Free Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae Page A

after someone is cremated."
    "Oh. So the old bat wants to burn him up, is that it? Figures.
She always said he was going to hell."
    I doubted those were her exact words, but perhaps Tootie had
understated the schism between Walter and herself.
    "She said he was claustrophobic as a child and wouldn't want
to be buried," I said.
    "Oh. I didn't know that." She looked around. "But you can't
just come in here and take all his stuff."
    Meghan said, "Right now we're just boxing up some things
for the Salvation Army, and whatever mementos we thought his
mother might want to keep. Is there anything here you want?"
    Debby got up and walked to the set of shelves we hadn't started
on yet. She picked up the signed baseball and turned it in her hand.
Her face crumpled. Jacob scurried to her side.
    Meghan said, "This'll wait. We can put it all on hold until after
the funeral."
"
    I think that'd be best," Jacob said and led Debby to the door.
She went through, fingering the leather of the ball and sniffing
loudly, but he turned in the doorway. "I want to know how you
knew who we were."
    "The barista down at Beans R Us told us you were friends of
Walter's," Meghan said.
     
    "Oh," he said, and looked to his left, into the kitchen. "That
where he did it?"
    I tried not to sigh. "No. Not there."
    He looked hard at me. "Where then?"
    "In my workroom." I swallowed. "Across the alley."
    "Jacob?" Debby's tiny voice drifted in from the front sidewalk.
    He licked his lips, like he wanted to say more, then suddenly
turned on his heel and walked out. Meghan closed the door, looking grim.
    "I know, I know," I said. "But what did you want me to do? I
couldn't lie, and besides, I didn't want to. Walter didn't have very
many friends, and I'm not going to lie to the few he did have just
because the truth is uncomfortable for me."
    "Well, it's not like how Walter died is a secret."
    "At least now we know where Walter's money came from. And
that he had a fiancee-can you believe it?"
    "She's something, isn't she?"
    "I noticed you didn't exactly warm up to her," I said.
    "I was nice."
    "You were very nice. You're always very nice. But something
struck you funny about her, didn't it?"
    "Something, yeah. It did you, too. Something about the lottery
money?"
    "I'm not sure. I got kind of mixed signals from her."
    "Not the best time to try and get a read on someone, right after
they learn their fiance has died," Meghan said.
    "And we know of one possible problem Walter could have had
besides the money."
    "What're you talking about?"
     
    "Jacob, of course. Walter's rival for Debby's affections."
    Meghan looked skeptical
    "Didn't you see the way he looked at her?"
    "That doesn't mean he was a rival."
    "Doesn't mean he wasn't, though, does it?"
    "You don't have to look so happy about it."
    "Sorry. Have we done enough for now? It's almost time for
Sparrow, isn't it?"
    Looking at her watch, Meghan ran her fingers through her
curls. "You're right. I have to get back" She looked around the
room. "We said we'd leave it until Debby could help, anyway."
    And the paperwork was already over at our house. I had two
or three days to sort it out for Tootie, though I had to wonder how
helpful it would be if I couldn't find a will. I'd hoped to discover
where Walter's money was coming from, but now we knew. Still,
the boxes might contain an insurance policy or other financial information. And I wanted to take another look at those donation
receipts.
    I hesitated, then grabbed the open carton of mementos I'd collected so far. Tootie should look at them first and decide what she
might want to keep, since I was here at her request. Debby could
have second crack at them. Meghan locked Walter's door, and we
walked back across the alley to our house.

     
ELEVEN

    THE LIGHT ON THE answering machine blinked; Detective Ambrose had returned my call. As I punched in the number for the
police department, Meghan laughed.
    "You look like you're about