Free Done to Death by Charles Atkins Page A

a fresh estate … is that gruesome? I mean I know the whole Antiques Roadshow , Hunger Games , Gilmore Girls thing is kind of morbid. I mean someone will bite, won’t they? What am I saying? They always do.’
    She spoke without pause. Ada wondered when the girl managed to catch her breath.
    â€˜And then we’ll need a casting call for the talent … you know, the dealers. We’ll want some real characters. But also eye candy ’cause, let’s face it, the demographics for these shows are women and gay guys. We need someone who’s going to look hot with their shirt off. You must know some of them. And Lil, I bet she knows loads of them. Maybe she could start chatting people up, letting them know we’re coming to town. Just think of the publicity for their businesses. They should both be full page. Is there a specialty paper, like something just for antique dealers we should target?’
    â€˜There’s the Auction and Antiques Weekly Trader ,’ Ada said, and she heard the clicking of a keyboard over the line.
    â€˜Fabulous! I’m on their website. Crap, their offices don’t open till nine. What about the paper where Lil works? That’s a daily, right? They should be open. How quickly can I get our ads in there?’
    Ada looked up as Lil came in with her mug of tea. ‘Lil, Melanie needs to ask you a few things.’ She took the tea and passed the phone. She mouthed ‘thank you’ and savored that first delicious sip.
    Fifteen minutes later, Lil hung up. ‘Oh my, is she on something?’
    Ada leaned back against her pillows, set the tea on the nightstand and grabbed her iPad. She opened her browser; the top item was Lenore’s murder. ‘It all feels so strange,’ she said, as she scrolled down.
    Lil perched on Ada’s side of the bed and looked on. ‘Do they have anyone in custody?’
    â€˜No, not that they’re saying.’ She tapped on a slide show of Lenore through the years. ‘I can’t get that image out of my head, seeing her on that stretcher. So raw …’ Ada looked at Lil and then leaned her head against her shoulder. ‘It’s all so short.’
    â€˜It is,’ Lil said, ‘one day you’re here and the next …’
    â€˜There’s a Poe poem called Lenore .’
    â€˜Lenore nevermore,’ Lil added.
    â€˜No, I think that was The Raven … still. So what exactly did Melanie want?’
    â€˜She’s bringing the circus to town,’ Lil said. ‘Are you sure you want to do this, Ada?’
    â€˜Honestly I don’t know what this is. All of that craziness yesterday − this could be a big thing, or nothing at all. And I’ve the sense it could go from one to the other in a heartbeat.’
    â€˜I got that too. The way that girl talked. Like she was planning a wedding overnight. It could all happen … or someone could get stood up at the altar.’
    â€˜They’re all so high-strung,’ Ada added. ‘I don’t think it’s just the shock of their boss being murdered. And what I don’t understand is how do they expect Lenore Park Productions to exist without Lenore at the helm? Isn’t she the de facto reason they have jobs?’
    â€˜Let’s look at their website,’ Lil suggested.
    Ada punched in the URL for her favorite search engine, tapped in ‘LPP’ and clicked on their hyperlink. The home page had a moving banner that switched from upcoming episodes of Lenore Says to the dozen or so shows the production company had running on major networks, plus several more on style and DIY channels. There was a tab for Lenore’s magazine − L − and links to pages and articles on everything from wine pairing, through buying foreclosed real estate, to ‘The Seven Secrets of Mind-blowing Oral Sex’.
    Lil clicked on that one.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ Ada asked, pulling her tablet