Murder Down Under (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 17) Read Free Page A

gold.”
    Darcy listened to more stories about local residents as the taxi continued to drive them down the main street.  A building with a high peaked roof on their right came into view.  A wooden cross was fixed above the front door, made from crooked tree limbs about as thick around as her arm.  The siding was falling off in places.  A black board set up on a post in the front yard declared Sunday worship was at ten AM, all were welcome.
    “That’s Pastor Albright’s church,” Roy said, noticing where her attention had gone.  “Hard to believe he keeps it going.  Not too many in Lakeshore interested in what he’s got to say.”
    “Is that him on the steps?” Darcy asked.  A tall man dressed all in black with a gaunt face, holding a wooden cane, waved to them as they passed.
    “Who’s that now?” Roy asked, turning back to look over his shoulder.  “Nobody there, Miss Darcy.”
    Looking back again herself, she saw that whoever the man had been, he was gone now.  Oh well.  There was so much to see here.  The website had promised a quaint little town to explore, and she could see how true that was.  She and Jon were only here for a week but she was sure they could spend one whole day of that right here in Lakeshore.
    They came to a spot where the street widened to a circle flowing around a three-tiered fountain.  Water gurgled out of the top in a very lethargic stream maybe a few inches high, then drained over the edges of the three scalloped bowls below in a slow trickle.  The fountain was painted white, to match the town.
    “Fountain used to spray ten, maybe twenty feet in the air when I was a nipper.  Not sure why they don’t fix it up.”  Roy sounded disappointed.  Then he was smiling again as he took a right turn down Fenlong Street.  “There’s your destination, Mates.  Pine Lake Inn.”
    The street dipped down at a severe angle and at the end of it all Darcy could see was dark blue water.  There was a very small barrier set up at the end, a wooden plank nailed between two posts that were weathered and gray.  Two reflective red diamonds were attached in the middle of it.  Darcy doubted it could have stopped a runaway snail.  Let alone, say, a taxi that might have brake failure at any moment and send them crashing down into the middle of a lake in Tasmania.
    Roy winked at her in the rearview mirror.  He obviously knew what she was thinking.
    Almost to that dilapidated barricade, Roy turned left into a cobblestone drive that leveled itself out from the slope of Fenlong Street.  Darcy felt much better for having the car balanced evenly on its four wheels. 
    The driveway took them up to the front of a gorgeous three story building.  It was a sunflower yellow, in startling contrast to the white of everything else, with dark green trim around its many windows and the front door.  It was a secluded spot, hidden among the towering evergreen trees.  The Pine Lake Inn looked exactly like it had in the photos Darcy had seen.
    The main part of the house was to the left of the front porch.  Tall sun windows would let in warmth and light to the common area, where there was supposed to be puzzles and games available, as well as a television and DVD library.  The second and third story were a series of smaller windows.  Those would be the rooms.  The website had said there were fifteen of them, all with a view of the lake that bent around the backside of the Inn along the shore as well.
    Jon took her hand in his.  “You like it?”
    “I can’t imagine a better place to spend some time with my new husband.”  She kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “I love you.”
    “Now, you two,” Roy chided in a good natured way.  “Save that for yer room, right?”
    Jon paid the fare while Darcy started getting their luggage out of the open trunk.  Roy was at her elbow a few seconds later, taking them away from her.  “All part of the service, Miss Darcy.  So, you’re a