Read Online A Most Unpleasant Wedding by Judith Alguire - Free Book Online

Sometime after midnight. Perhaps later. I didn’t look at my watch.”
    â€œCould it have been a horse?”
    Rudley threw up his hands. “It could have been a zebra for all I know. It was dark. I woke from a sound sleep. I assumed it was a deer because there are quite a few up in the woods.”
    â€œOK,” Brisbois murmured. “Did you hear anything else?”
    â€œThere was one thing or another scuttling around all night.”
    Brisbois waited, pen poised. “Do you know what time?”
    â€œNo. I was drifting in and out half the night.”
    â€œAnything that sounded like voices? Somebody having an argument?”
    â€œNo, nothing like that.”
    â€œOK, you tripped over the stump. You saw the woman’s body. What did you do next?”
    â€œI went to find Margaret.”
    â€œDid you move her? Check her pulse?”
    â€œNo. I could tell she was as dead as a doornail.”
    Brisbois raised his eyebrows. “Tim checked her pulse. I guess he wasn’t as sure as you were.”
    Rudley glared.
    â€œI know, I know,” said Brisbois. “You’ve had more experience.”
    Brisbois spread a set of index cards out on the desk, studied them for a few minutes. “So what do we have here?”
    Creighton ran a hand through his hair. “The children were sleeping all snug in their beds. Ma and Pa were in a tent in the woods. Nobody saw or heard anything, except Geraldine Phipps-Walker, who heard a nighthawk. Which is not a true hawk, mind you, but a member of the nightjar family.”
    â€œSpare me.”
    â€œJust being thorough, Boss.”
    Brisbois shook his head, picked up an index card. “Norman Phipps-Walker and Mr. Tee Lawrence took a night fishing charter from the dock in Middleton. Lloyd drove them in and picked them up near eleven. Norman went straight to his room — where I’m sure his wife entertained him with details of that nightjar thing. Lawrence went to his cabin. Neither of them noticed anything unusual. Mr. James Bole was up at the inn until nearly eleven. He took part in a games night and put on a puppet show. Waiting for Godot .” He frowned. “What in hell is that?”
    â€œBeats me.”
    â€œThe Sawchucks took part in the Snakes and Ladders tournament. They went to bed around ten. Neither of them saw or heard anything.” Brisbois put the card aside, picked up another. “Mr. Carty. Who’s that again?”
    â€œRico. The young guy at the Oaks.”
    â€œOh, yeah. He had dinner, spent the evening in his cabin, watching the Blue Jays game. Turned out the lights as soon as the game was over. Kind of early for a young kid.”
    â€œHe said he’d been working a lot of overtime.”
    Brisbois rubbed his chin. “Still, seems kind of funny. Young guy, works at the racetrack in Ottawa, takes classes at Carleton. I wonder where he got the money to come here.”
    â€œMaybe from all that overtime.”
    Brisbois shrugged. “Still, seems like a funny place for a young guy to take a vacation. You’d think if he wanted to fish, he’d get a bunch of his buddies and go camping.”
    â€œIs that what you did when you were his age?”
    â€œI was married when I was his age. Mary and I went to Niagara Falls. We went down east the next couple of years. Then we had a baby on the way. Then we had four. Neither of us has had a real vacation since.” Brisbois wrote a note on the index card, put it aside. “Where’d you go on your last trip? Myrtle Beach, wasn’t it?”
    â€œYup.”
    â€œMiss Miller and Mr. Simpson,” said Brisbois, drawing out another card.
    Creighton chuckled. “Miss Miller’s been kind of quiet so far. Seems strange not having her in the middle of everything. Although, I’m sure she will be.”
    â€œAlthough I’m sure she will be,” Brisbois murmured. “Miss Miller and Mr. Simpson were at the