Free Wedding Cake Killer by Livia J. Washburn Page A

go into them, or you don’t know them?” Phyllis asked.
    Mike made a face and said, “Look, Mom, the sheriff had a talk with me before he agreed to let me come over and see if Eve was here. The district attorney doesn’t like the fact that the sheriff’s department has shared information with you in the past. DA Sullivan doesn’t
know
that information came from me, but it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”
    “So Sheriff Haney’s walkin’ on eggshells when it comes to Phyllis, just like Chief of Police Whitmire does,” Sam said as he frowned. “What Sullivan doesn’t like is that Phyllis has solved those murders that the cops couldn’t.”
    “The district attorney feels that everything should go through proper channels.”
    “The district attorney’s got a big ol’ stick up his—”
    “Sam,” Phyllis said. “Let’s not make things any more difficult for Mike than they have to be.”
    “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate that.”
    “So, do you have an APB or a BOLO or whatever you call it out on Eve?” Carolyn asked.
    “Descriptions of her and her car have been broadcast,” Mike acknowledged.
    “Is it possible that she’s come to any harm?” Phyllis asked. “Could whoever killed Roy have kidnapped her?”
    “Honestly, I haven’t heard anything to make me believe that. I think we’d be handling things differently if that’s what the evidence indicated.”
    Sam nodded and said, “Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry I snapped at you a minute ago, Mike.”
    “That’s all right. I don’t blame you for being upset, Sam. I don’t blame any of you. Mrs. Porter . . . Eve . . . means a lot to all of us.” Mike got to his feet and hesitated. “Look, I don’t want her coming in by herself. If she shows up here, could you call me? I’ll come get her and make sure she’s treated properly.”
    “We’ll do better than that,” Phyllis said as she stood up, too. “We’ll come with her, and you can meet us there.”
    Mike winced. He looked like he tried to control the reaction, but he couldn’t quite manage that.
    “I understand,” Phyllis went on. “Me being there would look bad to the sheriff and the district attorney, wouldn’t it?”
    “How about if we get her a lawyer?” Sam suggested. “She’s gonna need one, isn’t she?”
    Mike shrugged. “That wouldn’t be a bad idea,” he admitted, “but I can’t recommend it officially.”
    “Of course not,” Phyllis said. “It was all our idea.”
    “Okay.” Mike put a hand on Phyllis’s shoulder. “I’m sure sorry about all this, Mom. Eve seemed so happy at the wedding. I’m sorry her marriage only lasted a few weeks.”
    “Not half as sorry as the varmint who ruined it for her is gonna be,” Sam said. “It’s only a matter of time until you catch him.”
    Mike nodded and said, “I hope so. I’ll be in touch.”
    “Put your hat on before you go outside,” Phyllis told him as he started toward the front door.
    When Mike was gone, Carolyn sat in one of the armchairs and shook her head. “I can’t believe this,” she said. “I just can’t believe it. I knew something was going to go wrong.”
    That attitude wasn’t going to help anything, Phyllis thought, but it wouldn’t do any good to fuss at Carolyn, either.
    Carolyn looked up at her and went on. “You’re going to have to find out who killed Roy, you know.”
    “Absolutely not,” Phyllis said. “You heard what Mike said. I think I’d be risking his career if I were to get mixed up in this investigation.”
    “But you know good and well they think Eve did it, and once they get an idea like that in their heads, they stop looking for anybody else! You saw what happened in those other cases. If you hadn’t stepped in and uncovered the real killers, innocent people would have gone to jail . . . probably including me!”
    “Those were isolated cases,” Phyllis insisted. “Most of the time, the police and the sheriff’s department are very good about finding out