Read Online 7 Madness in Miniature by Margaret Grace - Free Book Online Page A

outside, I asked myself, ‘Who could possibly be visiting my aunt at this hour, if not a suspect in my case?’ ” he said.
    “How can you say that?”
    “Because you’re, like, the Lincoln Point Guide to Everything and Everyone. You’re at most one degree of separation from anyone in town. More sought after than the mayor probably.”
    “It’s my connection to you that sends everyone my way,” I said. “I’m the go-to person for anything that involves the police or might involve the police.”
    Ignoring my disclaimer, Skip went on. “So I thought, ‘Here’s my chance.’ I wanted to get as much as I could out of whoever was visiting you before they knew that we knew we had a murder on our hands.”
    “You didn’t have to be rude to her.”
    “I wasn’t that rude. You have to admit, Catherine Duncan is a good candidate. Employee, former lover.”
    “You know that already? You work fast.”
    He stood briefly and took a bow. “Glad you noticed.”
    “How do you know for sure it was murder?” I asked.
    “I’ll explain later. After all you’re a suspect, too”—he was saved by his grin—“but for now, I’d like your take on the principals, the people meeting in that back room.”
    Teasing aside, I knew I’d soon be giving my statement, along with everyone else who was connected to Craig Palmer, especially on the day of his murder.
    I reviewed what I knew for Skip. There had been three meetings that I knew of—first, the one in the store, with Catherine, Bebe, and Maisie, then the impromptu Sadie’s meeting, and finally, the late afternoon meeting among only the SuperKrafts employees. I assumed Skip was most interested in the last one, the gathering that seemed to have ended in murder.
    “But I wasn’t at the three o’clock meeting, so all I know is what Catherine told me,” I said.
    “Understood.” He reached for his fifth or sixth cookie and though I didn’t ask why, he offered a defense. “They’re smaller than usual, Aunt Gerry,” he said, then, “Go for it. Just give me a rundown on whatever you know about the meetings.”
    It had occurred to me while Skip was badgering my guest that Catherine didn’t mention the argument that had erupted at the final meeting with Craig Palmer, nor the fight she and Craig had over their relationship. I could understand why she wouldn’t want to share the details, since at first she didn’t think of herself as being formally questioned by the police in my atrium. But I decided I’d be sorry if I didn’t dump everything I knew onto Skip, right now. I told him what I knew about Leo’s wanting to go back to New York to claim a possible promotion, and Craig and Megan’s wanting him to stay in Lincoln Point for the rest of the year. Maybe to thwart Leo’s upgrade, maybe for some other reason. I ended by making light of a possible ex-lovers’ quarrel sometime during a break in the three o’clock meeting.
    “As far as all the career maneuvers, I don’t know how much clout Craig had, but I gathered it was significant enough to cause stress among them,” I added.
    “That much trouble in a crafts store?” he asked.
    “Politics,” I said. “It’s everywhere. Except in the Lincoln Point Police Department, which I suppose runs on brotherly love.” Skip pretended to gag. “There’s also the local front,” I said, taking a big gulp of air.
    I hated to speak ill of my neighbors, and surely wouldn’t have if I’d been talking to any other officer of the law. The fact that I was telling my nephew made it different somehow. Skip was thoroughly honest and dedicated not only to his job but also to the citizens of his hometown. I knew he would use the information carefully. Skip was a modest guy in spite of his meteoric (my word) rise in the ranks of the LPPD, the youngest homicide detective in the squad. So what if he used “Hail to the Chief” as the ring tone on his cell phone.
    “There’s something else,” I began. “About that earlier