Free Chilled in Chattanooga (A Trixie Montgomery Cozy Mystery Book 4) by Deborah Malone

woman coffee. Or escort her back to bed.”
    “I’ll be quiet.” Nana dropped back against the cushion, cradling her cast in her good hand, her head swaying a bit from side to side.
    The sergeant had his notepad out, ready to take down whatever I said.
    “What list are you talking about?” I saw the tablet sticking out from under Nana. I held my breath hoping she wouldn’t notice. No such luck.
    Nana pulled it out and raised it high in the air. “What’s this?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

    F our hands grabbed for the notebook. Detective Sams won, snatching it faster than a coon dog treeing a squirrel. “Let me see what we have here. Suspect list?”
    “Uh, we were just brainstorming, Detective. It doesn’t mean we were going to do anything with it. By the way, I wanted to tell you about Tippi Colston. She was right outside Annie’s door when I went to visit her. And Annie tore up a paper George wrote. He threatened her before the whole class. You can ask them.”
    “I fully intend to. I don’t think you’ll need this list, so I’ll just take it with me.” She skimmed the list. “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?” She ripped out the page Dee Dee made her notes on. “I told you before, I’d investigate this case to the fullest. When there is as much evidence as there is against you then you automatically shoot to the top of the list. It doesn’t mean we won’t look at others, but you need to leave it to the professionals.”
    Nana spoke up. “She is a professional. She’s solved three cases already. And I helped.”
    “Yes ma’am, I’m sure she was an asset to those cases, but she’s a person of interest in this one. That means hands-off. Do you understand?” Detective Sams looked from me to Dee Dee and back to me.
    “I definitely understand what you said, Detective.” I understood what she said, but it didn’t mean I was going to keep my hands off this case. It was my bootie that was at risk of being thrown in the caboose, and I didn’t trust the detective to clear my name.
    “All right then, I’ll be on my way. I don’t want anyone else calling in with information you’re sleuthing on your own.”
    Well my goodness, we were in agreement, I didn’t want anyone calling in either.
    “Let me know if you change hotels and I’ll be in touch with you soon.” She touched the bill of her hat with her hand, turned on her heel and sauntered out of the lobby. Sergeant Sargent gave me one last smirk before he hurried to catch up with the detective.
    I looked over at Nana to find her sound asleep in the chair. Her mouth stood wide open and a little bit of drool slid down her lip. She snored like a bear.
    Dee Dee’s stomach emitted a growl louder than Nana’s snoring. “Yikes, look at the time. No wonder I’m hungry. It’s afternoon already.” She glanced at Nana. “What are we going to do with her?”
    “I’d like to get some lunch, but we need to wake her and take her back to the room first.” I’d no sooner got the word “lunch” out of my mouth when her head popped up like a jack-in-the-box.
    “Did someone mention food?” She shot us a glance. “I’m so hungry I could eat an elephant.” I’ve seen Nana eat and she wasn’t far off.
    “Sounds good to me. Let’s make a new list while we eat.” I didn’t want to waste a minute – even though she seemed sincere, Detective Sams most likely had more than one case on her hands. She needed the help, right?
    A commotion in the lobby startled me from my musings, and I followed the sound. A couple of skipping elves led a rowdy group of children. I guess elves were big this time of year in Chattanooga.
    “How about the Garden Restaurant for lunch?” Dee Dee offered. “It’s located right off the lobby and Nana won’t have far to walk.”
    “Sounds great, let’s go.” Nana jumped up, but sat right back down. “Whoa, not feeling as spry as I thought.” Dee Dee laughed. I didn’t think it was quite so funny. I needed to call Mama