasn’t even packed. When did you last see her?”
    “ Six-thirty,” he said firmly. “I offered to help her pack up, and she said I didn’t have to. She was meeting someone, and it would give her something to do while she waited. I didn’t argue with her. You don’t know how many times I’ve packed her booth after a craft fair. I was happy for the excuse to leave. I should have insisted. That’s what a good son would’ve done.” He blinked at the ground.
    I put what I hoped was a reassuring hand on his arm.
    He looked up. “You have to find out who did this.”
    I