Read Online Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers - Free Book Online Page B

Maggie said she
didn’t have enemies in her card to you, remember?”
    I kept that question on the board. “Lillian,
everybody has people who don’t like them.”
    She couldn’t hide her smile as she asked,
“So who wants to kill you?”
    I really wished my aunt would take the whole
thing more seriously. “Come on, you know what I mean. Who knows
what someone else might take as an affront? I’m willing to bet both
of us have people who wouldn’t mind seeing us go.”
    Lillian nodded reluctantly. “I suppose
you’re right. Go ahead and put it down, but I’d be shocked if we
found anyone that fit that description for Maggie Blake.”
    I thought about Maggie’s death, and that led
to another line of questioning. As quickly as I could, I wrote,
“Where exactly was she when her car went off the road? Where was
she going? Where had she been?”
    Lillian must have been reading over my
shoulder. As soon as I finished, she said, “How about who saw her
last?”
    “ That’s good,” I said, “but
we’re missing something, a really important question.”
    “ What might that
be?”
    Instead of answering her, I wrote it down:
“Who had the most to gain from her death?”
    Lillian nodded. “That is the most important
question, isn’t it? Motive is critical here.”
    “ So how do we determine
that?” I asked.
    “ Probably by answering all
of the other questions first,” Lillian said.
    As she finished, the front door chimed. To
my delight, it wasn’t my brother, my sister or anyone else there to
hound me. It appeared that we had an actual customer visiting us at
Custom Card Creations. “I’m here to spend some serious money,” the
woman in her early forties announced as she waved a credit card in
the air. “Can one of you two help me?”
    “ Absolutely,” I said as I
turned to my aunt. “Lillian, why don’t you put the marker board in
back and we’ll work on it more later.”
    “ What about Maggie?” my aunt
asked as she reluctantly picked up the board.
    “ First and foremost, we have
to make a living,” I said.
    Our customer said, “If this is a bad time, I
can always go somewhere else.”
    “ Not at all,” I said as I
hurried to her. “Now what can I help you with?”
    “ I love greeting cards, and
I’ve got over a thousand dollars to spend today.” There was an
inescapable grin on her face as she said it, and for a moment she
looked more like she was nine years old.
    “ That sounds like you’re
exactly where you need to be, then,” I said. “Do you mind if I ask
if you won the lottery?”
    The woman’s smile was infectious. “Oh, no,
it’s much better than that. I just discovered that my husband spent
that much on a new set of golf clubs after promising me he wouldn’t
buy anything else this year. But he just had to have them, and the
bill came in this morning. Can you imagine that? Somehow he forgot
that I’m the one who writes the checks. Now he’s going to pay,
though.”
    I didn’t want to take advantage of this
woman, but I couldn’t afford to turn down a sale that large,
either. I knew I should keep my mouth shut, let her have her spree,
and celebrate the sale, but I couldn’t do it. “I’m thrilled to help
you, but all sales are final here, and I’m afraid you’ll regret
doing this later. Are you absolutely certain you want to do
this?”
    She laughed heartily. “My dear, thank you
for your thoughtfulness, but this is exactly what I want to do.
Don’t worry; we can afford it, trust me. Last week I bought a
hundred dollars’ worth of material for curtains and you’d have
thought I’d shot my husband when I told him. All the while, his new
clubs were in the garage, hidden safely away. We can afford it, and
I’ve always wanted to make my own cards. So can you help me or
not?”
    I grabbed a nearby buggy, one customers
rarely used but something I found helpful when I restocked the
shelves. “Oh yes, I can easily help you spend a thousand dollars
here.”
    The woman