Read Online Big Easy Murder (The Peyton Clark Series Book 3) by H. P. Mallory - Free Book Online Page A

amount.”
    Coincidentally, it was the same location where I’d had the misfortune of my first encounter with Guarda. For some reason, I found it quite interesting to know she’d lived in the same place for nearly sixty years. I was also more than convinced that the “undisclosed dollar amount” was merely covering the fact that Peter gave the property to Guarda, although I was convinced he hadn’t done so out of his abundant generosity.
    Tres bien, very good, ma minette, Drake congratulated me.
    Even I felt like patting myself on the back.

SEVEN
    It wasn’t an easy decision, but I eventually opted to come clean with Peter regarding Adele’s death. Well, at least, most of it. I didn’t think it was fair to keep the information to myself, but at the same time, I also didn’t want to burden him with the intimate details. I had no idea how he might handle the information.
    “What do you remember about Adele’s … passing?” I asked him. We were sitting at the breakfast table in my kitchen and snacking on finger sandwiches while drinking mint juleps. When it came to Southern hospitality, I was still trying very hard, but not too sure how well I was doing. The mint julep tasted a little too heavy on the mint …
    For this meeting with Peter, I requested that Ryan and Lovie not be in attendance. I imagined Peter would probably prefer to hear the difficult information alone, without a crowd. I know I would have. I’d even opted to shut Drake out of the conversation in deference to Peter.
    “I’m not entirely sure if it’s due to the passing of so many years that my memory seems clouded, or perhaps it’s the body’s way of releasing painful memories; however, I must admit I cannot recall very much.” He shook his head with a heartfelt sigh before taking another bite from his half-eaten sandwich. I could tell by the vacant expression in his eyes that he wasn’t tasting it.
    “Do you remember anything ?” I asked with another sip of my mint julep. I made a mental note to check the recipe again. Something just tasted off … Although Peter seemed to like it, so what did I know?
    “There are several particulars that come to mind,” he started before looking off into the distance at something beyond my head. He was quiet for another few seconds, and when he finally spoke again, his low voice sounded oddly loud in the otherwise quiet room. “I remember wakin’ up in my bed an’ not feelin’ like myself,” he started. However, the words died on his tongue. He took another sip of his julep and continued. “It might seem strange to you, as it certainly does to me, but the memory that stands out the most is the intensity of the headache I felt upon wakin’. Thinkin’ back on it, I can almost feel the pain again, as if it never left me. It felt like my head got broken into pieces.”
    I wasn’t sure if that was par for the course when being put under the spell of voodoo magic, but I guessed it could have been. “When you woke up, were you alone?” I asked.
    He nodded at first, but seemed to think better of it and then shook his head. “I thought I was alone. Adele wasn’t in the bed beside me, but when I woke up …” He paused again and closed his eyes as if he were trying to extract the memories from the corners of his mind. “I stood up, and that was when I saw her,” he said. Opening his eyes, he focused on me. It was all I could do to hold his gaze because the pain I saw in his eyes was almost palpable. “She was in the fetal position, crumpled up in the corner of the room.”
    “Do you remember what was she wearing?”
    “I will never forget it,” he answered with a wistful sigh. “It was the same white dress she always wore to Sunday morning breakfast,” he finished, and a sweet, melancholic smile curved his lips. I nodded as I took a deep breath and remembered looking down at myself while I was in the visionary state. I could suddenly recall the eyelet fringe on the white dress I was