Free The Gingerbread Bump-Off by Livia J. Washburn Page B

went on. “Of course, it’s a lot of work putting them up and taking them down. Some people actually hire companies to do that, you know. Quite a few of them, in fact, including some of the homes on our tour. I like the ones that the homeowners do themselves, though. It just seems so much more personal that way, you know.”
    “Yes, it does,” Phyllis agreed. “I’ll have to give it some thought.”
    “I understand. After what happened, you might not want to take part. Anyway, can you tell me more about what happened ?”
    Phyllis suddenly wondered if Claudia was really part of the tour, or if that was just a ruse to ask questions. Some people took an unhealthy interest in the details of a crime, particularly, in Phyllis’s experience, a crime committed against a woman.
    On the other hand, Claudia certainly seemed sincere, and Phyllis knew she had a history of volunteering at community events like the Peach Festival. Phyllis thought she remembered seeing the woman at the Harvest Festival at Holland Lake Park the previous month, too.
    But even if Claudia was telling the truth about why she was here, there was still a problem. Phyllis hesitated a moment, toying with her coffee cup as she did so, then said, “I’m sure the police told everything to the press that they want to reveal about the case. It’s really not my place to be talking about any of the details. It might interfere in their investigation in some way.”
    Claudia frowned. “Well, I really don’t see how. Carl and the others and I—we’re just friends of Georgia’s, and we want to find out what happened to her.”
    “She was attacked on my front porch a short time before the tour was supposed to start. That’s really all I can say.”
    “You didn’t see who did it?”
    “I really shouldn’t be talking about the case at all,” Phyllis said. “I’m sorry—”
    “Wait a minute,” Claudia said. She was starting to look angry now. “I thought you were supposed to be some sort of a detective. The granny who solved all those murders.”
    “Look, Claudia, I don’t want to upset you—”
    “We’re Georgia’s friends. We just want to find out what happened to her. I thought you were supposed to be her friend, too.”
    “I was. I mean, I am,” Phyllis corrected quickly.
    “But you let her be attacked right on your front porch.”
    Phyllis pushed her empty cup away. She was starting to feel a little irritated herself now. “I didn’t let anything happen. Don’t you think I wish I could have stopped it? There was nothing I could have done.”
    “You could understand why the people who care about her want to know what happened,” Claudia said.
    “Maybe you should care more about how she’s doing now,” Phyllis suggested. “Let the police handle everything else.”
    Claudia glared across the table at her. “Well, you’re not anything like the newspapers make you out to be. I thought you’d have the case solved by now!”
    “Sorry,” Phyllis said, although she wasn’t, really, not at all. She was disappointed, though. Claudia had seemed so nice before she turned unpleasant when she didn’t get what she wanted. “I think you should go now.”
    Claudia sniffed. “Fine,” she said as she stood up. “I’ll go. But when you start trying to figure out who attacked Georgia, don’t expect any of us to help you.”
    “I won’t be doing that,” Phyllis told her. “It’s up to the police to catch the man.”
    Claudia pounced on that avidly. “So you’re sure it was a man who attacked her!” she said.
    Phyllis shook her head. “I didn’t say that—”
    “Well, that’s something, anyway,” Claudia said, ignoring what Phyllis was trying to say. She gave Phyllis a curt nod. “Good morning. And thank you for the coffee and cookies.”
    She didn’t sound sincere at all now.

Chapter 8
    “ L ady left outta here in sort of a hurry,” Sam commented when he came in from the garage a few minutes later. “She didn’t seem