Smoked (The Alex Harris Mystery Series) Read Free Page A

returned. “That would be nice. I’m sure I can hear my dad drive up from your house.”
    Once we were inside, I turned on the heat and took out another plate. “I have meatloaf, potatoes and carrots.”
    “I love meatloaf and yours looks delicious. Can I have a big piece?”
    “Sure. There’s plenty.” I love meatloaf too and while I don’t make it very often, when I do, I make enough to last for several meals. I cut a thick slice and zapped it in the microwave. When that was done, I put the casserole dish with the potatoes in to warm and then the carrots. “Do you want to eat in the dining room?”
    Ellery looked around my kitchen. “No. Here’s fine. I like this room. It’s cozy.”
    Ellery Kravec had her father’s dark good looks. She had very dark curly hair which she wore pulled up in a thick pony tail. Her eyes were a deep blue color and she had full lips à la Angelina Jolie. Her nose, thankfully, she inherited from her mother. It was long and nicely shaped whereas her father’s was rather broad.
    I put the hot dishes on potholders I had placed on the kitchen table. “Thanks. I like it. My husband renovated it before I moved in. He inherited this house from his grandmother.”
    Ellery took a big bite of the meatloaf and sighed contentedly. “My mom told me. She said you guys really fixed up the old place. It was an eyesore before.” She looked up from her plate. “Oh, sorry. That wasn’t very nice. It was just old and a bit rundown.”
    I laughed. “Yes, it was. Which is why no one else in the family wanted it and my husband took it on. He did a great job,” I said as I took in the kitchen with its modern appliances. Somehow John had managed to keep the homey feel of the original room and I was glad. It was cozy and comfortable and I liked sitting in here and looking through the mail or having breakfast on weekends.
    “Listen,” I began, “I really am so very sorry about your mother. I wish I could have helped more but by time I reached her I don’t think there was much anyone could have done.”
    I watched a tear run down Ellery’s face and plop on the table. “I can’t believe she’s gone. She had so much life. She wasn’t even sixty yet. How could this happen? And where is my father? The police came and took him in this afternoon just as he got home from Boston. I was waiting at the house for him. So where is he?” She ate the last bite of meatloaf and asked for another slice.
    The girl could eat, though where she put it was anyone’s guess. She was tall like her dad and thin like her mom. Plus, I put her age at somewhere just below thirty. I could eat as much as I wanted when I was that age as well. Ah, youth.
    “Why would the police take my dad to the station? They could have just asked him whatever they wanted at home. It doesn’t make sense. And when I got here this morning they were already out back putting all the stuff from the fire in bags and then they put up that tape.”
    “Ellery, was your mother allergic to anything?” I thought about what John had said and wondered if Ellery knew about the anaphylactic shock.
    Ellery shook her head. Her mouth was full and she took a second to finish the large scoop of potatoes she had shoveled in. “Mmmm. Sorry.” She wiped her lips with the fancy paper napkin I had given her. “Allergic to anything? Yeah. Big time. Poison Ivy. Bee stings. Peanuts.”
    “Did she carry one of those pens with her?”
    “She always had one close by, but mostly she just kept away from all the stuff she couldn’t have. Bees could be a worry but it’s not like you step outside and get swarmed. She has the pens. A couple in the kitchen. But she wasn’t a paranoid person. It’s ironic she died the way she did because she loved burning leaves. She knew she wasn’t supposed to do it, but she loved watching the fire, the smell of them and figured it was worth the risk of a fine. She told me it was about the only thing she and her dad ever did together