Free Sewed Up Tight (A Quilters Club Mystery No. 5) (Quilters Club Mysteries) by Marjory Sorrell Rockwell Page B

in Caruthers Corners turned out to be Marvin “Moose” Johansson, 34, an unemployed watermelon picker who had been squatting in the abandoned building, according to Police Chief James L. Purdue. Chief Purdue, who personally made the arrest, says he was alerted to the possibility of a trespasser while investigating the recent death of Caruthers Corners High School Principal Robert S. Daniels. The result of natural causes, Daniels had collapsed near the building where Johansson was later arrested. Johansson will be arraigned next Tuesday in county court.
     
    The radio report was a bit more salacious. Citing an exclusive interview with Mrs. Joseph S. Daniels, it claimed that her son Robert had been murdered by “persons unknown” and that the Caruthers Corners Police Department was deliberately covering it up on orders from Mayor Mark Tidemore. During the on-air newscast, ace reporter Lucius Plancus alleged the cover-up was part of a multimillion-dollar real estate deal involving Beasley Mansion, site of the man’s murder.
    “Murder!” shouted Mark Tidemore. “What murder? The coroner ruled death due to heart failure.”
    “At least, there wasn’t any mention of ghosts,” noted Jim Purdue.
    “Jim, we’ve got to find a way to squelch this murder business.”
    “It doesn’t help that your brother-in-law saw somebody in the window of that old house,” sighed Jim Purdue. “That fuels the claim of Maisie Daniels that her son was frightened to death by a ghost.”
    “Not to mention the babblings of her psychic, Madam Blatvia.”
    “Forget that old charlatan. You need to get Freddie to withdraw his statement about seeing somebody in the Beasley house.”
    “But he did see somebody. And you arrested the guy, Moose Johansson. A trespasser, for god’s sakes. Not a ghost.”
    “Don’t know if we can make it stick that Johansson was the guy Freddie saw. Both Morris Hickensmith and his sister Myrtle give him an alibi. They swear he was at the pizza parlor that whole afternoon.”
    “Hickensmith’s not a credible witness. You just arrested him for the Savings & Loan robbery, for God’s sake. And his sister has a record for shoplifting – you said so yourself.”
    “Still, Freddie can’t positively ID that face in the window as Moose Johansson. So we’re back to a ghost.”
    “Don’t say that, Jim. The Beasley Arms project will never get off the ground unless we silence this stupid ghost business. Not even poor folks – uh, I mean low-income citizens – want to live in a haunted house.”
    “Can’t say I’d move into an apartment there.”
    “I thought you didn’t believe in the supernatural, a hard-nosed cop like you.”
    “Don’t. But anybody can get spooked.”
     

 
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    All Purpose Doctor
     
     
    “W ell, well, well. To what do I owe this visit, Maddy?” clucked Doc Medford. A local physician, he also doubled as coroner. With his office located next door to the Yost & Yost Mortuary, he got a lot of ribbing about the effectiveness of his medical practice. But the funeral home provided storage for any corpses under investigation by Doc when wearing his coroner’s hat.
    If there were any questions about Doc, a sign on his door told all: FRANKLIN D. MEDFORD, MD . Underneath was listed GENERAL PRACTITIONER . Then, ONCOLOGY AND RADIOLOGY . Below that, PODIATRY AND REFLEXOLOGY . And finally, COUNTY CORONER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST . He was literally a one-man medical center.
    “Hi Doc, I wonder if you’d be willing to talk with me about Skookie Daniels?” Maddy broached the subject straight-out. She wasn’t the type to beat around the bush.
    He smiled. “So the Quilters Club is looking for a ghost, eh?”
    “Just the opposite,” she replied firmly. “If anything frightened Skookie, I’m sure it was something – or someone – of this earth.”
    “So you think he was scared to death?” He ran his fingers through his snowy hair, an impatient habit. He had a busy