Free Murder by Mushroom by Virginia Smith Page A

productive as she’d hoped after the informative talk with Mrs. Sawyer. The old people in the nursing home hadn’t delivered any new leads on the murder case. Still, she knew they’d enjoyed her visit. Mrs. Harrod kept patting her arm while she munched on Margaret’s cookies, and Mr. Snedegar showed her a bunch of pictures from his war days.
    Hopefully today would prove more profitable. She planned to talk with her two main suspects, Sharon Carlson and Esther Hodges. Sharon was easy. She had been out when Jackie called the Carlson residence last night, but a few subtle questions asked of her teenage daughter, Samantha, had revealed Sharon’s place of employment. Jackie planned to drop by her office this morning. With the experience of a few visits under her belt, she didn’t think she’d have any problems leading into a conversation about Mrs. Farmer.
    Talking to Mrs. Hodges would be a little more difficult to arrange. Margaret was so protective of her.
    The shrill ring of the telephone blared into the apartment’s silence. Jackie grabbed the receiver and propped it on her shoulder, leaving her hands free to open a can of cat food.
    “Hello?”
    “Jackie? It’s Margaret.”
    “Hey, I was going to call you in a bit. Do you want to go by Sharon Carlson’s office with me this morning?”
    A pause on the other end. “Uh, no, I don’t think so. I’ve only met Sharon once, so I doubt my presence will help you, and if we’re both there it might look like we’re ganging up on her.”
    “Well, I’ve only met her once, too.” Linus’s yowling grew louder as she plopped the smelly mass of congealed whitefish into his bowl. “That time Samantha had a solo in the Easter pageant is the only time I’ve seen her at church. And I’ve never seen Samantha’s dad.”
    “He works third shift, so he sleeps during the day. That’s why Samantha comes to church with her grandfather.” Another pause. “Listen, Jackie, I called to invite you to lunch.”
    “Linus, back off!” The little fiend made walking impossible. She deposited his breakfast onto the floor mat beside his water bowl. “Sorry to yell in your ear, Margaret. Lunch sounds great. What time?”
    “Actually, it’s not at my house. Some of the ladies at church have gotten into the habit of meeting for lunch every Tuesday. We started back when Earl and I first came to HCC, and Esther decided it would be a good way for those of us who don’t work outside the home to get to know each other.”
    Jackie’s grip on the receiver tightened. “Esther Hodges?”
    “That’s right. And Laura Watson and Sylvia Graham and Julie McCoy. Sometimes others join us, but that’s who’ll be there today.”
    A perfect chance to question her number-one suspect! “Where and what time?”
    “We’re meeting at Shaker Village at eleven-thirty, but I’ll stop by and pick you up at eleven. Will that be okay?”
    “Perfect. I’ll have my recorder ready.”
    Margaret’s sigh sounded loud through the receiver. “Jackie, please don’t make this an uncomfortable lunch. These women have been nothing but kind to me since I arrived. They’re my friends.”
    And one of them might be a killer! But Jackie kept her thought to herself. Margaret probably wouldn’t appreciate hearing it.
    “I’ll be good,” she promised. “See you at eleven.”
    She disconnected the call and turned to Linus. “I’ve got two interrogations today. With luck, I’ll have this case solved by suppertime.”
    Unimpressed, Linus ignored her.

     
    Dennis pulled his cruiser into the parking lot of police headquarters promptly at seven forty-five. Yesterday, he’d arrived a few minutes past eight and received a lecture from Conner on the necessity of developing good investigative habits. The detective considered punctuality right up near the top of the list. “Being late implies laziness, and there’s no room in the force for a lazy investigator.”
    Dennis endured the dressing-down silently, aware