Free Miss Dimple and the Slightly Bewildered Angel by Mignon F. Ballard

the story appeared to be shrouded in mystery—at least to Lou and Jo—and a bit of detective work seemed in order.
    â€œHave you seen the new boarder who’s helping out in Odessa’s place?” Lou asked. “I ran into Velma Anderson in Lewellyn’s the other day and she said she was a wonderful cook—seems to come up with mouthwatering dishes from practically nothing.”
    â€œSurely not better than Odessa’s?” Jo’s eyes widened. She could hardly cook at all and was in awe of Odessa’s culinary accomplishments.
    â€œNo, no, of course not,” Lou protested, not wanting to be disloyal. “It just seems she showed up there … well … all of a sudden. Velma said Phoebe had posted a notice at Cooper’s just as Harris was getting ready to close the day before.” She clicked her fingers. “And poof! There she was.”
    â€œCharlie tells me everyone seems to like her,” Jo confided. “She’s almost too good to be true. It appears odd to me, though, that she turned up the very day that poor woman’s body was found, and now they say somebody tried to throw suspicion on poor Jesse Dean. At least Bobby Tinsley had better sense than to take it seriously; still, I don’t like the idea that somebody right here in Elderberry would do such a thing. Why would he try to blame it on Jesse Dean unless he’s the one who killed her?”
    â€œOr she. ” Lou rummaged in the refrigerator for leftovers to warm for supper. Her husband, Ed, was usually tired and hungry after standing on his feet at his dental office most of the day and would be ready to eat when he got home. She turned to Jo with a bowl of cold butter beans in her hand. “Surely you don’t think there’s a connection between this new boarder and that horrible thing that happened in the steeple?”
    Her sister bit into another cookie and shrugged. “I suppose not, but still…”
    â€œStill what?” Lou sliced leftover meat loaf into a pan and doctored it with catsup, waiting for Jo to continue.
    â€œI know you can’t believe half of what the child says,” she began, “and of course you have to take his wild imagination into consideration.…”
    Lou slammed the meat loaf into the oven. “ What child, Josephine? What on earth are you talking about?”
    Jo paused. “Well, I wasn’t going to mention it, but you know that funny Willie Elrod—lives next door to Phoebe?”
    â€œOf course I know Willie. Seems to spend half his time reading the comic books in the dime store and the other half at Lewellyn’s soda fountain. What about him?”
    â€œCharlie taught him in her class a couple of years ago, so I suppose he’s in the fifth grade now, so you’d think he would’ve outgrown this craziness, but the boy told Charlie the wildest tale! I can’t imagine how he makes them all up.”
    Jo eyed her sister silently and waited.
    â€œHe said,” Jo began, “he saw that new boarder—what’s her name? Augusta? Anyway, he saw her hanging out laundry one morning early. Seems Willie had gone out to feed his dog, and he told Charlie she hung clothes on the line, and then— whiff! As soon as she finished hanging them out, she turned right around and took them down, and Willie swears they were dry !”
    Lou smiled. “And you believe him?”
    â€œI’m only repeating what Charlie told me.”
    â€œThe woman probably noticed it was going to rain and took the laundry in.” Lou shook her head. “That child watches too many movies, and I’m sure he listens to all those wild radio programs like Captain Midnight and The Green Hornet. ”
    â€œProbably. But it’s odd, don’t you think, that we haven’t heard anything more about this woman who was killed and what she was doing here in Elderberry?”
    â€œI doubt if the