Miss Dimple Suspects Read Free

anything—except maybe watermelon …
    Seeing his wife about a breath away from melting into tears, Mathew Ashcroft stepped up to thank everyone for their help, and arm in arm, the two moved aside for Bobby Tinsley, who would direct the search.
    Mathew had joined the group combing the area around Fox Grape Hill, where the charred remains of Peggy’s former home lay buried beneath a jungle of honeysuckle vines. Although Kate begged to go with them, on the advice of Chief Tinsley and others, and accompanied by several friends, she reluctantly went back to the house to wait and hope for Peggy’s return.
    The stricken look on the young mother’s face would stay with Dimple Kilpatrick for years to come, and she yearned to comfort her and tell her everything would be all right, but she wanted even more to help find that child and bring her safely home.
    Was everything going to be all right? When she and Virginia had first set out to look for Peggy’s “happy place” on Bent Tree Hill, she was almost certain she would find her there, but now …
    Daylight was slipping away quickly, and in spite of her warm wool gloves, Miss Dimple’s hands were numb from the cold, and she could scarcely feel her feet. How far had she come? If she didn’t start back down soon, it would be too dark to see. In her coat pocket she was comforted to feel the cylindrical shape of the small flashlight she had thought to bring along at the last minute. It didn’t give much light, but it was better than nothing and might prevent her from taking a serious fall. Except for members of the Home Guard and a few hardy others who intended to search through the night, most volunteers would soon be leaving, and Virginia was the only person who knew where she was. Her friend Phoebe Chadwick, who owned the boardinghouse where she lived, was visiting a relative in Macon, and her fellow roomers were usually on their own on Saturday nights, having a quick sandwich in the kitchen before going to their rooms to read, write letters, or listen to the radio. Those who chose to gather in the parlor would probably think she was either in her room or sharing supper with Virginia. Miss Dimple sighed and surveyed the spreading gloom around her. It was time to make a decision. A practical decision. And Dimple Kilpatrick had always prided herself on her practical sense. She would walk as far as the large rock up ahead, and if she found nothing there, although heartsick, she would begin to make her descent.
    At first she thought it was a leaf, dangling as it was on the end of a twig, but autumn was far past and this was much too bright for a leaf. Too red. Dimple pulled the ribbon from the waist-high branches of a bush, and after years of having young children cluster about her, Dimple Kilpatrick knew it was just the right height to snag a ribbon from a little girl’s hair.

 
    C HAPTER T WO
    “I don’t want to read about Snow White anymore!” Peggy Ashcroft shoved the storybook aside. “She must’ve known that old woman with the apple was the wicked queen! Couldn’t she see ? I want to look for Peaches and I bet I know just where she is. Why can’t we go and find her?”
    Violet Kirby set the book on the table and flipped Peggy’s pillow to the cool side. She was usually an easygoing child, content to play go fish, color pictures, or attempt to dress her cat, Peaches, in doll clothes, but today she was ill and feverish and nothing seemed to please her.
    “Honey, I’ve hollered all up and down this street for Peaches. That cat will come home when she’s good and ready, you can count on it.” According to her mama, once you feed a cat, you ain’t never gonna get rid of it, but she wasn’t going to tell Peggy that. “You want some more ginger ale? It’ll make your throat feel better.”
    But Peggy turned her face away. “Peaches will make me feel better, and I think you’re mean not to let me go find her!”
    Although Violet was only sixteen, she knew when