Free Alpine for You by Maddy Hunter Page B

it means, Uff da.
    This was great. This was JUST great. How could I have let this happen? I was the student who'd been voted "Most Clever" in my high school graduating class. How could a supposedly clever person be so oblivious?
    With a grunt of disgust, I squeegeed water out of my pant legs and shoehorned my feet back into my shoes. "Miss Andrew?" That voice. I knew that voice. I spun around to face Inspector Miceli. I felt liquid heat arrow downward from my navel.
    "Inspector. Wh-what a surprise."
    His blue eyes assumed a sooty, grayish cast in the daylight. "Someone from across the river pointed out a commotion over here."
    "I saved a man's hairpiece from drowning."
    He smiled that beautiful smile of his. "You must have done a thorough job. You're incredibly wet. Though I must admit, it's a look that rather becomes you." He slung off his leather trench coat and wrapped it around my shoulders. This was getting serious. We were already at the part of the relationship where we were sharing each other's clothing. "What happened to the rest of your group?"
    "Inside the church."
    "You shouldn't stay out here, Emily. I'll take you back to the hotel so you can change into dry clothes."
    "But I c-can't go. I need to stay with the group. I'm their new escort."
    "You need to go back to the hotel," he said matter-offactly. "With me."
    "Okay." Could I play hard to get, or what? "But I'll need to stop inside the church and tell my grandmother where I'm going."
    "You go on to my car. I'll tell your grandmother."
    I gathered up my cardigan and raincoat. We'd only walked a half dozen steps when Etienne's trench coat started making a sound. I looked down at the coat, startled. "Is it my ears, or is your coat chirping?"
    "My cell phone. Excuse me, please."
    He dug the phone out of his pocket, then walked a short distance away to converse. When he returned, he wasn't smiling.
    "Bad news?" I asked.
    "Your Mr. Simon. It appears he might have died from something other than a severe asthma attack."
    I remembered what Jane Hanson had said. "You mean, the stress of wanting to be the perfect escort really did kill him?" I felt a trill of alarm. I was only twenty-nine. I had a lot more living to do. Maybe I should rethink this escort thing.
    "Something more deliberate than stress killed him, Miss Andrew. There are indications that your Mr. Simon may have been murdered."

    Chapter 5
    "M urdered?" Sure, Andy had been a lowlife. He'd thought of no one but himself, hurt countless women, and ruined a lot of lives. But if every man who acted like that was murdered, we'd be a planet of Amazon women. "How could he be murdered? He's from Iowa. Iowans aren't murdered. Iowans die from overdosing on bacon, or from being crushed in customer stampedes when Fareway runs a special on Iowa chops."
    "I can't give you details, but I will tell you that his death appears more suspicious now than it did at five o'clock this morning."
    "You think someone on the tour killed him?"
    "In a majority of homicides, the victim and his killer are usually acquainted. We have one possible lead to follow, but should that turn out to be a dead end, do you know anyone on the tour who would have a motive to kill him?"
    He had me there. I was acquainted with many of the seniors in the group, but if one of them despised Andy enough to kill him, I didn't know who it would be. I shook my head.
    "When we have the results back from serology, we'll know more. Until then I can only caution you to watch yourself, Miss Andrew."
    "Watch myself?" I felt my stomach drop to my knees.
    "Am I in danger?"
    "What you assumed to be the sounds of sexual acrobatics last night in Mr. Simon's room may well have been the sounds of Mr. Simon being murdered. If the perpetrator thinks you heard something that could implicate him..."
    He left the sentence unfinished, but his expression spoke volumes. Unh-oh. This wasn't good.
    "I'd appreciate your keeping this information to yourself until our findings are more