A Mold For Murder Read Free Page B

speaker.
    I leaned into the microphone and said, “Sorry about that. I’ll be right back.”
    There were a few giggles from the crowd, but many more grumbles. She’d made me look like a fool, and I was prepared to give her a withering remark as I walked to the back room to look for her.
    That’s when I nearly tripped over the body.

TWO
    I yelled for help as I leaned over the contessa’s still form and searched for a pulse, but I couldn’t find one. She was sprawled out on the floor, her carefully pressed clothes askew. I was appalled when I saw there was a bar of soap jammed in her mouth, the custom blend we’d made just for the Soap Celebration. Had she actually choked to death on it? I wanted to pull it out of her mouth, but I had a deadening suspicion that our guest was past helping, and I knew better than to interfere with a crime scene. Molly had lectured me over and over again how everything was important, no matter how insignificant it appeared. Had she tried to fight her killer, or had the murderer struck too quickly for self-defense?
    I don’t know how anyone heard my plea for help in the boutique, but my brother Jim came crashing through the door three seconds after I shouted out. He’s a big guy—husky and solid—and not much gets to him, but when he saw the contessa’s body, I saw his knees start to buckle.
    “What happened?” Jim stammered as he stared down at her, leaning against the door frame.
    “See if there’s a doctor out there, then call 911.”
    He just stood there, staring at her, until I shouted, “Move!”
    That got his attention. Jim hurried back to the boutique, and I tried to figure out if there was anything I could do but stand there and guard the body. It was the least I owed her, since the only reason the Contessa New Berne had even been in Harper’s Landing was because of me.
    Jim came back thirty seconds later with a middle-aged woman right behind him. She brushed past us both when she spotted the contessa lying on the floor. As she checked for any sign of life, I stood back with Jim.
    He said softly, “Bob and Jeff are right outside the door. So far we’ve managed to keep everyone else from knowing what happened. I wouldn’t have heard your shout myself if I hadn’t been standing near the door.”
    “Good,” I said, and my gaze automatically went to the back door of our business. For the first time since I’d discovered the body, I saw that it was unlatched and partially open.
    When I pointed it out to Jim, he said, “You know we keep that door closed and locked all the time. I don’t get it.”
    “Think about it. Either the killer came in that way, or that’s how he left,” I said. “Molly will have to figure out what happened.”
    I was sure that door had been closed and locked when I’d escorted the contessa down the stairs. Or was I? Had I really paid that much attention to something I saw every day? As I tried to replay the descent in my mind, I finally decided I couldn’t be sure either way.
    Jim coughed once, then said, “Listen, I’m sorry I froze up on you like that.”
    “It’s not a problem,” I said.
    “It just shocked me, seeing her like that.”
    I put a hand on my brother’s shoulder. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You did fine.”
    He shrugged. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention it to anyone else.”
    “Mention what?” I asked him, offering a slight smile.
    “Thanks.” Jim had a reputation, both among the family and the community, that he was tough—blunt and abrupt—and if the conception was that important to him, I didn’t mind. Me, I didn’t care if the whole world knew that stumbling across a dead body had a way of shaking me to my core.
    “I can’t help her,” the doctor finally said. “I’m afraid what you need is a coroner.”
    “This had to have just happened,” I said. “I was with her five minutes ago.”
    She shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say she died pretty quickly.”
    “Did the