Free Homicide by Hamlet (Cozy Mystery) Book #3 (Chubby Chicks Club Cozy Mystery Series) by Lois Lavrisa Page B

of this camp, it’s my duty to be here. I have free reign of the place. Now, more so than ever, with what’s happened and all.” He looked at the ground. “It’s good to keep busy, keeps my mind off my grief.”
    Poor guy. “I’m really sorry about Priscilla.”
    “Me too.” His eyes were shiny. “Instead of planning for a wedding, I’m organizing a memorial service.” He wiped his face with the palm of his hand, then cleared his throat. “I’ve got her assistant, Winona, pitching in. She’s been such a rock through all of this, bending over backwards to help me.”
    I’d almost forgotten about Winona, because she was a quiet shadow to Priscilla’s big personality. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
    Dwight and I were having a surprisingly pleasant conversation. Maybe he’d softened after the tragedy.
    “Actually, there is, that’s why I came over here.” He lowered his voice. “Although, the police are conducting an investigation they aren’t being as forthcoming with information as I would like. And for legal reasons, I have to know what happened to her.”
    “Legal reasons?” I asked.
    “You know,” Dwight answered.
    “I don’t know.” Did he think I was a mind reader?
    “Insurance and other matters,” Dwight said. “So, for the sake of speeding things along, I need to probe a bit. However, I have zero detective skills. But I’ve heard you sort of do.”
    “Well, not really. I only solved one case,” I said. And resolving that case had been pure dumb luck.
    “So, I need to ask you. Do you think Gerald Gill killed my wife, I mean, fiancée?”
    Gerald certainly earned the top spot on my suspect list. I stammered, “No, of course not. Why would you think that?”
    “Because he and my fiancée had—well, I wouldn’t call it a relationship exactly—but Gerald and Priscilla had some sort of past.”
    I swallowed hard. Did he mean their past, like what might’ve been referred to in the note? Dwight didn’t know that I had the note, so I needed to be coy.
    “What do you mean by, their past?” I asked him.
    “I’m not sure of the details, really. At the start of the camp, I overheard them arguing.”
    “About what?”
    “I’m not sure.” Dwight sighed. He brushed his sandy blond hair from his eyes.
    He really did resemble a young Robert Redford. Seeing his kindhearted side now, I could kind of see why Bezu had fallen in love with him.
    “After the fight, did you ask Priscilla what they argued about?” I asked.
    “I did. She said I shouldn’t worry. She told me something about ‘righting past wrongs’ with Gerald. Also, she felt sure that she was coming into a lot of money soon. And, trust me, she was spending like she already had it.”
    “And she never told you the source of the money?”
    He shook his head. “That’s all I have. She never said anything else.”
    Dwight had no idea that what he had just told me reinforced that Gerald and Priscilla did have a contentious relationship. First the note, then the argument. Was it enough for Gerald to kill her?
    “Do you think I’m being too suspicious?” he asked.
    I couldn’t tell him about the note, not yet at least. I needed to talk to Gerald again.
    “Did you talk to the police about Priscilla’s and Gerald’s argument?” I asked him.
    “I did.” He shifted his stance. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I still think you might’ve had something to do with her death. I mean Gerald could’ve been your hit man. You spend a lot of time with him. You hated her, and he argued with her. I think you could’ve teamed up to take her out.”
    “You’re so off base.” I locked eyes with him. For a moment, I’d thought he was a normal human being instead of a rat. No more. “I had nothing to do with her death.”
    Dwight snickered. “That’s to be determined.”
    Winona joined us before I could respond.
    “I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I am about your loss,” I said to her.
    Winona hung her