Read Online A Zen For Murder (Mooseamuck Island Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) by Leighann Dobbs - Free Book Online

then Velma's laughter stopped abruptly as her eyes moved to something just beyond Dom's shoulder.  
    Dom turned around, his stomach sinking when he saw Zambuco standing behind him.
    “Well, isn’t this nice.” Zambuco nodded at Velma and Hazel, then narrowed his eyes at Dom.
    Dom smiled. “Detective Zambuco, it’s so nice to see you. What brings you here?”
    Zambuco plopped down, uninvited, in a rocker. “Probably the same thing that brought you here.”
    “Me? I was just drinking lemonade and chatting with Velma and Hazel.”
    “Uh-huh.” Zambuco eyed the three of them suspiciously.
    “Ginger snap?” Velma handed the plate to Zambuco.
    “Don’t mind if I do.” Zambuco grabbed a cookie from the plate with his giant hands and bit into it, crumbs falling on his shirt, and Dom guessed he either didn’t notice or didn’t care since he made no move to wipe them away.
    “Now, Hazel, where are our manners. Let’s get the detective a lemonade,” Velma twittered.
    “Lots of ice, please,” Zambuco called after Velma, who had immediately sprinted for the front door.
    The three of them were silent while they waited for Velma. Dom listened to the seagulls while Zambuco’s thick fingers tapped a rhythm on the arm of his chair.
    Velma returned with the drink. Zambuco looked at it and nodded.  
    “Thanks,” he said, then chugged down most of it.
    “Now, what can we do for you, Detective?” Hazel’s keen eyes watched Zambuco as he bit into another cookie.
    “Well, if you haven’t given all the good information to Benedetti, I’d like to know what you can tell me about Zoila Rivers.”
    “Oh, we don’t know much. Like we told Dom, we go there every Tuesday to talk to Velma’s daddy about business matters.”
    “Velma’s daddy?” Zambuco scrunched his face up. “He’s still alive? And what was he doing at Zoila’s?”
    Velma laughed and swatted at Zambuco’s arm. “No, silly, she channeled him. We talked to his spirit.”
    “Oh.” Zambuco gave Dom a sideways look and rolled his eyes, as if he was wondering if the two elderly women were nuts and whether or not he should trust any information he got from them.
    Dom simply shrugged.
    “And what was her demeanor?” Zambuco continued.
    “She seemed fine. Same as always,” Hazel said.
    “Well, she did have a hard time channeling, like we were telling Dom,” Velma added.
    Hazel nodded. “Thats right. Said her energy was a little off.”
    “But then, Daddy came through and told us to think about running a clambake on the first Sunday of the month.” Velma turned to Dom. “What do you think about that?”
    “That sounds like a fine idea.” Dom took a sip of his lemonade. He was down to the bottom of the glass—the best part, where all the sugar was.
    “We could serve steamers and corn, and—“
    “Ahem.” Zambuco cut Hazel off. “Did she mention anything in particular that was bothering her?”
    Velma and Hazel both shook their heads. “Nope.”
    “She didn’t mention having a disagreement or argument with anyone?”
    Velma’s forehead creased. “She didn’t mention anything yesterday when we saw her … but she did have a fight with someone this morning.”
    “She did?” Both Dom and Zambuco leaned forward, their attention focused on Velma.
    “Velma!” Hazel said sharply.
    Velma looked stricken. “Oh, dear … I guess I shouldn’t have blurted that out.”
    “Who did she have the fight with?” Zambuco asked.
    Velma chewed her bottom lip, her eyes going from Hazel to Dom to Zambuco. “I can’t say. I mean, I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea about the person she fought with.”
    “Well, now you have to tell me,” Zambuco said. “Otherwise, it would be considered withholding information and there might be dire consequences.”
    Velma’s eyes widened. “You mean I could go to jail?”
    “You won’t have to go to jail,” a voice cut in from the porch steps and Dom turned to see Claire Watkins. “And Zambuco