Free THE SOUND OF MURDER by Cindy Brown Page A

sunglasses, but they have little mirrors inside them so you can see behind you.”
    “I’d love to.” I couldn’t figure out how they’d help me interview neighbors, but I did want to try them out.
    “You need other spy stuff, you just ask,” said Arnie. “I got everything.”
    Before I could even ask why, Marge said, “Him and his gadgets. Nearly cost us our vacation last winter.”
    “Airports are so big,” Arnie brushed the cookie crumbs off his hands, “that I take a cane in case my hip starts bugging me. Last time I took the wrong cane.”
    “It has a sword hidden inside,” said Marge. “They thought we were pirates.”
    The speaker in the greenroom crackled to life: “Places for top of the show.” The nuns scuttled off for their first scene. I did too. I wanted to watch from the wings to see how the show was shaping up—and, I admit, to see if Marge remembered her lines.
    The lights came up on Bitsy and three other nuns in a huddle onstage. “It’s a disgrace!” said Bitsy.
    “A temptation for our young people,” agreed a tall nun.
    “Is the music any good?” asked a short one.
    Marge/the Mother Superior entered with the elfin-looking Hailey/Mary.
    “What is it you’re discussing?” Marge asked the gaggle of nuns. Phew, first line down. A tune that sounded a lot like The Sound of Music ’s “Problem Like Maria” began to play, and Bitsy opened her mouth and sang, “How do you solve a problem like a nightclub?”
    “Can’t we get the law to shut it down?” sang the tall nun.
    Marge/Mother Superior shook her head.
    “Who do you send to shutter up a nightclub?” sang the short sister.
    Bitsy and the two nuns sang in turn:
    “A politician?”
    “A monsignor?”
    “A clown?”
    “Many a time I’ve thought we could save souls there,” sang a chubby nun.
    “Many a time I’ve thought they’re damned to hell,” Bitsy replied in song.
    “It’s so full of sin,” sang the tall nun.
    “And lots and lots of men,” sang the short one, with a wistful smile.
    “What can we do to break the nightclub’s spell?” sang the chubby one.
    All of them chimed in, “Oh, how do you solve a problem like a nightclub?”
    “WHAT DO THEY WANT THAT WE HAVE GOT TO SELL?” Right on cue, Marge sang perfectly. Loudly, brashly, but perfectly.
    I sang beautifully during my scene too (sure, there was no one in the audience, but still). In fact, the whole dress rehearsal went smoothly, except for one of my changes in the wings, where my dresser somehow guided my arm through the neck hole of my dress.
    I was just leaving the theater when Hailey slid up to me. “Walk me to my car?” she said.
    “Sure.” I couldn’t imagine why. This part of town was not scary at night. Most people went tobed around eight.
    The cool night was quiet, the silence broken only by a jet far overhead. “You’re house sitting for Marge’s neighbor, right?” Hailey’s pale blonde hair shone silver under the parking lot lights.
    I nodded.
    “So do you see Marge outside of the theater?”
    “Not really.”
    Hailey tugged on a lock of her hair, a gesture I recognized from fraught rehearsals.
    “I guess I could,” I said. “Why?”
    She leaned closer to me. “I think someone should keep an eye on her. I’m really worried about her. I think she’s…not okay.”
    Marge had looked as fit as ever.
    “You mean her mind? But she did really well tonight.”
    Hailey shook her head. “I fed her lines all night. She couldn’t remember anything.”

CHAPTER 13

      
    I knocked on the carved wooden door, the first door in my neighborhood investigation. I was going to be a great detective. I just knew it.
    The house was unlike any other I had seen in Sunnydale—stucco and a tile roof, yes, but newer, two-story, and oversized, barely squeezed onto the lot. As I was wondering how the neighbors felt about this monstrosity looming over them, the door opened. The blonde woman who stood there wore yoga pants and a cropped top that