Read Online Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae - Free Book Online

the funeral home," I said.
    "You're very efficient."
    "Well, Meghan is, really. And we're happy to be able to help.
But they can't have a funeral until the morgue releases..." I took a
breath "...well, releases Walter."
    "It's all right to say it."
"
    I know. I'm sorry" Another deep breath. "The mortuary antic-
    ipates it will be at least a week and could be more than two weeks
before they can do that, so the funeral may have to wait."
    "Oh, no."
     
    I hated this to drag out for her and had said as much to Meghan
when she'd told me about the delay. She'd mentioned a possible
alternative that might afford Tootie some modicum of closure.
After determining that neither she nor Walter had any particular
religious affiliation, I suggested a nondenominational memorial
service on Monday, two days away. She agreed and said when the
time came she wanted her son cremated. That brought up another
thorny subject.
    "Do you know if Walter had a will?"
    "He never said anything about it to me"
    "Maybe I should look for one? I can go through all his things if
you'd like. My housemate would help. Box up what's useable and
donate it, save anything you might want."
"
    I don't know," she said.
    I couldn't really blame her for being reticent. "I understand.
You barely know me"
    "It's not that. You're a good girl. I can tell."
    That made me squirm. I didn't feel like a good girl. I felt like
someone who wanted to find out as much as I could about Walter
while I still had the chance. But no matter how I felt, if we didn't
clean his place out, his landlady, Mrs. Gray, might just bring in
someone to haul everything away, including photos and other mementos Tootie might want.
    "It's too soon," I said. After all, Walter had only been dead two
days.
    After a long pause she said, "No, of course not. You go ahead
and take care of it, if you don't mind. I'm not as mobile as I once
was, and I'd rather someone who knew Walter went through his
things."
     
    "If you're sure, I'll talk to his landlady and have her let me in. If
she has any questions, she'll probably call you for confirmation."
    "That'll be fine. I'm pretty easy to reach." Her thin, dry laugh
sounded forced.
    "One last thing," I said. "Meghan said the funeral home would
place the obituary with the local papers, but neither of us knew
what information to include. May we tell them to contact you for
that information?"
    When she spoke, there was even less energy in her voice than
before. "Yes. Of course. I'll expect the call."

    As soon as Meghan's client left, I checked her office. It was empty, so
I went in and sat down on the loveseat opposite her desk. Minutes
later, she came in from the massage room, rolling her shoulders.
    "That," she said, "was a big guy. A big, tense guy."
    "Get your workout for the day?"
    "I'll say. Hey, I don't have any more clients until this afternoon-you want a quickie?"
    Meghan's massages turned me to mush. "Love to, but I've got
too much to do"
    I updated her on my conversation with Tootie Hanover.
    She turned in her chair and took down two thick white towels
from the shelf behind her. "I'm still surprised you told her about
someone being over at Walter's that night."
    She'd told me over dinner the night before that I shouldn't
have given his mother something else to worry about. But Tootie
was stronger than Meghan realized and certainly more interested in the truth than in being kept in the dark for her own good just
because she'd passed a certain age.
     
    "You have to meet her."
    "I hope to, soon."
    "She gave me-us, actually-permission to go through Walter's things."
    "Have you called Detective Ambrose back?" she asked.
    "He wasn't in. I left a message."
"
    "The police might not like it if we go through his stuff."
    "Why? They sure as heck don't seem to be doing anything to
find out what happened to Walter."
    I thought you wanted to do this to help his mother."
"
    I do. But do we have to wait? I mean, is it actually