Read Online Lead a Horse to Murder by Cynthia Baxter - Free Book Online

veterinarian. I came to look at one of your horses.”
    “You mean one of Andrew’s horses,” she corrected me acidly. “And this is my lovely daughter Callie, who’ll do anything in her power to break her mother’s heart.”
    The withering look she cast her daughter was thrown right back at her.
    “I can see you two are in the middle of something,” I said, “so I’ll just—”
    “You’re more than welcome to stay,” Jillian countered. “In fact, I’d welcome your opinion, as an objective observer. If you were a fourteen-year-old girl who had grown up in total luxury, surrounded by every possible advantage and opportunity, yet you insisted on becoming your own worst enemy by stuffing every morsel of food you came across into your face—”
    “Moth-er!” Callie screamed. “I hate you!” She flounced across the room, stopping only to grab a large dish of dainty, pastel-colored cakes the size of postage stamps and carry it out through the door with her.
    Jillian turned to me and shrugged. “My advice to you? Have your tubes tied— now, before it’s too late.”
    She turned away, picking up a bottle off the kitchen counter and refilling her glass. “If you really are interested in finding my husband—and frankly, I can’t imagine why you would be—he’s probably hiding in one of two places, his study or the stable. As I’m always telling my friends, if it’s not related to either money or a horse, don’t expect Andrew to have the slightest interest in it.” She laughed, a raw, unpleasant sound, then gulped down a large portion of her drink.
    “Thanks. I’ll check the study.” I slunk out of there as quickly as I could, my cheeks still burning. From what I’d seen so far, Andrew MacKinnon’s wife was drinking herself silly and his daughter was eating herself into oblivion. And to think that, at least from the outside, the members of this family looked as if they had everything anyone could possibly want.
    I headed down the hallway I remembered led to the study. But as I neared the open door, I froze. Loud voices, coming from inside, warned me that this might not be the best time to poke my head in.
    “Damn it, Winston!” I heard Andrew MacKinnon shout. “Just stay out of this. None of it has anything to do with you!”
    “Nothing to do with me?” a voice I didn’t recognize shot back indignantly. The man it belonged to had a distinct British accent. “Andrew, my good man, we’re talking about a great deal of money!”
    Goodness, I thought, startled. Can’t anybody in this household get along?
    “Keep your voice down!” MacKinnon hissed back. “All we need is for the wrong person to overhear—”
    “I certainly agree with you there,” the stranger replied. “Perhaps this is something that’s best left to the legal system to sort out.”
    “No!” MacKinnon barked. “That’s the last thing we want. But we can’t have this discussion now, Winston. Eduardo is dead, for God’s sake. Please, let’s talk about this some other time.”
    I blinked, intrigued by their words but reluctant to get caught eavesdropping. And it sounded as if their little argument was over, at least for the moment. I turned and began to creep away, anxious to disappear into the crowd in the living room.
    But before I could make it that far, the British-accented voice called after me, “Excuse me, miss. Is there something I can help you with?”

Chapter 4
    “He who said he made a small fortune in the horse business probably started out with a large fortune!”
    —Unknown
    turned, trying to look as if I hadn’t overheard any of the unpleasantness that had just transpired between the two men. The one whose voice I hadn’t recognized, a tall, slender gentleman—Winston, MacKinnon had called him—stood in the hallway, peering at me. His white hair and slightly stooped posture placed him somewhere in his seventies. Yet I got the feeling he had yet to let any of his standards slip, as indicated by his