Read Online Fleeced: A Regan Reilly Mystery by Carol Higgins Clark - Free Book Online

eggshells, an empty vitamin bottle, and an empty men’s cologne bottle. Most people put on their cologne in the bedroom, Regan mused.
    Regan shoved the can back under the sink and decided she desperately needed a cup of tea. She filled the kettle, then carefully reached in a cabinet for a cup and saucer. She located teabags in one of the ceramic canisters that had paintings of sheep on them. In the refrigerator was a carton of skim milk. It was the same brand she’d used that morning in her parents’ apartment. Somehow it seemed longer ago than that. I wonder how the crime convention is going, she thought. I would love to catch some of it.
    Her hot tea in hand, she sat down at the counter in the kitchen and picked up the phone. She dialed the number of Nat’s brother in Palm Springs, California. A feeble voice answered at the other end.
    Regan identified herself.
    “Oh, hello, Regan. Carl Pemrod here.” The voice sounded a little more chipper.
    “I’m so sorry about your brother,” Regan said.
    “Me too. We weren’t that close, but he was blood. I didn’t grow up with him. He was my half brother.”
    “Oh, he was.”
    “Yes. My mother wasn’t too thrilled with our father after he left. So we didn’t have much contact with his second family.”
    “I understand Nat didn’t have any other brothers and sisters.”
    “Not that I know of.”
    “As you know, I’m conducting an investigation-”
    “About how he slipped in the tub? It happens a lot, you know. I broke my hip last year. Terrible thing, getting old.”
    “It is,” Regan agreed. “Did you know anything about these diamonds he had?”
    “Nope. Like I told ya, we didn’t have much contact.”
    “Do you know Nat’s lawyer?”
    “Nope. Like I told ya…”
    “Right,” Regan said. “Well, Mr. Pemrod, first of all I want to thank you for allowing me access to the apartment here.”
    “Oh, sure. Listen, Regan, it’s no problem. I know Nat wanted to leave everything to that club of his. He was always so proud of that place. Whenever I talked to him, that’s all he talked about. The club this, the club that. Truth to tell, sometimes I put my ear on automatic pilot when he went on about it. The members were his family, really.”
    “I’m glad he was happy here.”
    “I think he was.”
    “Well, I’ll only be staying for a couple of days. I live in California, too, and I have to get back.”
    “If you come to Palm Springs, drop by.”
    “Well, thank you.”
    “I met your mother at the library. Nice lady.”
    “Thank you,” Regan said again. “I’ll keep you posted on what happens here. I understand you want Nat’s body to be cremated.”
    “Cemeteries are getting too full. We all should be cremated.”
    “Yes, well, apparently that was Nat’s wish as well.”
    “Wendy was cremated. Nat took her ashes back to the countryside where she grew up, in England. Some of my friends have had their ashes thrown off cruise ships.”
    “Uh-huh,” Regan mumbled. “Well, I have a lot to look into here, but as I said, I’ll keep you posted.”
    “That’s nice of you.”
    “Well, you are Nat’s brother. And again, thank you for letting me stay here. In the next couple of days I hope to talk to his lawyer and get his affairs in order. We’ll get everything straightened out,” Regan promised in an optimistic tone that did not reflect her real feelings.
    “Okay. If he left anything to his older brother, Carl, so much the better. Now I’m going out by the pool. It’s ninety degrees here today. What’s it like there?” Carl asked in a teasing tone.
    “About sixty degrees cooler.”
    Carl chuckled. “I always told Nat he was crazy to live in New York.”

16

    Georgette had a bad morning. Here it was Friday, March 12th, and she’d wasted all her time since Valentine’s Day on Nat Pemrod. She was sure that he had fallen for her. That he was just about to give her presents and money. When she’d gotten him tipsy the other night, he’d