Read Online Dead Ends (Main Street Mysteries Book 2) by Sandra Balzo - Free Book Online Page B

name. ‘Fine, Sutherton Spa. Did she keep that appointment?’
    ‘She did, though she arrived a few minutes late for her three-thirty, according to Joy.’
    ‘Joy?’ AnnaLise sensed an opportunity to turn the conversation from what she might know about the Rosewoods to something more mundane. ‘I heard just last night she owns the place, but is she actually working up there now?’
    Chuck seemed to accept the deflection. ‘Honestly, Lise, it's tough to know just what Joy is doing. Or intends to do. I never knew her when she was married to your daddy, but – ’ He eyed her.
    ‘Don't mess with me, Chuck,’ she warned. ‘I know where all your skeletons are buried, too.’
    ‘My only skeleton was being gay and that one was stuck in the closet, not buried.’
    ‘Not anymore,’ AnnaLise said, happy that her friend was content, but a little sad for herself. Why did the best-looking, nicest guys have to be gay? Though it did make her feel a mite better about the wheel-spinning in their relationship. At the time, she'd thought it was her and her desire to leave Sutherton, see the world, all that rot.
    Now, she realized, the wavering was on both sides.
    ‘But you're right about Joy being full of ideas,’ AnnaLise went on. ‘I would think, though, that it's a graveyard up there before ski season.'
    ‘Hence her interest in a second location in Hart's Landing.’
    It made sense, AnnaLise guessed. Life in their part of the High Country revolved around the lake in summer and the mountain in the winter. Joy could allocate staff seasonally between the two, depending on demand.
    But back to directing the subject at hand: ‘So, Joy saw Mrs Rosewood when she arrive at the spa?’
    ‘Unfortunately.’
    AnnaLise cocked her head. ‘Why unfortunately? At least you know Tanja was driving down the mountain – instead of up – when the accident happened. Though I suppose that's most often the case. People gaining speed and taking the curves too fast.’
    ‘True. Though very occasionally you'll come across your over-achiever who tempts disaster on the way up as well.’
    ‘Meaning me, I suppose.’
    ‘If the lead foot fits, Lise.’
    AnnaLise didn't bother going into the role her mother's shortcut played in the fiasco. God knows AnnaLise's panic had an equally important part.
    ‘. . . liability for Joy and the spa,’ Chuck was saying.
    ‘I'm sorry?’
    The chief shook his head. ‘You know, if you're going to come all the way to my office to pump me for information, the least you can do is pay attention.’
    Chuck knew her too well, AnnaLise thought ruefully. ‘It was only a short walk. You were saying?’
    He leaned forward. ‘I was saying that while Mrs Rosewood may have been speeding, that's likely the secondary cause of the accident. Preliminary reports show her blood-alcohol levels were over the legal limit.’
    Ben had mentioned his wife's love of the grape over pillow talk one night. A riff on the prototypical cheating husband's ‘she doesn't understand me,’ no doubt. Still, it could well be true – not that AnnaLise had any intention of sharing this tidbit with Chuck after the seat belt comment sparked such interest.
    The police chief could – and certainly would – interrogate Ben on the subject of his wife's drinking.
    ‘But what does that have to do with Joy and the spa?’ AnnaLise asked.
    Another overhead stretch from Chuck. ‘Seems that when Mrs Rosewood arrived late for her appointment, Joy offered her a glass of wine while she waited for the next opening.’
    ‘That's not unusual in a spa or upscale salon,’ AnnaLise said. ‘Besides, a single glass shouldn't have made her drunk. Presumably, Tanja had eaten lunch at Mama's before she left for her appointment.’
    Chuck shrugged. ‘People were coming and going and the bottles were opened and left in the waiting area, so we can't be sure how much Mrs Rosewood ultimately drank there. We do know, though, that an open bottle of wine was recovered from