Read Online Book Club Bloodshed by Brianna Bates - Free Book Online
Authors: Brianna Bates
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Club.
As she wrote their names, she realized she had basically identified everybody that had a grudge against Anne Baxter, before the woman had even died. She had been trying to cheer Ruby the librarian up, assuring her that a few people didn’t like Anne and that the woman was probably not long for the Book Club. As it turned out, Missy had been right.
She crossed Noreen’s, Ruby’s, Alison’s, and Gloria’s names off the list. She knew in her heart of hearts, no matter what the preliminary evidence suggested, that Noreen hadn’t killed Anne. Gloria Campbell was Anne’s only close friend in the Book Club. And Missy just couldn’t think of a reason why Ruby Kellogg would kill Anne. The younger woman was a rather timid librarian and had never said a mean thing to anybody as far as Missy knew.
Alison Breckmyer was relatively new to town and barely knew any of them, let alone Anne Baxter enough to kill her. Alison came from Delaware so Missy doubted there was a past connection to Alison she didn’t know about. If there had been, it would have come up by now in conversation at the Book Club.
Still, for all Missy knew about the woman, she could have been a sociopath. She didn’t really know her at all. It wasn’t a good idea to be so dismissive of her as a suspect.
She rewrote Alison’s name under the others. Better to keep her on the list.
That left three people other than the anonymous cop.
Ellen Stein.
Trudy Shaw.
Kylie Thompson.
Missy went through one by one in detail.
Ellen Stein’s long-term fiancé, Marco, had gotten cold feet and called off the wedding. Not more than two weeks later, he was spotted out with Anne Baxter at Carney’s of all places. And pretty soon, Marco and Anne had tied the knot. That marriage had lasted all of two minutes. Nobody knew for sure that Marco had cheated on Ellen with Anne, but anybody with half a brain would have suspected it. Though that was pretty horrible of Anne, it had been many years ago. As a matter of fact, she’d once overheard Ellen and Anne joking about Marco, and Ellen hadn’t felt strongly enough to object to Anne’s participation in the Book Club. Still, though, it was motive so it needed to be checked out.
Kylie Thompson’s hapless but sweet brother, Robert, had never been able to hold onto a job mainly due to his drinking. Robert had finally gotten the help he needed last year and had been on the wagon ever since. He’d managed to keep his act together long enough to land a job working in the deli of the main grocery store that Anne’s family owned, right in the center of town. Robert had been a good employee but from what Missy had heard, just didn’t get along with one of the managers at the store. The guy wasn’t even his boss, but he’d reported Robert for drinking on the job. Accounts differed as to whether this was true or not, so Missy had no idea. Facing a he-said, he-said situation, Anne had sided with the manager who’d been working for her family for twenty years, trusting him over Robert who was more likely to have had a drink than not, truth be told. By the time Robert was let go, the Book Club had been going strong for a year and Anne was already part of it. Kylie didn’t make a stink about Anne still being a member and had decided to keep coming herself.
And last, and probably least, there was Trudy Shaw.
Trudy Shaw and her husband had decided a few years ago to leave their jobs and start flipping houses. Missy envied their entrepreneurial spirit, though she was way too risk adverse to think of quitting Books and Crannies and putting all her eggs into the one temperamental basket of real estate. She flipped much smaller things—mostly old furniture that she refurbished—at flea markets. Sure, the profit was much smaller, only a few hundred here and there. But Missy never had to worry about going into debt. Then again, she only had a few thousand dollars in her savings account at any given time (she just never seemed to get
As she wrote their names, she realized she had basically identified everybody that had a grudge against Anne Baxter, before the woman had even died. She had been trying to cheer Ruby the librarian up, assuring her that a few people didn’t like Anne and that the woman was probably not long for the Book Club. As it turned out, Missy had been right.
She crossed Noreen’s, Ruby’s, Alison’s, and Gloria’s names off the list. She knew in her heart of hearts, no matter what the preliminary evidence suggested, that Noreen hadn’t killed Anne. Gloria Campbell was Anne’s only close friend in the Book Club. And Missy just couldn’t think of a reason why Ruby Kellogg would kill Anne. The younger woman was a rather timid librarian and had never said a mean thing to anybody as far as Missy knew.
Alison Breckmyer was relatively new to town and barely knew any of them, let alone Anne Baxter enough to kill her. Alison came from Delaware so Missy doubted there was a past connection to Alison she didn’t know about. If there had been, it would have come up by now in conversation at the Book Club.
Still, for all Missy knew about the woman, she could have been a sociopath. She didn’t really know her at all. It wasn’t a good idea to be so dismissive of her as a suspect.
She rewrote Alison’s name under the others. Better to keep her on the list.
That left three people other than the anonymous cop.
Ellen Stein.
Trudy Shaw.
Kylie Thompson.
Missy went through one by one in detail.
Ellen Stein’s long-term fiancé, Marco, had gotten cold feet and called off the wedding. Not more than two weeks later, he was spotted out with Anne Baxter at Carney’s of all places. And pretty soon, Marco and Anne had tied the knot. That marriage had lasted all of two minutes. Nobody knew for sure that Marco had cheated on Ellen with Anne, but anybody with half a brain would have suspected it. Though that was pretty horrible of Anne, it had been many years ago. As a matter of fact, she’d once overheard Ellen and Anne joking about Marco, and Ellen hadn’t felt strongly enough to object to Anne’s participation in the Book Club. Still, though, it was motive so it needed to be checked out.
Kylie Thompson’s hapless but sweet brother, Robert, had never been able to hold onto a job mainly due to his drinking. Robert had finally gotten the help he needed last year and had been on the wagon ever since. He’d managed to keep his act together long enough to land a job working in the deli of the main grocery store that Anne’s family owned, right in the center of town. Robert had been a good employee but from what Missy had heard, just didn’t get along with one of the managers at the store. The guy wasn’t even his boss, but he’d reported Robert for drinking on the job. Accounts differed as to whether this was true or not, so Missy had no idea. Facing a he-said, he-said situation, Anne had sided with the manager who’d been working for her family for twenty years, trusting him over Robert who was more likely to have had a drink than not, truth be told. By the time Robert was let go, the Book Club had been going strong for a year and Anne was already part of it. Kylie didn’t make a stink about Anne still being a member and had decided to keep coming herself.
And last, and probably least, there was Trudy Shaw.
Trudy Shaw and her husband had decided a few years ago to leave their jobs and start flipping houses. Missy envied their entrepreneurial spirit, though she was way too risk adverse to think of quitting Books and Crannies and putting all her eggs into the one temperamental basket of real estate. She flipped much smaller things—mostly old furniture that she refurbished—at flea markets. Sure, the profit was much smaller, only a few hundred here and there. But Missy never had to worry about going into debt. Then again, she only had a few thousand dollars in her savings account at any given time (she just never seemed to get
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