Read Online Miss Dimple Suspects by Mignon F. Ballard - Free Book Online

thought she knew what was troubling Suzy. And she’d noticed, too, that they had never heard her last name. Of course she was probably making an issue over nothing. She could almost hear her brother saying, Oh, for heaven’s sake, Dimple, don’t invent trouble where none exists!
    Dimple slowly began to relax as they drove into town. There would be salmon croquettes and applesauce for supper, with a good thick slice of Odessa’s yeast bread. Suzy was just shy. She would telephone in time and she and her new friends would have a nice time together in town.
    But when Suzy called a few days later, it wasn’t at all what she expected.
    “Miss Dimple, can you come? Something terrible has happened, and I don’t know what to do! Hurry, please ! I need your help, and don’t—”
    And then the line went dead.

 
    C HAPTER S IX
    “Why, Miss Dimple, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost! Is anything wrong?” A blast of cold air followed Annie as she slung her jacket on the coatrack and stood in the hallway, clutching a small bag from Lewellyn’s Drug Store.
    Miss Dimple replaced the telephone receiver thoughtfully. “It seems that’s what we’ll have to find out.” She hurried past Annie and shoved aside the lace curtain that covered the glass-paneled door. “Is Charlie with you? We’ll need a car.”
    “She stopped at the library, but I had papers to grade…” Annie quickly reclaimed her jacket and tossed her package on the hall table. The last time she had seen Dimple Kilpatrick display such urgency was when they learned little Peggy Ashcroft was missing. The papers would have to wait.
    While Dimple went upstairs for her wraps, Annie stuck her head in the kitchen to tell Odessa not to hold supper, as the two of them might be late.
    Odessa poured corn bread batter in a sizzling iron skillet and shoved it into the oven. “Where you got to go this late in the day?” she demanded. “It’s gonna be dark out there before long.”
    I wish I knew! Annie thought, but she promised they would be careful. “Save us a piece of that corn bread!” she added, hearing the older teacher’s rapid footsteps descending the stairs. According to Odessa Kirby, nothing good happened outside after dark because that was when “haints” were on the prowl, and you sure didn’t want to run into one of them. Annie didn’t think it was a “haint” that caused Miss Dimple’s consternation, but it must’ve been something just as critical.
    “Has something happened to Virginia?” Annie’s breathing came fast as she struggled to keep up with Dimple’s pace.
    Miss Dimple gripped her handbag in front of her as if the contents might come flying out as they rushed across Katherine Street on their way to the library. “It’s Suzy, Mae Martha’s young companion.… I just had the strangest call, and I’m very much afraid something’s terribly wrong!
    “Virginia generally closes at five. I hope we can catch them before they leave for home.”
    Annie waved to Marjorie Mote, who was hanging an evergreen wreath on her front door. “Is something the matter with Mae Martha? What did Suzy say?”
    “It’s what she didn’t say that alarms me. We were cut off before she could finish and I didn’t know how to call her back as they don’t have a telephone there.”
    “She was probably calling from the nephew’s house,” Annie suggested. “What’s his name? Esau? I wonder why she didn’t phone again.”
    “That’s why I want to get there as soon as we can. The poor woman was almost hysterical—said something terrible had happened and she needed my help. I tried to call the operator to see if she could reconnect us, but Florence didn’t answer.”
    Probably chatting on another line or listening to someone else’s conversation, Annie thought. Florence McCrary, the local operator, admitted to being curious, but everybody knew she was just plain nosy.
    “Let’s hope Virginia has her car here,” Annie said as they crossed the