A VENEER OF MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 3) Read Free Page A

library.”
    Kate took a deep breath. Scott held her hand. “I did. It was dark, which I thought was odd. She usually turned some lights on so I could see.”
    “Did you often meet at the library?”
    “Once in a while when she wanted to show me something new that I might like to borrow,” Kate said.
    They’d share a pot of tea and sometimes cookies. It was sweet and fun. They were two middle-aged women who had had a lot in common. Her friendship with Carly was the same, but Carly had never been married. Meghan had.
    “So the lights were off.”
    She remembered being bothered by the light being off. It should have been her first clue that something was off. “Yes.”
    “You didn’t think it might be dangerous?”
    “Rock Ridge Public Library? No. The thought never occurred to me.”
    As much as there had been two, now three murders in town this year, Kate still felt safe here. That had been important when she’d chosen to have children and raise them in Rock Ridge. She wanted them to be safe.
    “What did you do next?”
    “I walked back to Meghan’s office. I called out once, but she didn’t answer,” Kate said.
    “Then what?”
    “I saw her slumped on her desk. I checked for a pulse then called you.”
    “Did you notice anything unusual besides the body?”
    “That she had a letter opener sticking out of her neck. A piece of paper was stuck on the opener.”
    “Did you look at it? Did you touch it?”
    “I didn’t touch anything but Meghan’s neck,” Kate said.
    “Anything you want to add? Any enemies you could think of?”
    “No, not at all. As far as I knew, everyone liked her,” Kate said.
    “Anything that happened earlier in the evening you want to add?”
    That’s when Kate remembered that Meghan had argued with Celia. “Uh, at the wedding reception, she told me she had an argument with Celia Johnson.”
    Kate felt bad for saying that, but she had to be honest. She couldn’t hold back from Scott.
    Scott nodded. “Anything else? Anything you can think of, even if it seems insignificant?”
    “Nothing else.”
    She didn’t think the man staring at her had anything to do with Meghan’s death. Could he have even gotten to the library that quickly?
    Scott turned off the recorder. “This will be typed up, and I’ll need you to come back to sign it.”
    “No problem. Can I go?”
    “You want me to drive you home?”
    She shook her head. As much as she didn’t want to be alone, she had to keep this man away. There was a strong possibility that in her current she would do something stupid. “My car is back at the reception. I just need a ride to Knights of Columbus Hall.”
    “I can take you.”
    He drove her to her car and followed her home. She waved at him from the porch, then curled up in bed without undressing and tried to erase the memory of Meghan’s face from her mind.
    ***
    Kate returned to the police station the next morning to sign her statement. On her way, her best friend, Carly, called. She was in hysterics.
    “Carly, what’s wrong?”
    “They’ve arrested my mother, Kate. They think she killed Meghan.”
    Kate cringed, wondering if it was because she had said something. She had to trust that Scott knew what he was doing. She was on her way to the cop house anyway. “Look, I have to go there anyway. I’ll see what I can find out. Get your mother a lawyer.”
    “She’ll need a lawyer?”
    “If they are charging her with murder, or at least questioning her, she needs a lawyer. Tell her not to talk to anyone until she gets one.”
    “Oh, Kate. What will she do? She’s a touch bird, but not prison tough.”
    Celia would probably tell the prison ward how to run his own place. And she’d be right. The woman could be a force of nature.
    “Your father is there. She won’t get a raw deal.”
    Carly’s father, Ken Johnson, was a detective for the Rock Ridge Police Department. Scott must’ve had some serious evidence to warrant bringing Celia in.
    Kate parked her