A Body at Bunco Read Free Page A

tears well unless the crying person in question were a compatriot of toddler Jack.
    Myrtle saw Red leave his house and head in their direction. “Okay, well, here’s Red. Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems, Elaine.”
    But apparently it was. Red’s freckled face was grim as he said, “I’ve called the plumber. It’s got to be a main sewer line clog for all the sinks and toilets and tubs to be backed up the way they are. This is going to be a major repair job.”
    “What could have caused it?” asked Elaine.
    “Probably something like a tree’s roots growing into the line. We’ve sure got lots of old trees. And it’s been pretty dry lately. It could be that a tree was sending roots farther down looking for moisture,” said Red as he absently picked up Jack. He then gave Jack a thoughtful look. “Unless Jack here put something in the toilet that backed up the main line.”
    Jack beamed at him.
    “At any rate,” said Myrtle. “It sounds as if you’re not going to be having company over tonight—is that right?”
    Red looked startled. “Oh no. That’s right—you were hosting Bunco tonight, weren’t you, Elaine? There’s no way we can have those ladies over tonight. Not without restrooms.”
    “It’s all right,” said Myrtle. “ I’m going to host the party. The game. Whatever. Bonkers. I guess we’ll need food, right?”
    Elaine quickly jumped in. “I’ve actually got all the food prepared, Myrtle. Well, everything but the hot stuff. I’ve got veggie dips and some other hors d’oeuvres. So you don’t have to fix a thing.”
    “But no hot foods? I can make something hot to serve, you know. It’s no trouble.”
    Red and Elaine darted uneasy looks at each other.
    “Really, Myrtle, it’s not necessary. There’s no need to cook anything,” said Elaine.
    “I’ll run across the street and get the food that Elaine’s prepared,” said Red. “You’ll see that there’s plenty of it, Mama.”
    Myrtle gave a tight smile. “Anybody would think you were trying to keep me from cooking.”
    “Of course not!” said Elaine, flushing revealingly. “It’s only that we don’t want you to go to any trouble.”
    “I’ve already said it was no trouble.” Myrtle was starting to get annoyed.
    Red had set Jack down and was turning around and striding down her walkway to retrieve the food from his house when he stopped. “Well, I’ll be. Looks like you’ve got an angel in disguise pulling up in front of your house, Mama.”
    Myrtle stepped out on her front porch and squinted. Then she made a face. “That’s no angel. That’s Puddin. And it’s about time, too.”
    Elaine smiled in relief, either from the change of subject, or Puddin’s arrival, or both. “That’s good. So now you won’t feel like you have to clean up.”
    Myrtle snorted. “That remains to be seen. You know the level of nonsense I have to deal with from Puddin.”
    Sure enough, Puddin was moseying up to the front walk, as slow as you please, with a sour expression. Elaine seemed to be trying to keep a straight face. “Hi Puddin,” she said to the dumpy, pale housekeeper. “How are you? I haven’t seen you around for a while.”
    Puddin narrowed her eyes as if trying to figure out if that were a knock at her lackadaisical cleaning schedule. Apparently deciding otherwise, she said slowly, “I ain’t been doin’ too great, truth be told. Been poorly.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that Puddin. Are you better now?” asked Elaine kindly.
    Myrtle rolled her eyes heavenward. Puddin didn’t need any encouragement to discuss her real or imaginary health issues. It was for this reason that Myrtle didn’t see a flash of black sneak around the backs of Puddin and Elaine and into her house.
    “Nope,” said Puddin succinctly. She slowly moved into the house.
    “Where are your cleaning supplies, Puddin?” snapped Myrtle.
    “Supplies?” asked Puddin, half turning around. Her round eyes were perfectly guileless, but Myrtle knew