Free Perplexity on P1/2 (Parson's Cove Mysteries) by Sharon Rose Page B

earring.
         She gasped. “Where did you get that?”
         Her hand shot out like a serpent’s tongue but my hand was faster.
         “I know it’s yours, Esther, and you know what? When you tell me what you were doing out by the lake and in the woods, you’ll get it back.”
         “What? Are you crazy? That’s none of your business. I will never tell you what I was doing out there.”
         “That’s okay. I will never give you back your earring.”
         She crossed her arms against her chest and put her nose in the air. “Hmmmph. I will go to Sheriff Smee and we’ll see about this, Mabel. He’ll make you give that earring back.”
         “Oh, I don’t think so, Esther. This is a murder case. It’s one thing simply to drop an earring on the ground but I found this out by the lake. Right beside the path leading to the body. What would you be doing out there at night? And then, of course, there’s the threatening phone call. How does that fit in with the murder, Esther?” I placed my arms across my chest and lifted my chin in the air, too.
         I watched as Esther’s face changed from white to scarlet.
         “Phone call? What phone call?”
         “You know very well. You can try and disguise your voice all you like but I know it was you.”
         “Well, I’ll have you know, it wasn’t me. If you were the last person on earth, I wouldn’t phone you, Mabel Wickles.”
         She had a point there.
         “You would if you were involved in a murder; so, what were you doing in the woods? You’d better tell me if you want your gold earring back.”
         “Never.” 
         “Okay. I’ll see what Reg thinks about all of this then.”
         Esther flew out the door, leaving me alone with a gold earring in my hand.

 
     
    Chapter Ten
     
         “She could be telling the truth, Mabel.”
         Flori sat in Father’s chair, sipping her wine. There were four cats in the living room, all vying for Flori’s attention. The other three were outside, probably searching for a platonic relationship with any cat, other than a family member. My cats are extremely naive so as a result, have returned home many times beaten up by a bewildered tomcat. I guess in the animal world it’s hard to accept the fact that a few are neither ‘he’s’ nor ‘she’s’ but only ‘its.’
         “No, I’m pretty sure she was lying. I could tell by the way she blushed.” I picked up the bottle and topped off our glasses. “I would give anything to know why she was in the woods at night. What do you think?”
         Flori rolled her eyes. “Like I know what Esther does with her time. Maybe she was out berry picking.”
         “At night? I’d say more like baying at the moon. No, she was up to something. I wish I knew; it’s driving me crazy.”
         “Did you ask her?”
         “Of course, I asked her.”
         “And?”
         “She said that she would never tell me so I threatened to take the earring over to Reg.”
         “Are you going to?”
         “I doubt it. It really doesn’t have anything to do with the murder. I like to have some leverage with her, that’s all.”
         “You just like to torture her, you mean.”
          “That, too.”
         We drank our wine in silence for a few minutes, which is very rare with Flori, but it was pleasant.
         “So, you really think she’s the one who made the phone call, Mabel?”
         “I wish I knew for sure. It did rather catch her off guard. But the blush, Flori. Usually that’s the giveaway with Esther.”
         Flori looked at her watch. “I’d better skedaddle home. Jake will be back soon.”
         She tipped her glass up and drained it. A few drops that dribbled down her chin, she carefully caught with her finger and drove back into her mouth.
         “I swear, Flori, you’d make a better beer