Free 6 Death Takes The Blue Ribbon by Teresa Watson Page B

Now I just need to escort Mrs. Norwell home.”
    “That won’t be necessary,” Gladys said. “I’ll call Iris, and she can pick me up. I’m staying with her until they say I can go home again.”
    “Are you sure, Gladys?” I said. “I could run you home.”
    “No, dear, you go right ahead and talk to Mr. Henderson. The sooner we find out who killed my Harold, the sooner I can go home. I need to start planning his…the…” she stammered to a halt.
    “It will be ok, Gladys. Iris will help you,” I said, giving her another hug. “Just hang in there.”
    “You’ve been very kind to me, Lizzie,” she said. “Your mother would be very proud of you.”
    “Thank you.”
    “But don’t think this means I like you,” she said before giving me a wink. She went over to Abbie’s desk to call Iris.
    The lawyer and I walked out the front door and down the steps. “Is she always like that?” he asked me. “And what did she mean by that last remark?”
    “Let’s just say Gladys and I get along better when we’re fighting, and leave it at that,” I replied. “Shall we go eat?”

Chapter Fourteen
    After the meeting with the lawyer, I went back to the office to bust Jake’s bubble about announcing Gladys’ arrest. He was definitely disappointed, and I did a little cheer on the inside. It wasn’t often that I got one over on him, and I took a moment to enjoy it before going into our joint office. There was a note on the desk from Dale, telling me that the lawyer was working on the paperwork. It would be ready in a couple of days. He also told me to tell Jake, because he would be out of cell phone range.
    I called Jake into the office just as the phone on the desk rang. “Hello?”
    “Hey, girl, what happened to you at lunch?” Trixie said. “I waited for you until 12:45, and then I had to leave for a meeting.”
    “I was tied up on business,” I replied as Jake walked in.
    “Are you free tonight?”
    “Yeah, I think so. Your place or mine?”
    “Yours. My mother is hosting her poker club at my house tonight.”
    “Why isn’t she meeting at her house?”
    “Beats me. I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter. She told me they were meeting at my house.”
    “Gotcha. Alright, my place it is. Girls’ night only,” I said, looking pointedly at Jake, who grinned and shrugged.
    “Company in the office?”
    “Oh yes, of the slimy kind. Why don’t you grab some BBQ and I’ll stop at the store and get something for dessert.”
    “Chunky Monkey?”
    “Only the best for you, my dear.”
    “You’re too good to me. See you about six, then?”
    “Sounds good. Talk to you later.” I hung up the phone. “Close the door and sit down, Jake. We need to talk.”
    Raising an eyebrow at me, he closed the door and sat down. “This sounds serious. Am I in trouble or something?”
    “No, you aren’t in trouble. But this situation about the Norwell story has brought things to a head.”
    “Look, I’m sorry about that,” he said sheepishly, “I was just thinking of the newspaper.”
    “You were thinking of the money that we would bring in from selling out every copy because of the sensational story.”
    “Well, yeah.”
    “And that’s where you and I are different, Jake. I grew up here. This is my home. These people are like family. To me, they’re more than a money machine; they have a right to be treated with respect and dignity. Just because the major newspapers back East like to make a big deal out of stories like this, I think it’s more important to get the whole story instead of flying around, half-cocked, and telling just the part that sounds juicy. If we had run the story you wanted to about Gladys being the prime suspect in her husband’s murder, no one would ever get past that, even if it wasn’t true. It would ruin her life, and there’s no way I’m going to stand by and let that happen.” There was a knock on the office door. “Come in,” I called out.
    Ellen came in, holding