Free A Killer Read by Erika Chase Page B

on the original assignment, thinking she’d use it for a class later on. Then she decided to task herself with the same assignment, to see if she could make some sense of what had happened.
    By break time, Lizzie felt she had a pretty good fictional outline, but nothing related to reality, she was sure. She needed more facts. At least she felt satisfied that, thanks to Dwayne, they were an interested group.
    Lizzie pulled Sally-Jo aside as the students were leaving after classes. “We need to talk with Molly,” Lizzie whispered. “Something’s come up to do with the you-know-what.” She didn’t want to say any more with the others milling around.
    Sally-Jo nodded. She slid her arms into the sleeves of the pale green shrug draped over her shoulders. “I’ll see our charges out the door.”
    Lizzie found Molly in the kitchen, a pitcher of tea and three glasses on the table along with a platter of brownies and sugar cookies.
    “You’ve got to stop with the sweets, Molly. I have absolutely no willpower and already too many extra inches around the waist.”
    “Nonsense, honey. Men like to be able to hold on to more than skin and bones. I don’t care what the magazines tell you.”
    “Men! Have you looked around Ashton Corners lately? Bob Miller is about the most eligible guy around, and I think he has his eye on you.”
    “Pshaw. Now I know you’re overworked. And I’d like to point out that Jacob Smith might turn many a young gal’s head. And then there’s Chief Dreyfus.”
    Lizzie spilled some of the tea she was pouring. “That’s not likely to happen, Molly.”
    “Honey, I saw the way he looked at you the other night. And with a dead body outside and all. Seems he’s able to focus on more than one thing at a time.” Molly reached over and touched Lizzie’s hand. “He was quite the catch when you were both in high school, as I recall. Things were a little tough for him when he returned from serving in Iraq, but I think he’s landed on both feet with the job.”
    Lizzie looked up sharply. “I hadn’t heard much about him after high school. You’ll have to fill me in sometime. Anyway, he’s just sizing me up for a pair of those orange coveralls, the kind so popular at the local jail. He’s eyeing all of us as suspects.”
    Molly sighed. “I know, honey. Especially me. I’ve been wracking my brain about that gun and can’t remember the last time I saw it or who might have been in Claydon’s study.”
    Sally-Jo overheard the last bit. “You have so much going on in your house, Molly. You open it to the literacy classes, charity events, and now the book club. Isn’t it possible someone slipped into the study without you knowing? But what’s missing?”
    Molly looked at Lizzie before answering. “Well, honey, the police say the gun that killed Frank Telford was one of Claydon’s antique weapons, and I’m just trying to figure out when someone might have stolen it.”
    “That’s shocking, and a worry,” Sally-Jo said.
    “It is. Especially since I usually lock the door to his study— it was Claydon’s personal space, and I don’t want just anyone wandering in there. But I must confess, occasionally I’ve found it unlocked. My memory is not always that sharp some days. I’ll have to start writing down a ‘To Do’ list. And then place several copies of it strategically around the house.”
    Molly looked so dejected that Sally-Jo gave her a hug. “I’ve been locked into a ‘To Do’ list for years, Molly. It’s simply overcrowding of brain mass.”
    “I wonder if someone on the fall house tour earlier this month may have gotten into the room… if I left it unlocked.” Molly brightened slightly. “Maybe Frank Telford took the tour.”
    “I remember that tour,” Lizzie said. “Didn’t the Floral Society set it up?”
    Molly nodded. “There were five houses in all. We provided tea and cookies after a tour of the grounds. Now, the interior of the house wasn’t included in the