Free Death By Derby 8 (Josiah Reynolds Mysteries) by Abigail Keam Page A

sensation during the hearings due to her looks and testimony. The media really played her up as some sort of savior for the agency. Then drugs were found in Asa’s car. If I remember correctly, the police said someone called in a tip.”
    I nodded. “Yes, and due to the amount of drugs found, she was charged with a felony. That’s when all hell broke loose. Someone was out to discredit Asa and ruin her life.”
    Franklin had finished his sandwich and leaned back in his chair. “You think her husband planted those drugs in her car?”
    I spat out the words, “Asa had only been married to Minor for less than a year. Minor was a company man all the way and did not agree with Asa blowing the whistle.
    “As soon as Asa was arrested, he deserted her. She did not see him again until he testified against her at the trial.”
    “I remember watching it.”
    “Yeah, wasn’t that great. Since Asa now had a huge profile with the public, the judge let the trial be televised. What a kangaroo court.”
    “But the beautiful Asa does not get convicted.”
    “Only because her fingerprints were not on the drugs. They were so stupid they didn’t even think of that.”
    “Who are they?”
    “The people she told on, the buddies of the fired guys, anyone with a grudge against women working in that field. Take your pick.”
    “I know what happened after that,” interrupted Franklin.
    “You mortgage the Butterfly up to the hilt to pay for Asa’s legal fees, you quit your job due to all the snickering and politics at work, start raising honeybees. Brannon keeps it a secret that he sold his share of his business and hides the money only to leave you for a woman young enough to be his daughter. Asa recoups and starts her own security firm while you refuse to divorce Brannon if he doesn’t cough up some dough. Meanwhile, you meet Matt, ergo me. Then Brannon has the bad taste to die of a heart attack, leaving you with no idea where all the money is, but you suspect the child mistress does. Last but not least, Richard Pidgeon dies in one of your hives, which causes an old grudge to surface in the form of the one and only Fred O’nan, who shoots Baby, me, and then eventually Matt in that order, and throws you over a cliff. Does that sum it up?”
    “Pretty much. What a soap opera,” I concurred.
    “All we need is some beer to cry into.”
    I laughed. “I don’t mean to be dramatic, but the last five years have been a bitch, to say the least.”
    Franklin laughed too. “At least you can say it hasn’t been boring.” He lifted his glass in salute. “But lady, you are still here to tell the tale,” boasted Franklin, tapping the table, “and so am I.”
    I clicked my glass with his. “To bitches everywhere, long may we reign!”

27
    “I have recounted my tale of woe,” I reminded him. “Now give up what you know.”
    “The entire thing was a set-up.”
    “What do you mean, Franklin?”
    “I went back into the office and pumped one of the security guards. Always talk to the people low on the totem pole. The big shots will hide things to cover their fannies, but the poorly paid will always cough up the truth, especially when they see a Ulysses S. Grant.”
    “What did he say?”
    “ She said that Charlie came with a new crew to help him get his balloon in position.”
    “So she had never seen them before?”
    “Correctamundo! And she said the gondola had been modified.”
    “In what way?”
    “There were tubes on the underside of the gondola and Charlie was very anxious about them.”
    “Anxious how?”
    “He was yelling at the new crew not to damage them.”
    “Did she know what they were?”
    “She thought they looked like some sort of a propellant.”
    “Did anyone in the office know of the flight plan?”
    “According to the lovely lady in the hideous security uniform, the balloon was to head north toward the river. It was never to approach Churchill Downs,” reported Franklin.
    I thought for a moment. “None