Free A VENEER OF MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 3) by Belle Knudson Page A

anymore. “Fine. Believe what you want.”
    “I have no reason to talk to any of these people until Jessica gets back. Besides, I have to worry about Founder’s Day. That takes priority.”
    “Right.”
    She rose then her phone rang. She waved to Scott as she answered it. Kendall.
    “Oh, Kate. I had a leak in my ceiling. The plumber fixed it, but can you come out and fix the ceiling?”
    “I’ll have to stop by the hardware store. How big a spot?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Can you measure for me?”
    “Hold on.” There was rustling as she put down the phone. Then Kendall picked it up again. “Three feet by four feet. It’s really a mess, and I’m having book club tonight.”
    “I can only put the new sheetrock in and do the first coat of spackle. I can’t paint until tomorrow.”
    “It’ll have to do. Can you come out?”
    “I’ll be there in about an hour. When is your book club meeting?”
    “Not for a couple of hours.”
    “Okay. It should give me time,” she said.
    She was at her truck already. She hopped in then drove it to Grayson’s. Thankfully Larry had one piece of sheetrock that would work. He’d get more in the morning.
    She put it in her truck with a can of spackle. Hopefully Kendall had whatever paint had been used on ceiling the last time it had been painted. Otherwise, Kate would have to repaint the whole area. She wished for it to be a small room, but she wasn’t sure that Kendall had any of those in her house.
    ***
    Kendall opened the door before Kate could even ring the doorbell. Today she wore floral bell-bottomed pants with a bright green tank top. Once again she was spilling out of the shirt. Kate wondered where the woman bought her clothes. She’d never seen anything like that in her nearest Walmart store.
    “What took you so long?”
    “I had to pick up the sheetrock, Kendall. I told you that. I’m still here in under an hour.”
    She shouldn’t have to explain to the woman. She was doing her a favor coming here in an emergency. Kate tried to let it roll off of her back as Kendall showed her the damage. She’d been right about the size of the hole. She’d already cleaned up the floor and moved the furniture.
    Kate eyed it.
    “Can you fix it?”
    “You fixed the leak?”
    “Yes, the plumber took care of it,” Kendall said.
    “Good. Then I can fix it.”
    Kate figured she could snoop a little if Kendall stayed around. She brought in the sheetrock and the spackle. “Saw you at the dedication ceremony.”
    “I couldn’t miss it. The life of a politician’s wife. I have to show up and smile at all sorts of events.”
    She hadn’t looked like she was smiling. She didn’t look like she was having a good time at all. Kate couldn’t do it. Smile and pretend that she liked people she didn’t really want to be around. She’d had to do a little of that as a professor’s wife, but that had only been at Christmas. Other than that, Greg had never socialized much with his peers.
    “I was surprised to see Clem Tully there. You know, with his sister having just been murdered.”
    Kate wished she’d been looking at Kendall when she’d mentioned it. She might have caught something in her body language. When she spoke, Kendall was calm. “I guess he needed to get out of the house.”
    If Kate lived where Clem did, she’d want to be out of the house also.
    “Did you speak with him? You were back that way.”
    She cut out the old sheetrock then measured and cut the new stuff. It fit perfectly. Her eye was getting better at this. She opened the spackle can. She liked spackle. It looked like icing.
    “I was wandering around the back. Was I near him? I would have given him my condolences. I was paying attention to Harvy. He likes me to gauge how the crowd reacts to his speeches.”
    “I guess from my angle, it looked like you were talking to him.”
    Kendall shrugged, not making eye contact. “No. I hang out at the back also because I don’t want to upstage Harvy. I’m a