Organized for Murder by Ritter Ames Read Free Book Online Page A

dangerous. I couldn't ask you to do that."
    "Nonsense." Meg slipped the item into her jacket pocket. "I'll go by the bank on my way to lunch with Mother, leaving nary a clue to anyone I have it. Or that you don't."
    Kate chewed her lip. "I don't know—"
    "Well, I do." Meg smiled and gave her arm a squeeze. "You need a plan. Consider this a start."
    "Actually, I already started one." She pulled out the list. "Task number five was going to be deciding what to do with it, but I guess that's covered."
    Meg scanned the items on the page and nodded in agreement, adding, "Sounds like exactly the right plan, but I can almost guarantee no one came to your front door last night. I sat at my living room window all evening waiting for you to come home and doing cross-stitch until my eyes gave out during the late news."
    Kate grinned, and the redhead added, "No, I'm not a nosy neighbor. Just a concerned one."
    "Absolutely." Kate wrapped her newest best friend in a hug.
    The moment passed, and Meg cleared her throat. "I'll find out what I can from Mother about Amelia. News of the murder has definitely hit every gossip circuit by now, so it won't be an unusual topic to bring up at a Hazelton ladies' luncheon. Two of her garden club members are joining us. We may have a real hen party by the time the salad plates get whisked away."
    Meg's mother had owned a local dress shop for years, retiring the previous fall to grow hybrid roses and get reacquainted with an ex-salesman husband who'd traveled too much during their four decades of marriage. Lunch out had become a weekly event, chiefly to give Meg's mother a break from her father.
    Talk of the midday mother-daughter event made Kate miss her own mom even more. Hers, though, had been more likely to plan an environmental protest than a ladies' day out.
    "Great." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "We'll meet and trade information after school."

CHAPTER FOUR
    Wealthy Socialite Murdered
    Hazelton, VT., (AP)—Authorities called a press conference to report the murder of millionaire heiress, Amelia Nethercutt, née Lane. Death is reported due to poisoning, and Vermont State Police Lieutenant Walter Johnson says authorities are pursuing a number of leads. Law enforcement spokespersons acknowledge the autopsy was put on expedited status by the governor and showed death was a result of poisoning. Johnson would not elaborate on suspects, however sources reveal a number of local residents already questioned as material witnesses.
    Preceded in death by the recent demise of husband Daniel, the couple was known for strong ties to the arts and philanthropic work. A well-known local garden club supporter…
     
    *
     
    Meg left to prepare for her lunch mission, and Kate pulled the phone book from the desk drawer. Three Baxters made up the total listings for the area, but after dialing all three, she found herself exactly where she'd started. Nowhere. Men answered at two of the numbers, but neither had any idea who her quarry was. The third hung up before she'd had a chance to ask.
    Kate grabbed the spiral notepad she'd mentally labeled her "casebook." No need to add the "put you-know-what in a safer place" chore, though she still felt guilty about letting Meg assume the responsibility.
    "Darn it. I'm obsessing again." Another snap of the rubber band added to her weekly total, but it was still better than one would imagine under the circumstances. At least that was what Kate told herself as she took a couple of slow, deep breaths. Then she bit her lip and brainstormed on the blank lines.
     
    a. Go by Amelia's mansion—see if someone is living in and can tell me how to reach Mrs. B.
    b. Check with local employment services to see if Mrs. B signed on for a new position.
     
    Of course, the last would be unlikely. The murder had occurred too recently. And who's to say the family planned to terminate Mrs. Baxter at all? One of Amelia's children might employ her. Yes, a mansion visit offered the better