Read Online Bonnie of Evidence by Maddy Hunter - Free Book Online

nepotism!”
    Dick Teig shot her “the look.” “We heard you the first time, Bernice. We’re ignoring you.”
    Ignore Bernice? Damn. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
    Returning reluctantly to the business at hand, Mom picked up where she’d left off, at warp speed, in one long breath. “Teams- TwoThreeandFourfoundthethingtoo. Goodjob. We’redonehere.” She slammed down the cover of her laptop and scooped up the magazines, cradling them in her arms while she shuffled through them.
    Mumbling. Confused looks. Blank expressions.
    “What’d she say?” asked Stella Gordon.
    “She said everyone found the cache,” Dad explained from behind the viewfinder of his camcorder.
    “She’s lying!” Isobel Kronk hammered her fists on the table as she sprang from her chair, frothing with outrage. “None of you found it. You couldn’t have!”
    “My team sure found it,” argued Dick Stolee.
    “Did not,” countered Isobel.
    “Did so,” challenged Dick Teig.
    Boos. Shouting. Cat calls.
    I let out my signature whistle, sending hands flying upward to muffle distressed ears. When the room was quiet again, I nodded. “Thank you.” I leveled a look at Isobel. “Would you mind telling us why you think no team other than yours found the cache?”
    “Sure,” Isobel said without apology. “Because I took it.”

five
    “YOU WHAT?” Dolly Pinker shot to her feet, hands on hips, condemnation in her voice. “Oh, my God. You cheated ?”
    “It wasn’t cheating,” Isobel defended. “It was a simple maneuver to level the playing field.”
    “In Iowa we call that cheating,” said Dick Teig.
    “In Wisconsin they call it the gubernatorial agenda,” said Osmond.
    “Don’t you dare give me any grief,” Isobel fired back at Dolly. “I did it for the team. Our team. Remember? The one you wanted to desert after we got screwed out of our first find because of her ?” She stabbed a menacing finger at Bernice. “How else are we supposed to stay in the hunt?”
    “By playing by the rules,” Cameron announced flatly.
    “Bull!” Using her finger as a gavel, Isobel pounded out her points on the table in front of Cameron. “Don’t give me rules. Do mortgage companies play by the rules? Do politicians play by t he rules? No! No one plays by the rules anymore, so spare me the sanctimonious lectures. Stretching the rules is what it’s about these days.”
    “I’ve heard enough.” Dolly fell back into her chair. “She’s off the team.”
    “I’m not aware that anyone died and put you in charge,” Isobel challenged.
    I guessed this was where I should step in. Great.
    “Okay, then,” I said as I clasped my hands in a gesture meant to evoke the wisdom of King Solomon. Not everyone would make the connection, but I figured it looked more self-assured than scratching my head. “ Uhh … we’ve kept the rules of the contest deliberately simple to avoid confusion, and to be perfectly honest, we never thought to write up a contest manual because we never expected anyone to … uhh … modify the existing rules.”
    “They never expected anyone to cheat, ” Bernice translated.
    “So this will be a test case,” I continued, directing a look at Bernice that cautioned her to “zip it.” “I’ll have to explain the circumstances to my husband and Wally, and then the three of us will have to decide what we should do about the situation, if anything.”
    “I think she should be booted off our team,” Lucille Rassmuson piped up.
    “To hell with that!” fumed Bill Gordon. “The entire team should be booted. No contest for them.”
    “Don’t even think it,” Dolly warned. “The four honest members of our team don’t deserve to be punished for the flagrant rule violation by one dishonest member. Isobel needs to take a hike, but if you try to come after the rest of us, I’ll be making an overseas call to my lawyer. Our government has rules prohibiting discrimination. In case you weren’t aware, it’s