Free 2 Murder Most Fowl by Morgana Best Page A

from jumping on him. We both sat down, and I held onto Sandy’s collar, but she promptly lost interest in Blake and stretched out, sniffing the grass.
    “I did speak to the detectives,” Blake said, “and they said they were looking into it.”
    “That’s great,” I said with relief. “I hope you know that Cressida didn’t do it.”
    Blake nodded. “I know she didn’t.”
    I smiled at him, but he did not smile back. “Sibyl, here’s the problem,” Blake said. “Those detectives are likely to latch onto the first suspect they’ve got. Some detectives get hung up on one person, and once they do that, they won’t change their minds. If they do, it’s like they’re admitting defeat or something. They make the evidence fit their conclusions.”
    “But what about Cressida’s cleaner, Susan Woods, picking hemlock plants?” I said.
    Blake ran his fingers through his hair. “I know, but the detectives could just see that as small town gossip, and Janine Templeton did not go to them directly with that information. Cressida made matters worse with this Colin Palmer stuff. If only she’d come clean in the first place about their previous relationship.”
    I nodded. “True, but Susan is tall, and the killer was much taller than Cressida is; the killer went right by me on the porch. I told the detectives that, but they thought I was covering for Cressida. Is there anything you can do?”
    “Sibyl,” Blake said, turning to look in my eyes. “I promise you I’m fighting them on this. I’m doing what I can. The trouble is, they don’t have any suspects other than Cressida.” I made to protest, but he held up a hand. “Seeing someone pulling up weeds by the roadside is not evidence to them. It’s probably only a matter of time before they decide they have enough evidence to arrest Cressida. They’re poring over the boarding house right now. I guarantee that they’ll find something, some little thing, and then they will arrest her. Sad to say, there’s nothing I can do to stop them.”
    “That isn’t fair!” I said. I buried my face in my hands. I wanted to clear Cressida’s name, but I had no idea how to do so.
    “She needs a good lawyer.”
    I nodded. “Yes, she’s agreed to get a lawyer. But will it come to that?”
    Blake’s silence told me all I indeed to know. Those detectives were likely to arrest Cressida, and I had to do whatever I could to stop them.
     

"If your dog doesn't like someone you probably shouldn't either."
(Anonymous)
    Chapter Thirteen .
     
    I took the program from the smiling student at the doors and walked into Lecture Hall A2, the biggest lecture hall at the university in Pharmidale. Mr. Buttons had managed to talk me into going with him to the Public Seminar on Socrates to keep an eye out for suspects and to get the general vibe.
    I looked behind me for Mr. Buttons and saw to my dismay that he was adjusting the student’s glasses. “There, you’ll see much better now that your spectacles are straight,” he said, stepping back to admire his handiwork.
    I took Mr. Buttons by the arm and guided him to the back of the lecture hall. The huge room was filling fast, but there were two spare seats in the middle of the back row. We squeezed past some elderly ladies’ knees, excusing ourselves, and sat down on the seats.
    Mr. Buttons leaned over to me. “I’m glad we got a back row.”
    “Pity our seats weren’t on the edge,” I said.
    Mr. Buttons signaled me to be quiet, and jerked his head over his shoulder at two professors who were talking directly behind us.
    “Should we have a one minute’s silence for Martin Bosworth as well as a one minute’s silence for Harry Palmer, or just a one minute’s silence all up?” one said.
    The other rubbed his chin. “I doubt people will want to be silent for two minutes. We’d better have just a one minute’s silence.”
    The other professor readily agreed. “More like we should have a party for Martin Bosworth’s untimely