Free The Tail of the Tip-Off by Rita Mae Brown

blathering about the clock ticking. If I have a child, I do, and if I don't, I don't. Not to change the subject, but do you have any idea who might have wanted to see H. H. Donaldson dead?”
    â€œSneak.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou just can't stand to talk about anything personal, can you?”
    â€œI just did.” Harry's voice rose. “I told you exactly what I thought about having children but what I didn't tell you is I think you are a wonderful mother and I wouldn't be half as good a mother as you are.”
    â€œWhy, thank you.”
    â€œSusan, who hated H.H.?”
    â€œI told Rick what I thought.”
    â€œKind of. But we don't burden the sheriff with idle gossip or unsubstantiated ideas. However, we can happily burden each other with them. So?” Harry wasn't exactly deluding herself but she wasn't accurate, either. She did discuss half-baked ideas with the sheriff.
    Susan shrugged. “I can't think of anyone. Can you?”
    â€œIf we retraced his movements over the last few days maybe we'd figure it out.”
    â€œI am not spending my Saturday retracing H. H. Donaldson's—Damn, I missed the turn.”
    â€œGo up one light and turn left and come around.”
    â€œThey didn't put in a very good turn lane, did they?” Susan griped.
    â€œNot if you aren't looking for it. I try to avoid coming up 29 so I missed it, too.”
    Susan finally drove into the shopping center, a very attractive one built as a U, with a supermarket anchoring one end of the U and a big discount store anchoring the other. Smaller specialty shops were in between these large stores.
    Businesses were in operation although the discount store was not quite completed. A large sign was in place with a banner underneath counting the days until it would open. Eleven days.
    Harry tapped the window of the tailgate. “I won't be very long.”
    â€œOkay.”
The cats settled down for a snooze. Tucker watched Harry's every move.
    â€œI didn't realize how big this was.” Susan swept her eyes over the New Gate shopping center, painted muted shades of gray with splashes of red. “H.H. probably could have moved up to a bigger structure like the new stadium.”
    â€œThis is pretty straightforward stuff. I'd like to think he could but Matthew's been around a long time. Even as a grunt Matthew worked on commercial or state projects like the Clam. He says the trick is not just finding the right subcontractors or whatever, he says it's the bidding. That's where you make it or break it. I'm learning a lot working with him on the Parish Guild.”
    â€œI learned a lot on the guild, period. What I learned is that ‘consensus' is a magic word. Sounds so good. So hard to get. And why does everyone have to agree anyway?”
    â€œWell, at least we've solved the recarpeting crisis.”
    â€œHallelujah.”
    â€œSave that for church.” Harry peered in the window of the discount store. “Huge.”
    â€œGargantuan. You don't notice it from the parking lot but it goes straight back.”
    â€œI guess they'll stack up a lot of toilet paper.” Harry laughed. “I know I can save money shopping at these behemoths, but I can't stand it. I get disoriented. And there's so much to buy I wind up straying off my list. ‘Oh, that looks good.' The next thing I know I'm standing in line and the bill is four hundred ninety-nine dollars.”
    â€œNot five hundred?”
    â€œHaven't you ever noticed that in the discount stores everything always comes to ninety-nine?”
    Susan laughed. “I guess. Well, what are you looking for?”
    â€œI don't know. Wanted to see what H.H. was building. Hey, that's Rob.” She saw Rob Collier who delivered mail to the post office on weekdays. She waved.
    He saw her, walked over to the front door and unlocked it. “Harry. Hello, Susan. Come on in.”
    â€œWhat are you doing here?”
    â€œWorking on