Free The Wolfe Widow (A Book Collector Mystery) by Victoria Abbott Page B

luck, though, maybe they’d turn out to be featured on
American Justice
: “when octogenarians attack.” Never mind, I’d take my chances for another cinnamon bun.
    Those cinnamon buns will live on in my memory forever. They were close to the most delicious thing I had ever tasted, from the fresh dough to the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter mingling inside the swirls, and the melting sugary glaze. Oh boy. Clarissa Montaine had pretty well died and gone to heaven.
    As soon as one bun was finished, another one took its place on my plate.
    “It’s a practice batch,” Mindy said, modestly. “I don’t bake quite so much anymore, but with Thanksgiving almost here, I have to get back at it.”
    “Practice?” I laughed. “They’re perfect.”
    After that we were friends for life. Still, remembering my reception from the couple on Lilac Lane, I finished my second cinnamon bun before I brought up the topic of Carmen and Muriel Delgado.
    When I did, they both smiled. “Audra told us you were asking. A legacy for them? That’s something, isn’t it?”
    I wondered what that meant.
    “Yes. Assuming that I have the right person.”
    “I wonder who the legacy is from?”
    I shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t know. I’m only a lowly assistant new to the firm. I’ve been sent out to try to find them. I don’t mind, though. It beats being in the office and I’ve met some very nice people, especially you two and Audra.” I beamed at my new fantasy grandparents.
    Her sharp blue eyes grew slightly guarded. “You never know who you’re going to meet in these circumstances.”
    “So you knew Carmen Delgado?”
    They nodded together. “We did.”
    “And Muriel?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’ve been told that Carmen has, um, passed away.”
    A shadow crossed Tom’s face. “She did, poor girl. Never was that strong.”
    “Was Muriel the daughter? I didn’t get a good reception in their previous neighborhood and I wasn’t quite sure.”
    “Yes, the daughter. So I suppose she’d get the legacy, would she?” Tom asked, his brown eyes bright with interest.
    “I think she may be the one to get it. Mr. Lawson will know all about that. I’ve been tasked to bring back the information. It hasn’t been easy finding Carmen Delgado. I had to check the city directories here.” There was something to be said for old-school sleuthing.
    “So Muriel lived on this street with her mother?”
    “Not for that long, really,” Mindy said. “Does that matter?”
    “And it was just the two of them?”
    Tom said, “Muriel stayed on after she finished school. She was here until her mother died. We thought she’d leave when Carmie married. She was so hostile to Carmie’s new husband.”
    I blinked. “Oh. She married again?”
    They didn’t quite stop themselves in time. I caught the glances. So there was something there. Something about marrying again. But what?
    “She married a nice man. He’d carried a torch for Carmie for a long time,” Mindy said.
    “He did. Carmie was a beautiful woman,” Tom said. “Very beautiful.”
    “Was she?” This was the second mention of Carmen’s attractiveness. I found it hard to picture her, especially after seeing Muriel. She was imposing. Grand. Mount Rushmore–like, yes. Beautiful, no.
    “Oh yes,” Mindy said. “She was lovely to
look
at.” Ah, a bit of subtext there, I thought. Maybe not so lovely in other ways.
    “And a good neighbor?” I said.
    “Well . . .” Mindy said, turning away slightly.
    “Poor thing was not a well woman, ever,” Tom said, in the late Carmen’s defense. “She had a lot of problems, you know, health. She wasn’t strong. In any way.”
    I wasn’t sure what the subtext was to “in any way.” But there was something worth finding out.
    “More of a taker than a giver,” Mindy said, a bit waspishly. Tom glowered. I figured he’d liked “Carmie” a lot more than she had.
    “Life didn’t treat her that well,” he said.
    I had nothing better to