Eggs Benedict Arnold Read Free Page A

honey, ” Petra pleaded, kneeling down next to her.
    Suzanne breathed in deeply and, a few moments later, really did feel better. She relaxed, inhaled a few more Os, then raised a hand and pushed the mask aside. “ What hap pened? ” she asked Petra. “ How did you get here? ”
    “ When you didn ’ t come back right away, I sent Sheriff Doogie over to check on you, ” explained Petra. “ He ’ d been hanging around the park, snarfing down hot dogs and cook ies. After he left, and when I saw the ambulance heading over there —Doogie must have found you and called for it right away—I came running. Like the proverbial cavalry. ” Petra put a hand to her ample chest. “ Well, a cavalry that walks awful darn fast, anyway. ”
    “ Doogie ’ s here? ” asked Suzanne, struggling to sit up.
    Petra nodded. “ And a deputy. ” She peered anxiously at Suzanne. “ How much do you remember, honey? ”
    It was starting to come back to her now. Suzanne touched a hand to her head and sighed deeply. “ Oh man. Ozzie ... ? ”
    Petra gave a solemn shake of her head.
    “ Dead? ” asked Suzanne. Her mouth felt parched.
    “ Afraid so, ” Petra whispered.
    Suzanne pushed herself into a sitting position, gritted her teeth as her head spun wildly, then struggled to get her legs under her. The paramedic, Jellen, curved an arm around her waist and asked, “ You sure you want to do this? ”
    Suzanne nodded and suddenly found herself being lifted with ease by the helpful paramedic. She continued to stare down at the floor for a long moment, noting the sticky smear of cherry pie and a flattened hunk of golden crust that seemed to carry the partial imprint of a shoe. Then she raised her eyes.
    Ozzie was still lying there, of course. That harsh reality hadn ’ t changed one iota. But now Sheriff Roy Doogie and his young deputy, Wilbur Halpern, were circling the metal table like coyotes surveying roadkill. Another fellow, George Draper, the Draper of Driesden and Draper, was standing there with them, making nervous, futile hand gestures. Obviously, Draper had been summoned posthaste.
    “ Killed himself, ” said the deputy. He shook his head even as he hooked both fingers in his belt in a kind of post mortem show of disapproval.
    Sheriff Doogie, a big bear of a man in rumpled khaki, turned toward George Draper, Ozzie ’ s partner, now the sole owner of Driesden and Draper. “ Had he been depressed? ”
    Draper, who was tall, gangly, slightly stooped, and looked like he might be suffering a mild bout of depression, gave a slightly furtive shrug. “ Maybe. A little bit. ”
    “ What are you talking about? ” Suzanne suddenly croaked as she staggered toward them. She was fighting mightily to get her feet and legs to coordinate with her brain. But walking a straight line wasn ’ t easy.
    Sheriff Roy Doogie shifted his bulk and bobbed his head at Suzanne. He was the duly elected sheriff of Logan county and had been in office for more than a dozen years. With his meaty face, cap of gray hair, and rattlesnake eyes, Doogie only looked slow-moving. Truth was, not much got past him.
    “ You feeling better now, Suzanne? ” Doogie asked as she continued to wobble toward him. “ You must ’ ve had quite a start, seeing poor Ozzie like this. No wonder you fainted dead away. ”
    “ I didn ’ t faint, ” Suzanne protested. “ I ’ ve never fainted in my life. ”
    The young deputy let loose a slightly derisive snort. “ Then how come you was sprawled on the floor? ”
    “ If you give me a minute, instead of jumping to conclu sions, ” snapped Suzanne, “ I ’ ll tell you. ”
    “ Tell us what? ” asked Doogie. A frown and something else . . . curiosity? . . . had insinuated itself on his lined face.
    “ Someone attacked me! ” Suzanne told him in a rush. “ From behind. Clamped some kind of damp clo th over my mouth and ... and ... drugged me! ” She touched the back of her hand to her head, trying to recall the exact