Free A Killer Read by Erika Chase

relative newcomer to town, as is Jacob. His appointment is tomorrow, and I’ll bet he gets it even worse, being an attorney.”
    “Ah, but being an attorney, he knows how to stick up for himself. I’ll bet she’ll regret interviewing him.”
What a pleasant thought.
Lizzie managed to pour a glass of water and chugged it to dislodge the remaining almond butter coating her teeth. “I had the privilege this afternoon. And I got to thinking, maybe we should reconvene the book club just to find out what’s going on with everyone. Who knows, maybe the police let something slip that might give us an idea of where we’re heading.”
    “Are you into the almond butter?”
    “Yes.” She tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear while hastily screwing the top back on the jar.
    “Humph. Wasn’t I supposed to ask you that from time to time and you were to say something like, ‘Oh, dear, I forgot. I’ll put it right away’? Whatever, a meeting might be a good idea. Actually, I thought she’d go easier on you, given your history with the chief.”
    “What history? We just went to the same high school.” Lizzie felt her cheeks warming. Good thing she was alone.
    “Hmm. That was then. I mean after yesterday’s hike. Word does get around in Ashton Corners, you know.”
    “Oh, good grief. We need to talk about the murder, not my supposed love life. I’ll check with Molly if maybe we can meet Thursday night and get back to you.” She paused.“If I time your call right, it may save me making another one— to Jacob. Two birds with one stone and all that,” she teased.
    Sally-Jo laughed. “I’m not rushing this one, Lizzie. So better keep your dialing finger in order.

Chapter Eleven

    “Maybe I’m fanciful,” he muttered, “and yet I’d bet there’s something she has not told me.”
    THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN—
AGATHA CHRISTIE
    L izzie sorted through a stack of articles on reading exercises that she’d signed out from the school board office earlier that morning. She’d borrowed the vice principal’s office for a couple of hours to put together a reading guide for fourth-grade teachers, a list of short articles and chapters from reference books that would reinforce anything Lizzie might suggest. She wanted them prepared to hear her suggestions when they met, and hopefully, be better able to visualize how to integrate the ideas.
    She considered herself to be the shortcut between the teachers and all that knowledge written for them to use. Since they had so little time to even find what they needed to read, Lizzie’s method saved them many hours.
    It took much longer than she’d planned, but by the time she met with the first of her two student appointments in the afternoon, the list had been forwarded to the school office for distribution to the teachers.
    She stayed on after school hours to answer some of theirquestions and then rushed home to get ready for the literacy class.
    T wo small literacy groups met at Molly’s house, twice a week, with Lizzie and Sally-Jo as the volunteer teachers. These were the advanced new readers, most just a step away from taking their GEDs. Lizzie’s group met in the library where the book club had met, while Sally-Jo’s was in the sunroom, an addition to the grand old house in the 1980s, just before Claydon Mathews had died. The classes for those just starting the long trek to literacy met in the Ashton Corners Community Center on Main Street. All were part of the long-distance learning program attached to a community college in Montgomery.
    There had been talk of moving all the classes to one central location last spring, but Lizzie had backed Molly’s request to keep some of the classes at her house. Lizzie suspected, that in spite of all her community involvements, Molly was lonely and still missed Claydon. She’d found Molly one night, in the detached garage sitting in the front seat of Claydon’s 1960 Corvette, talking to herself. Lizzie had been quick to