Old Bones: a Hetty Fox Cozy Mystery (Hetty Fox Cozy Mysteries Book 2) Read Free Page A

for a vote at one of our sessions. I fear it might tear the membership in two.”
    She place a hand on mine. ”I’m hoping you’ll come up with a solution that can avoid that.”
    I gulped. No pressure here . I cleared my throat. “I think you’re giving me too much credit. Besides, I’m new a member, too. No one’s going to want to do anything I suggest.”
    “No, I don’t think our members are that stubborn. If you find a way to work out a compromise, I think they’ll support you.”
    “Over my dead body,” Toby snapped, her patience apparently shredded. She bounded from her chair. “Now, if you two will excuse me, I have real work to do.”
    And experiencing some serious angst, I watched her storm out the back door.
    Laura drew in a deep breath. “It’ll be okay. You’ll deliver us from this mess. I just know it. Please say that you’ll lend us a hand..”
    I picked up my coffee mug and blew across its rim. I knew if I had any sense I’d run away from taking this on. So I was startled when I heard myself say, “Sure. I’ll give it a try.”
    Laura released a small sigh. “Thank you. I knew deep down that you would.” She took up her coffee mug and shifted gears. “I hear you had some excitement in your neighborhood today.”
    I paused with my cup halfway to my lips. “How in the world did you hear about that?”
    “I have a friend who lives over your way. She saw all the cop cars when she was driving home from the grocery store.”
    I frowned. Few things could be successfully hidden in small towns. “Yes, there was a bit of trouble. Actually, it was quite dreadful, really.”
    “What happened?”
    So I explained about Ellen and the mummy in her attic.
    Laura’s eyes expanded. “A mummy? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
    “You’re not alone on that score. Did you by any chance know the McNays?”
    Laura rolled her eyes. “Now, there’s an interesting pair.”
    I swallowed a smile. “How so?”
    “Their names are Fred and Hazel McNay. They’d lived here all their lives when the suddenly decided to move away. Fred was a UPS driver. Hazel worked as a cashier over  at the West Side Grocery Store. I was stunned to learn the McNays were selling out and leaving. But Fred had a heart attack two years ago, and Hazel insisted she wanted to live nearer their daughter.”
    That sounded like a familiar tale. “Where did they go?”
    “Their daughter lives in Columbus, Ohio.”
    “Did they ever have a woman, of say around thirty-five, living with them?” Of course, I wasn’t certain of the corpse’s age, but from what I could saw in the attic, it seemed a good guess.
    Laura looked at me questioningly. “I can’t remember anyone ever living with them. Why?”
    “What about their house? Who owned it before they did?”
    “Now that is interesting,” Laura said, apparently warming again to her story. “They downsized to that place only about five years ago. Before then, they’d owned a large house on Elton Street. It was Gerald and Bertie Lawry who originally owned  house.”
    “What were they like?”
    “Nothing special. He was a dentist. She had a job in the courthouse.
    Five years wasn’t a long time. It was possible the McNays hadn’t known about the corpse in the attic.   “Do you think the Lawrys are the murderous type?”
    She laughed. “Seriously, I doubt it.  But if they can be run to ground, they may have some interesting information to share. Keep in mind they left Hendricksville more than five years ago. Their trail might be more than a little cold.”
    “Surely someone knows where they went?”
    Laura nodded, her eyes large. “Oh, I’m sure someone does. But I don’t. Plus, they were elderly when they moved. They could be dead by now.”
    It was a sad fact of life that I tried not to dwell on often. The elderly had a bad habit of becoming the deceased.
    I rose. It was time to head home, but that thought was put on hold when a young woman came rushing into the