Murder in Vein (2010) by Sue Ann Jaffarian Read Free Book Online

take to girls with potty
mouths."
    Madison started to say something coarse in retort, but one
look at Pauline cautioned her not to pick the fight. "I'll remember that," she said instead.

    "Good, that's getting off on the right foot. Now, what would
you like for breakfast?"
    Madison shrugged.
    "Speak up, girl," Pauline told her. "Dodie had me pick up a
few things on my way in today. Things like eggs and bread, some
pouches of tuna-stuff like that. She said you drink 2% milk
with your Honey Nut Cheerios, that right?"
    "How did she know?" Madison asked, then remembered her
personal items upstairs. "Of course, they went to my apartment,
didn't they?"
    "Seems so. Shall it be cereal, then?"
    When Madison nodded, Pauline went to a cupboard and
retrieved a bowl. From a drawer she pulled out a spoon. "The
cereal's in that cupboard," she said, pointing to one near the
refrigerator.
    Madison went to the cupboard and found a fresh box of her
favorite cereal. The pantry was well stocked, though most items
appeared newly purchased. After grabbing the box from the
cupboard and milk from the refrigerator, she took a seat at the
kitchen table, where Pauline had placed the bowl and spoon. In
the middle of the table was a large bowl of fresh fruit.
    "Where am I?" Madison ventured as she poured cereal into
her bowl. Even as she asked the question, it sounded lame to her.
    Pauline turned from the sink to face her. "You mean
geographically?"
    Madison nodded and added milk to the bowl. "With everything that's happened, I forgot to ask. Kind of stupid of me, I
know."
    "This house is in Topanga Canyon. You know where that is?"
    Again, Madison nodded.

    Pauline went to the refrigerator, pulled out a container of
juice, and poured two glasses. She put one in front of Madison
and the other in front of another seat at the table. Pauline settled
herself in the chair by the juice.
    "Seems like now would be a good time to go over some house
rules," she told Madison. "First off, I'm not here to wait on you.
Got that?"
    Madison jabbed her spoon into her cereal. "I wouldn't expect
you to."
    "You take care of your room. Pick up after yourself. Make
your own bed."
    "It's already made." Madison popped the first spoonful of
cereal into her mouth and chewed, being careful of her split lip.
It was delicious. She'd not eaten much the day before except for
soup and a couple of cookies, and she was famished. She shoveled
another bite in on the heels of the first.
    "Mrs. D said you were neat. Glad to hear it." Pauline took a
drink of juice and watched the girl. "Secondly, you have the run
of the house except for the Dedhams' master suite. That doesn't
mean you can go snooping around or anything like that, but
you're not restricted on where you can go-except for their
room. The master suite is at the end of the hallway, down from
your room. There are two small bedrooms that share a bath
across the hall from your room. Mrs. D uses one for a kind of
sewing or craft room. She loves to do handwork-knitting,
needlepoint, anything with a hook or needle. The other room is
empty except for a bed and dresser. Down here, there's the living
room, dining room, den, and a small study Mr. D uses. There are
lots of books in there. I've heard you like to read, so help yourself, just don't disturb Mr. D's paints. He likes to dabble in oils. It's the only messy place in the entire house." The last sentence
was spoken with frustration mixed with pride.

    "Don't worry," Madison told her between bites. "I'm used to
living in other people's homes." When Pauline gave her a quizzical look, she added, "I grew up in foster care. Five different places
between the ages of eight and eighteen"
    Again, Pauline quietly studied Madison, taking her measure.
Dodie Dedham had seen something special in the girl. She'd told
Pauline so this morning when she arrived, just before Dodie had
gone to bed. Dodie had specifically waited up to talk to her about