Free Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack

great-grandmother—she drove all
the way from Durango to Boulder with a potato salad and no air conditioning. It
was in July, mind you, and every person who ate that salad was throwing up for
the next two days. Pam felt horrible about it, of course, but it just goes to
show that eggs are to be respected, and since mayonnaise is made from—”
    “Cunningham,” Detective Madsen suddenly said from the back
door, causing all the heads to turn in his direction this time. “What is she
doing in here?” he asked, cocking his head to the side and narrowing his
gaze.
    “Doing a walk-through,” Detective Cunningham
answered, his voice controlled but laced with irritation now that Madsen had
appeared. He turned toward Sadie and opened his mouth to say something, but
Detective Madsen didn’t let him.
    “That’s completely against procedure,” Detective Madsen said.
“If this goes to trial, the defense will have a heyday!”
    “Shut up, Madsen,” Cunningham said calmly, but his eyes were on
fire.
    Sadie swallowed and shrunk back a little at the same time
Detective Cunningham took what could have been interpreted as a protective step
forward, putting Sadie further behind him. She was glad to have someone on her
side, but she was in no mood to be in the middle of their tension again.
However, she was as curious as the proverbial cat as to why things were the way
they were between the two men.
    “She’s given us some excellent information,” Detective
Cunningham continued.
    “She’s a suspect!” Madsen shot back, causing Sadie’s heart to
jump in her chest. He turned to glare at her. “By her own admission she was the
only person in the area when the murder was committed!”

Chapter 8

    “She’s a neighbor!” Detective Cunningham’s voice was on
the verge of yelling and it sounded like thunder in the house. “And until the
official time of death is properly established, we don’t know when it happened.” Detective
Madsen was struck by the power of the older man’s words and shut his
mouth—but not for long.
    “Well, while you’ve been strolling around and discussing
details of the case, the coroner’s been looking for you. He’s got some questions.”
He glanced briefly at Sadie and scowled at her, making her shrink back even
more until she was officially in the hallway rather than the kitchen. As Madsen
headed back outside, she heard Detective Cunningham mutter “Impertinent
snit” under his breath.
    “Excuse me?” Sadie said, wondering if she’d misheard him. Maybe
he meant to say “important bit” or something like that.
    “Nothing,” he growled and started leading her to the front
door. As she passed the fridge, her shoulder brushed against it, sending a
hamburger-shaped magnet and a piece of paper to the floor. The sound
of the magnet bouncing across the linoleum sounded as loud as a rocket
ship.
    Sadie froze, holding her hands so tight she worried that she’d
cut off the circulation. “I’m so sorry,” she said, not knowing what to do.
She’d been told not to touch anything and so she simply stood there and looked
at the paper on the floor. It was nothing more than the Garrison community
newsletter that arrived with everyone’s water bill.
    She blinked and looked back at Detective Cunningham. “I’m so
sorry,” she said again. “That partner of yours has me a bit frazzled.”
    “It’s okay,” he said, but she knew it wasn’t. At least Madsen
hadn’t witnessed it. “We’ll take care of it.” He turned toward the door again
and she glanced back at the paper.
    It would be so easy to pick it up and put it back on the
fridge. Couldn’t it be considered a hazard to have the magnet and paper on the
floor like that? Suppose someone slipped. She looked to the space it had left
on the fridge and her eyes were drawn to another note held in place by an Oreo
magnet: “Library books due FRIDAY the 21st!” It was another reminder of how
normal life had been yesterday. Anne had gone to