The Case of the Angry Auctioneer (Auction House Mystery Series Book 1) by Sherry Blakeley Read Free Book Online Page A

when she could find time.
    Ginny opened the side door to her house. A fluffy animal resembling the toy that Jasper still clutched came toddling out.
    “Oh, Buddy!” Jasper, who had never been allowed a pet as the wife of the persnickety and often on the move Rev. Rowe, stood still not knowing how one approached a cat new to one’s acquaintance.
    “That’s Alice.”
    “Alice.”
    Alice chirped a very small meow for such a big feline.
    Jasper was won over immediately. She reached down to stroke the pet but it ambled just out of reach.
    “I’m so glad you like cats.”
    “I didn’t know I did but it turns out I do.”
    “Not like the other people in your house.”
    “The O’Neils.”
    “I don’t know about him. I’ve never met him. But she brings out the broom every chance she gets.”
    “She goes after Mr. O’Neil?” Jasper glanced back over her shoulder and saw Mrs. O’Neil glowering out the window of the lower apartment directly at her and Ginny Gardener.
    “No, I meant Alice.” Ginny cleared her throat. “Ah, when you saw me at the window earlier.”
    “Oh, well, not really. Not for long.”
    “It was by mistake. People look out their windows in this neighborhood but I never expected to see you….I mean…in the ….I mean the way you were. I just wanted to see what color of curtains you had hung.”
    “Well, we’ll both know soon!” Jasper did her best to sound light hearted. She made a mental note to buy the heaviest curtains she could afford. After all her years as a minister’s wife, she was tired of having the details of her life scrutinized by others. Nice or otherwise. “Gotta run!” she called as she hurried back to her house.
    “Dear!” Ginny called. “You might want to rethink those shoes you were planning on wearing. I expect at the auction house, you will be on your feet all day long.”
     
    ***
     
    Biggs Auction House was just where Cookie had told her it would be, on the corner of West and Lincoln. It took only 20 minutes and one quick call to her sister before Jasper pulled into the big blacktopped parking lot. A former Piggly Wiggly grocery store, the gold brick building still boasted large display windows. Jasper parked in front of them since the lot was empty of other vehicles and she didn’t know where to go. Old-fashioned furniture that looked heavier than all get-out took up the display area inside. A cherry red sign hanging down from the one-story roof announced the building’s new identity. The auction house stretched nearly the entire length of the lot. Two big dumpsters stood side by side at the far back.
    8:20 on her Ford’s clock whose digital display was working this morning for a change. Jasper glanced in the visor mirror. Yikes. She had forgotten to do anything with her hair. She took one of the rubber bands she always kept on the gear shift, ran her hands back over her scalp, and pulled her long dark waves into a ponytail. The morning sun did nothing to hide her paleness. She slapped her cheeks and chewed her lips to bring out a little color.
    A black SUV charged over the curb and roared to a stop alongside her car. The SUV’s passenger window powered down. Jasper cracked her door open. She heard the radio blaring out early rock music. “Got a pen?” Jimmy Biggs yelled.
    Jasper switched off the car and started rummaging through her purse. Tissues. A Forest Grove map. Peppermints. A religious tract titled, “God has a Plan for You.”
    “Leave it. We’re late.” Jimmy’s voice boomed out and echoed against the sides of the auction house. The plate glass windows rattled.
    “I just need a moment.”
    “We don’t have a minute. Lock your goddamn door. Get in.”
    Suddenly feeling sweaty in the palms like the 21-year-old she had been nineteen years ago when she had to break the news of her impending marriage and the end to her college career to her angry stepfather, Jasper felt her 40 years of life and all her starting over courage evaporate. She got