Read Online Bernadine Fagan - Nora Lassiter 02 - Murder in the Maine Woods by Bernadine Fagan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bernadine Fagan
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came a little faster and I felt heat suffuse my face. This was ridiculous. I needed to do something, break the spell.
Pull back, Nora. Pull back.
My mouth actually went dry. I cleared my throat which didn’t need clearing, swallowed dryness, and finally managed to speak.
“I guess you searched Vivian’s house when you arrested her?”
Smiling, he nodded, as if to say well-done. He released my hand and pulled back.
“I did,” he said as he stood up.
We spoke over the top of his vehicle. “You find weapons?” I asked.
“Her deceased husband’s rifle and a handgun.”
“If she wanted to kill Buster, wouldn’t she have used those?”
He shrugged. “It would be too obvious. Guns can be traced.”
“Good thing she wasn’t so obvious as to drop a teacup with poison residue and her fingerprints on it. Oh, wait. She did that, didn’t she?”
Nick grinned.
Clearly impatient, Arianna said, “Nick, I really need to be going. If you’re finished here?”
“I still had to arrest her, Nora.” He glanced back at the house. “I’ll pick up her computer while I’m here. It’s one of those small ones that fits in a purse, an iPad. The guys missed it when she was brought in. I’ll be right back.”
Then he turned and called, “Can you come by the station house Tuesday when the tech guy is there?
“Will do,” I answered, pleased.
When he was out of earshot, Arianna said in a voice devoid of its former sweetness and gentleness, “I know you’re leaving town soon which is good because I’m sure you realize he just said that to be polite.”
“You think so?”
Here it comes, I thought.
“This is police business. Common sense should tell you to keep out of it. Your choice of the word us was truly revealing and extremely presumptuous. Back off, Nora.”
I stood still and silent for several seconds, processing her blatant disapproval, feeling a little like I’d been kicked, something I hadn’t felt since I’d found my fiancé in the shower with the bimbo.
I was past the point in my life when I let people talk to me like this, even the mother of someone I liked and admired. No one who attended the high school in the Bronx that I attended graduated without taking Handling Insults 101. It was an unlisted degree requirement.
I leaned over and put my head in the open window, close enough to Arianna’s face to make her pull back.
“He’s a big boy, Mamma Renzo, capable of speaking for himself and advancing on his own, if that’s what this is all about. He doesn’t need you threatening me or trying to intimidate me. I don’t take orders from you. So you back off.”
I turned and walked away.
NINE
I slammed the back door when I got home. I didn’t mean to slam it quite so loud, but I was too angry to care.
“What’s the matter?” Great-Aunt Ida called from the front room, her voice a bit higher than normal.
I removed the clunky old boots, tossed them next to the garbage, and stormed through the kitchen, hardly noticing the wonderful aroma of apple pie baking in the oven.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to alarm you,” I said as soon as I saw her startled face. “This has been a crappy day, and I mean that literally and figuratively. Feeding those crazy dogs. Falling in dog poop.”
I plopped down on the hassock in front of her chair as she set her mystery novel aside, concern etched on her face.
“You fell in dog poop?” She actually chuckled. She removed her reading glasses and sniffed in my direction. “Where did you get those clothes? They look familiar.”
“Ay-uh,” I said, using the Maine version of yes for the first time since I was a little kid, emphasizing the Maine accent. “Doesn’t surprise me. Aunt Ida, the day was worse than awful. I met Nick’s mother.”
“Oh, dear. Arianna. That would get you worked up, I’d say. What happened?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Okay.”
I gave a big theatrical sigh. “She hates me. I hate it when
Pull back, Nora. Pull back.
My mouth actually went dry. I cleared my throat which didn’t need clearing, swallowed dryness, and finally managed to speak.
“I guess you searched Vivian’s house when you arrested her?”
Smiling, he nodded, as if to say well-done. He released my hand and pulled back.
“I did,” he said as he stood up.
We spoke over the top of his vehicle. “You find weapons?” I asked.
“Her deceased husband’s rifle and a handgun.”
“If she wanted to kill Buster, wouldn’t she have used those?”
He shrugged. “It would be too obvious. Guns can be traced.”
“Good thing she wasn’t so obvious as to drop a teacup with poison residue and her fingerprints on it. Oh, wait. She did that, didn’t she?”
Nick grinned.
Clearly impatient, Arianna said, “Nick, I really need to be going. If you’re finished here?”
“I still had to arrest her, Nora.” He glanced back at the house. “I’ll pick up her computer while I’m here. It’s one of those small ones that fits in a purse, an iPad. The guys missed it when she was brought in. I’ll be right back.”
Then he turned and called, “Can you come by the station house Tuesday when the tech guy is there?
“Will do,” I answered, pleased.
When he was out of earshot, Arianna said in a voice devoid of its former sweetness and gentleness, “I know you’re leaving town soon which is good because I’m sure you realize he just said that to be polite.”
“You think so?”
Here it comes, I thought.
“This is police business. Common sense should tell you to keep out of it. Your choice of the word us was truly revealing and extremely presumptuous. Back off, Nora.”
I stood still and silent for several seconds, processing her blatant disapproval, feeling a little like I’d been kicked, something I hadn’t felt since I’d found my fiancé in the shower with the bimbo.
I was past the point in my life when I let people talk to me like this, even the mother of someone I liked and admired. No one who attended the high school in the Bronx that I attended graduated without taking Handling Insults 101. It was an unlisted degree requirement.
I leaned over and put my head in the open window, close enough to Arianna’s face to make her pull back.
“He’s a big boy, Mamma Renzo, capable of speaking for himself and advancing on his own, if that’s what this is all about. He doesn’t need you threatening me or trying to intimidate me. I don’t take orders from you. So you back off.”
I turned and walked away.
NINE
I slammed the back door when I got home. I didn’t mean to slam it quite so loud, but I was too angry to care.
“What’s the matter?” Great-Aunt Ida called from the front room, her voice a bit higher than normal.
I removed the clunky old boots, tossed them next to the garbage, and stormed through the kitchen, hardly noticing the wonderful aroma of apple pie baking in the oven.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to alarm you,” I said as soon as I saw her startled face. “This has been a crappy day, and I mean that literally and figuratively. Feeding those crazy dogs. Falling in dog poop.”
I plopped down on the hassock in front of her chair as she set her mystery novel aside, concern etched on her face.
“You fell in dog poop?” She actually chuckled. She removed her reading glasses and sniffed in my direction. “Where did you get those clothes? They look familiar.”
“Ay-uh,” I said, using the Maine version of yes for the first time since I was a little kid, emphasizing the Maine accent. “Doesn’t surprise me. Aunt Ida, the day was worse than awful. I met Nick’s mother.”
“Oh, dear. Arianna. That would get you worked up, I’d say. What happened?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Okay.”
I gave a big theatrical sigh. “She hates me. I hate it when
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