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Book: High Marks for Murder (A Bellehaven House Mystery Book 1) by Kate Kingsbury
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Authors: Kate Kingsbury
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tripped over a woman behind him and crashed to the ground.
Grace took one horrified look at his furious face, then turned and plunged into the crowd. By some miracle she spied Olivia on the lower step and grabbed her by the hand.At first Olivia resisted her tugging, until Grace gasped, "Quick! I knocked a bobby over. He's coming after me!"
Olivia's eyes widened. "What on earth did you go and do that for?"
"I didn't mean to—" Grace froze as a man's deep voice shouted out behind her.
Olivia leapt from the step and together they fought their way through the struggling women until they reached the corner of the street. After one quick look back at the struggle going on behind them, they lifted their skirts and ran.
Meredith paused in front of a fidgety student and frowned at the lumpy pile of clay in front of her. Normally Amelia Webster was a model student—talented as well as intelligent—but this afternoon she appeared to have lost all control of her nimble fingers.
"I see you have hardly begun your sculpture." Meredith prodded the offending lump with her finger. "Is something wrong? Are you not well?"
Amelia kept her head down when she answered. "I'm quite well, Mrs. Llewellyn, thank you."
Now that she really looked at the girl, Meredith noticed her cheeks were quite flushed. Concerned that she might be taken ill, she laid her palm on the girl's forehead.
Amelia jerked back as if she'd been stung.
Meredith looked at her in surprise. "There's no need for alarm. I was merely testing your forehead to see if you had a raised temperature."
Amelia promptly burst into tears.
The girl seated next to her leaned over and patted her arm. "She's upset over what happened to Miss Duncan," she said, with just a tinge of reproach in her voice. "We all are."
Of course. How insensitive she had been. Meredith felt a twinge of guilt. She had been so engrossed in her own problems she had failed to consider that Kathleen's pupils might not have recovered from the shock of their teacher's death.
She walked to the front of the class and cleared her throat. "I share your grief over losing our beloved instructress. Miss Duncan was very fond of you all, and I know you all cared just as much about her."
"Not really," one of the girls muttered. "Not when she shouted at us, we didn't." She glanced over at Amelia. "I don't know why you're crying over her, Amy. Remember how she screeched at you when you brought weeds instead of flowers to class? You were upset all day long."
Some of the girls tittered behind their hands. Amelia sobbed louder, and dabbed at her nose with a white, lacy handkerchief.
"Made her look really stupid," the girl told her companion seated next to her.
The companion snickered, then cut it off when Meredith glared at her. "I'm sure everyone has borne the brunt of Miss Duncan's tongue lashings at one time or another. That doesn't make our grief for her passing any less painful. I'm sure we all miss her dreadfully."
Two or three heads nodded solemnly in agreement.
Meredith decided this was a good time to impart the good news. "I'm happy to tell you that a replacement has been found, and that Miss Sylvia Montrose will arrive at Bellehaven tomorrow morning. She will be taking over Miss Duncan's classes in home management. I'm sure you will all make her feel welcome, and I trust you will do your best to ease her transition into Bellehaven."
Whispers hissed about the room until Meredith held upher hand. "There is just one more thing. We would very much like to know more of the details of how Miss Duncan died. If anyone remembers seeing her that evening or has any knowledge that might be helpful, I'd appreciate it if you would come to tell me. We would like to know as much as possible about her last moments."
Aware of the curious glances sent her way, Meredith hurried to add, "For her family, of course. I'm sure they'll want to know exactly what happened."
"Reggie said someone hit Miss Duncan on the head with a
Grace took one horrified look at his furious face, then turned and plunged into the crowd. By some miracle she spied Olivia on the lower step and grabbed her by the hand.At first Olivia resisted her tugging, until Grace gasped, "Quick! I knocked a bobby over. He's coming after me!"
Olivia's eyes widened. "What on earth did you go and do that for?"
"I didn't mean to—" Grace froze as a man's deep voice shouted out behind her.
Olivia leapt from the step and together they fought their way through the struggling women until they reached the corner of the street. After one quick look back at the struggle going on behind them, they lifted their skirts and ran.
Meredith paused in front of a fidgety student and frowned at the lumpy pile of clay in front of her. Normally Amelia Webster was a model student—talented as well as intelligent—but this afternoon she appeared to have lost all control of her nimble fingers.
"I see you have hardly begun your sculpture." Meredith prodded the offending lump with her finger. "Is something wrong? Are you not well?"
Amelia kept her head down when she answered. "I'm quite well, Mrs. Llewellyn, thank you."
Now that she really looked at the girl, Meredith noticed her cheeks were quite flushed. Concerned that she might be taken ill, she laid her palm on the girl's forehead.
Amelia jerked back as if she'd been stung.
Meredith looked at her in surprise. "There's no need for alarm. I was merely testing your forehead to see if you had a raised temperature."
Amelia promptly burst into tears.
The girl seated next to her leaned over and patted her arm. "She's upset over what happened to Miss Duncan," she said, with just a tinge of reproach in her voice. "We all are."
Of course. How insensitive she had been. Meredith felt a twinge of guilt. She had been so engrossed in her own problems she had failed to consider that Kathleen's pupils might not have recovered from the shock of their teacher's death.
She walked to the front of the class and cleared her throat. "I share your grief over losing our beloved instructress. Miss Duncan was very fond of you all, and I know you all cared just as much about her."
"Not really," one of the girls muttered. "Not when she shouted at us, we didn't." She glanced over at Amelia. "I don't know why you're crying over her, Amy. Remember how she screeched at you when you brought weeds instead of flowers to class? You were upset all day long."
Some of the girls tittered behind their hands. Amelia sobbed louder, and dabbed at her nose with a white, lacy handkerchief.
"Made her look really stupid," the girl told her companion seated next to her.
The companion snickered, then cut it off when Meredith glared at her. "I'm sure everyone has borne the brunt of Miss Duncan's tongue lashings at one time or another. That doesn't make our grief for her passing any less painful. I'm sure we all miss her dreadfully."
Two or three heads nodded solemnly in agreement.
Meredith decided this was a good time to impart the good news. "I'm happy to tell you that a replacement has been found, and that Miss Sylvia Montrose will arrive at Bellehaven tomorrow morning. She will be taking over Miss Duncan's classes in home management. I'm sure you will all make her feel welcome, and I trust you will do your best to ease her transition into Bellehaven."
Whispers hissed about the room until Meredith held upher hand. "There is just one more thing. We would very much like to know more of the details of how Miss Duncan died. If anyone remembers seeing her that evening or has any knowledge that might be helpful, I'd appreciate it if you would come to tell me. We would like to know as much as possible about her last moments."
Aware of the curious glances sent her way, Meredith hurried to add, "For her family, of course. I'm sure they'll want to know exactly what happened."
"Reggie said someone hit Miss Duncan on the head with a
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