A DEAD RED MIRACLE: #5 in the Dead Red Mystery Series Read Free Page A

he ducked his head to write in his notebook, Pearlie snickered, "Tight ass."
    I nudged her to keep quiet. We had enough trouble for one day.
    When he looked up again, Pearlie's expression was blandly impersonal, but unless I had missed the signals, she had caught the detective's fancy.
    "What can you tell me about the fire?" he asked, trying to keep the dimple in check.
    I figured now was as good a time as ever and said, "I saw a man on the floor through the living room window."
    Pearlie's blue eyes rounded in horror. "What? Y'all didn't tell me there was a body in that house!"
    Anger and fear brought out the Texas in my cousin.
    "That's because I was too busy trying to pry you off the porch before the house exploded."
    The detective's earlier amusement quickly disappeared. "What made you think the house was going to explode?"
    Jeez, just because we're blonde, he thinks we're dumb? I explained. "It's a small house. I could see the oven door in the kitchen hanging open. Couple that with a body on the floor, and I think it's a pretty good guess that someone had turned the gas oven on high. The electric doorbell could've acted as ignition, or someone had set an incendiary device to go off."
    "The body… it could be Ron Barbour," Pearlie said, swallowing hard. "It's his house."
    The detective's pencil stopped working its way across the pad. "Ron Barbour, the P.I.?"
    The way he said it made me think the detective wasn't a fan of Ron's. Get in line, bub.
    "We were here to ask him about one of our cases," I said.
    "You worked for him?"
    Pearlie, unable to keep the sour note out of her voice, said, "We're his partners ."
    "Oh?" he said, now interested.
    I elbowed her aside. "Technically, we own Ron's business."
    "Except no one exactly knew it but us," Pearlie added.
    "Is that so," he said conversationally. He twirled the pencil between two fingers looking from Pearlie to me. Was he waiting for one of us to blurt something that might prove we were a couple of firebugs? Good luck with that, Detective.
    "The case needed some clarification," I said, glancing at the sagging roof, the broken windows, the missing front door and the milling crowd behind the fire trucks gathered to watch the firefighters tamp out the last of Ron's Barbour's destroyed house."We thought we should talk to him in person."
    "Uh-huh." His eyes roamed over Pearlie then reluctantly let go.
    "Which one of you is Chief Stone's wife?"
    Pearlie inspected her dirty nails.
    "That would be me," I said cheerfully. I could only hope that verifying my status as police chief Caleb Stone's wife might carry some weight with the detective.
    His expression relaxed. Glad to see that Pearlie wasn't married? "Mrs. Stone―" he began.
    "I use my maiden name, Detective. It's Bains, Lalla Bains."
    He nodded, the dimple back in his cheek. "Being partners with Mr. Barbour, I'm sure you know the drill."
    Pearlie sighed. "I'd like a shower first, if you don’t mind."
    He handed out cards, gave us a time to meet at the police station, then looking directly at my cousin. "Can I give either of you a ride?"
    "We have a car," Pearlie said, and without meeting his gaze, put the card in her purse and snapped it shut.
    The detective took the rejection with the good humor he was born with and left.
    "Give us a ride, my ass," Pearlie said, watching him walk away.
    "He likes you," I said, unable to keep from laughing. Soot covered, scrapes and all, Pearlie had made a conquest.
    "Humph. He can like all he wants. Won't do him any good. Besides, he looks like a cover hog. Now what?"
    "Now we talk to the fire chief and see what he'll tell us about the body on the floor in Ron's house."
    I followed her to where yellow crime scene tape had been wrapped around the perimeter.
    Pearlie flashed her P.I. card at a patrolman standing in her way. "We'd like to talk to the fire chief."
    The patrol officer looked her up and down, a smile gathering at his lips. "Give me your card and I'll be sure he gets