You Bet Your Life by Jessica Fletcher Read Free Book Online Page B

invest in businesses or buy them out, fix them up, and sell them again. Victor says he doesn’t really like to work, but he likes to help other people work,” she said. “Isn’t that nice?”
    “You admire him, too, I can see.”
    “I do. I care for him and I admire him, but I’m also practical. I was a middle-class widow from Maine without a lot of money, but with a need to explore all the avenues I’d never ventured down before. It was more than a need, really. I was desperate not to reach the end of my life, as Walt had, with so many sights unseen and experiences untasted. I wanted to live.” She jumped up from her seat and began pacing in front of the window. “That rage to experience life—Victor understands that. And while I may have to hold certain of my desires in check—going to London tomorrow, for instance, or even having a honeymoon—I’ve already gotten much more than I ever thought I would.”
    “You mean material things?”
    She sighed. “Oh, Jessica, I can see I disappoint you. But yes, material things are part of it, too. Maybe they won’t be in a year or two, but right now I’m enjoying the novelty of beautiful clothes, jewelry, and gifts, lovingly presented to me by a handsome man who is now my husband.”
    “No one can blame you for that, but you know as well as I do that a marriage requires a lot more than buying and receiving gifts. What would happen if Victor lost all his money tomorrow? Would you still want to be married to him?”
    “Believe it or not, I actually thought about that when Victor asked me to many him.” She sat down again. “I asked myself if I was just marrying him for his money.”
    “And what was your answer?”
    “My answer was no, of course. But truthfully, deep down, I don’t believe he could lose all his money. I have confidence in him that he will take care of me, give me what I need emotionally as well as materially, and I will give him back whatever he wants from me.”
    “Does that include being a mother to his daughter?”
    “She already has a mother who lives nearby, even if they’re not very close. No, I’m the one who wants a relationship with Jane. When Victor let her move in with him after her divorce, it was probably guilt on his part. He was pretty much an absentee father when she was a child. I think he wanted to make it up to her. But for good or ill, she’s living in his house... our house ... and whether she likes it or not, whether she likes me or not, I’m her stepmother and I’ll be living there, too. I’m determined to make a friend of her.”
    “You’ve got a job ahead of you.”
    “She’s not usually as badly behaved as she was today.”
    “I’ll take your word for it.”
    “You’ll see. Next time you come, you’ll meet another Jane. She can be very sweet.”
    “If you say there’s a lovely woman under that crusty exterior,” I said, “it must be so. And if anyone can bring her out of her shell, it’s you, Martha.”
    “Thanks, Jessica.” She leaned over and gave me a hug. “I can always count on you. Now let’s make some tea and eat some of my wedding cake. You can tell me all about the goings-on in Cabot Cove. Then we’ll watch the Bellagio’s dancing fountains together from here. Best seat in the house. It’s a fabulous spectacle. I love it.”

Chapter Five
    The present
     
    The hairdresser, Krista Scarborough, left the stand, and the judge instructed the prosecutor to call his next witness.
    “Please state your name and spell your last name,” the prosecutor, Shelby Fordice, asked the attractive young woman now occupying the witness stand.
    “Lydia Bellis. B-e-l-l-i-s.”
    “How are you employed, Ms. Bellis?”
    “I’m a manicurist at Opal Salon here in Las Vegas.”
    “Have you had occasion to spend time with the defendant?”
    “Yes, I have.”
    “Please tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury under what circumstances this occurred.”
    “She has a weekly appointment at our