The Skeleton Takes a Bow (A Family Skeleton Mystery) by Leigh Perry Read Free Book Online Page B

about that.” Craft’s death had to be the one that Deborah had been talking about Saturday night. “I didn’t know she taught at McQuaid.”
    “Actually, she wasn’t currently employed here. She was an adjunct in the Mathematics Department for several years, but was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer perhaps a year and a half ago. She managed to keep teaching for a while, but I suspect her work wasn’t up to its previous standards. So she hadn’t been offered any classes since the last summer semester.”
    That meant she and I hadn’t intersected—I’d started at McQuaid partway through the fall.
    “She had insurance, but it was minimal, and between her expenses and not being able to work, she’d been having a very difficult time these past few months. Frankly, I’m not sure how she managed to keep her bills paid.” He hesitated. “I’m not saying that she did take an excess of medication intentionally, but if she had, I would find it difficult to censure her.”
    I nodded. I carried insurance, both for myself and for Madison, but keeping up the premiums was sometimes a strain.
    “I’ve been letting people know about the arrangements, but I don’t suppose you would care to attend the funeral, since you didn’t know her.”
    “When is it?” I asked.
    “Thursday morning. Patty’s sister Phoebe is her only living relative, and she can’t get here any sooner.”
    “Sure, I’ll go. Police and firefighters will travel halfway across the country to honor one of their fallen brethren. I think I can manage a drive across town.”
    We made plans to meet beforehand, then went into the office.
    The room we adjuncts called home was large, but not nearly large enough for privacy. It was filled to the bursting point with rows of mismatched desks, squeaky chairs, and other hand-me-downs from when the offices of tenured faculty and loftier administrative personnel were redecorated and upgraded.
    My own spot was against a wall near the door, which would have been a prime location if Sara’s desk weren’t right in front of mine. Her constant presence scared most people off, but I hadn’t had many choices when I picked my spot, and that one was the best available. I didn’t like the woman—she was nosy and vindictive—but with practice, I’d learned to ignore her most of the time. Sadly, I’d had worse office neighbors.
    I started grading the late homework assignments—one-page responses to a reading about Freud’s influence—while Charles made his way through the office, telling people about his friend’s death and when the funeral would be.
    Sara sniffed loudly and said, “I hope Charles doesn’t expect me to go to his girlfriend’s funeral.”
    Had it been anybody else speaking, I’d have asked what she meant by “girlfriend,” but not with Sara. For one, I didn’t want to encourage her, and for another, I knew that she’d spill any dirt she had anyway.
    Sure enough, a minute later she said, “Of course he claims they were just colleagues, but I used to see them coming to work together in the morning.” She raised her brows. “Early in the morning, if you know what I mean.”
    Our dog Byron would have known what she meant. “Was she married?”
    “Not that I know of.”
    “Neither is Charles, and both were adults. You’re a biologist—why would you think this was odd?”
    “Well, if it wasn’t odd, why won’t he admit it?”
    “You could ask him.”
    That was far too direct for Sara. “I wonder if it was because she was so much younger than he was. I don’t really know how old she was, but she sure dressed like a kid—if I hadn’t known she was an adjunct, I’d have thought she was a freshman. I always think that it should be possible to tell a professor from a student at first glance.”
    She certainly lived by that credo. No student on campus would have been caught dead in the long skirts she wore with black oxfords. I had no idea where she got those blouses with the bow