Free Sew Deadly by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

more than three— maybe four— trips to the Dumpster before she could head home for a much-needed shower.
    Quickly she grabbed the first pile and headed out the back door, the early evening sun making it difficult to see much of anything. Squinting against the glare, she glanced over at her car, relieved to see all four tires in tip-top shape.
    No delays there. . . .
    She swung her gaze back toward the Dumpster and was grateful to see the trash collectors had replaced her step stool after their rounds earlier in the afternoon. Carefully she stepped onto the first step and then the second, the pile of books making her balance a bit awkward.
    Pulling her arm backward, Tori winced at the soreness in her muscles, a tribute to the countless Dumpster trips she’d made over the past ten days. But she was almost done. Finally.
    With a toss, she released the books from her arms, all but one making their aim. The other—Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar —slipped to the ground.
    Mumbling to herself, she stepped off the ladder and reached down, her hand closing over the tattered book. She took three giant steps backward and threw with all her might, the muted thud that followed proof she’d overshot her target.
    “Good one, Tori.” She made her way around the side of the Dumpster, sidestepping an overturned coffee-to-go cup from Debbie’s Bakery. “At least I’m not the only one with rotten ai—”
    A single wedge-heeled sandal peeked out from the backside of the Dumpster. New shoes with turquoise straps and matching toenail polish . . .
    Curious, Tori peered around the corner, nausea racking her body as her gaze fell on the lifeless girl slumped against the metal container. A girl with hair the color of spun gold and a copy of Julius Caesar in her lap.

Chapter 7

    If there was one thing she wasn’t prepared to handle that morning, it was Dixie Dunn. Not after wit- nessing a crime scene investigation up close and personal. And certainly not after being the one who made the gruesome discovery.
    Tori glanced out the window of her tiny office, her head throbbing, her gaze barely registering the cluster of people standing on the sidewalk staring in her direction.
    “Ms. Dunn is bound and determined to talk to you. I’ve tried every which way to get her to talk to me instead, but gracious plenty she’s close to having a hissy. I think it would be best if—”
    “Step aside, Nina.” Dixie Dunn threw an elbow into the assistant’s side and shoved her way into Tori’s private office, her eyes blazing, her hand waving a hardbound book in the air. “You’re not here more ’n two weeks and you already don’t got the sense that God gave you, child. And to think they thought I was the one who should go.”
    “Miss Sinclair, I’m sorry. I tried to—”
    “It’s okay, Nina, I’ll take it from here.” Tori rose from her chair to offer the young woman a reassuring pat on the arm. “Can you cover things out in the library while I have a moment with Ms. Dunn?”
    “Yes, ma’am—I mean, Miss Sinclair.” Nina’s eyes, round and worried, met Tori’s as her hands nervously clenched and unclenched the sides of her ankle-length summer skirt. Dropping her voice to a near whisper, she peered over her boss’s shoulder before reengaging eye contact. “Be careful.”
    Inhaling deeply, Tori closed the door and turned toward her uninvited guest, determined to keep her cool at all costs. “Ms. Dunn, what can I do for you?”
    The five foot three cotton-topped woman slammed her book down on Tori’s desk. “You can tell me why taxpayers should have to buy another copy of what was a pristine book.”
    Confused, Tori reached for the book, turned it over in her hands.
    Sweet Briar City Structure and Laws .
    Was this a trick question?
    “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Ms. Dunn. We’re not asking anyone to buy another copy.”
    “You best be.”
    She opened the front cover, thumbed through the relatively thin volume.