To Catch a Leaf by Kate Collins Read Free Book Online Page B

the first time without Dave there.”
    â€œIt’s all right, love. All I told them was how I happened to find Connie. The police could hardly proceed with their investigation otherwise.”
    For a woman who’d once worked as Dave’s legal secretary, Grace was startlingly naive. “Do you remember what happened when I found one of the law professors dead? I became the number one suspect. So please do not say anything more about anything.”
    â€œDuly noted. Henceforth, my lips are sealed.”
    â€œOkay. Sit tight until you hear from Dave.”
    Before I could dial out, Lottie came through the curtain. “I found a place for the manikin head on the second shelf of the armoire, in the corner, so all that’s left to do is to price the glasses. But first tell me what happened to Grace.”
    â€œShe found her friend dead at the bottom of the basement steps. Now the cops are there and they won’t let anyone leave until they finish investigating.”
    â€œOh, Lordy,” Lottie said, holding her hand against her heart. “Poor Grace. How awful for her. Which friend was it?”
    â€œConstance Newport.”
    Lottie’s eyes grew wide. “Constance Newport, the heiress?”
    â€œThat’s her. Did you know she and Grace were friends?”
    â€œI’d heard her mention her friend Connie, but I hadn’t made the connection. The woman had to be about ninety years old. I’m not surprised she kicked the bucket.”
    â€œAccording to Grace, Connie didn’t kick the bucket. Someone pushed her. Grace believes she was murdered.”
    I didn’t think Lottie’s eyes could have opened any wider, but she proved me wrong. “Not another murder! I don’t know what’s happening to our town, Abby.”
    â€œIt’s becoming a city, Lottie,” I said, “with all the bad stuff that goes along with it.”
    Hearing the bell over the door, Lottie headed up front, muttering, “Lordy, Lordy, Lordy. Save us from ourselves.”
    I connected with line two. “Marco?”
    â€œAbby, I just got a call from Reilly that Constance Newport is dead.”
    â€œI know. Grace just phoned, too. She found the body.”
    â€œIs she all right?”
    â€œShe sounds fine, but, Marco, she said no one else was around when she made the discovery and she thinks Constance was murdered. You know what that means. The cops will treat her as a suspect.”
    I could hear the shift in Marco’s voice as he went into PI mode. “Why does Grace suspect murder?”
    â€œShe wouldn’t say over the phone. I’ve got to call Dave and have him talk to Grace before she says something that might incriminate her, if she hasn’t already.”
    â€œGot it. Call if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll see you down here for dinner.”
    Â 
    I connected with Dave ten minutes later, and after explaining Grace’s predicament, ended the conversation knowing she was in good hands. With that worry off my plate, I returned to the workroom and immersed myself in floribunda, which always soothes my frazzled nerves. My state of oblivion lasted until three thirty, when the bell over the door jingled, and my mother called jauntily, “Yoo-hoo! I’m here.” This was followed by a terse, “Lottie, why did Abigail put my manikin in the armoire?”
    Because the alternative was stashing it in the basement.
    I hurried through the purple curtain to find Mom pushing aside the arrangements in the bay window to make room for the head. Lottie stood off to the side, watching with a pained expression as the display she’d worked on for two hours ceased to exist, while Simon occupied himself with throwing up undigested greens in the corner.
    â€œI’m not surprised you haven’t sold a single pair of glasses,” Mom said to me, stepping back to admire her handiwork. “No one could see them tucked back in that