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

right, Max … shh … we’re here now … here to help. What is it, Max? Show us.”
    With the German shepherd leading the way, the four women walked to the closed door of Mae Martha Hawthorne’s studio, where Dimple Kilpatrick wasted no time in turning the knob. “Mae Martha?” The room was in darkness and she called out while switching on the light.
    “Oh!” Charlie stumbled backward into Virginia, who reached out for Annie to keep from falling. “Oh! Is she…” As if in a daze, Charlie watched Miss Dimple kneel by the woman who lay on the floor, her gray hair dark with blood that had been collected in a pool beneath her head. It didn’t take long to see Mae Martha Hawthorne was dead, had probably been dead for some time.
    “Someone please get the dog away.” Dimple found it an effort to speak calmly as Max attempted to get nearer and began to bark in such a manner it broke her heart to hear him. “Take him outside—hurry.”
    “Should we phone for the doctor or the police?” Virginia asked, although it was obvious a doctor would be no help here. While Annie coerced the dog out the way they had come in, the others took in their surroundings.
    “It looks like the poor thing fell and hit her head,” Virginia said as Dimple got to her feet. But Dimple shook her head. “What would she have hit it on? The injury seems to be in the back. There’s nothing nearby—and look how she’s lying. Look closely.”
    Do I have to? Charlie thought, but she complied. The woman lay on her back with her arms by her sides as if she had merely lain down for a quick nap. Her eyes were closed and if it weren’t for the dark stain congealing beneath her and her mouth had not been open in such a grotesque position, it might appear as if she were asleep. Charlie took a deep breath and looked away. “It doesn’t seem natural that she would’ve fallen like this.”
    “Someone moved her, arranged her this way,” Miss Dimple said. “Possibly her companion.”
    “But where is she now?” Alarmed, Virginia looked about.
    “Surely you don’t think Suzy had anything to do with this?” Annie had returned and now stood in the doorway. They could hear Max still barking outside.
    “For heaven’s sake, why didn’t she stay? Call for help?” Charlie said, her voice quaking in spite of her.
    “She did,” Miss Dimple answered. “She called me. I think she must’ve found her soon after this happened—probably tried to revive her—and realizing it was useless, left her in this position and went somewhere—probably Esau’s—to telephone me.”
    “But if this wasn’t an accident, then somebody must have done it,” Annie said. “Why? Why would anybody want to do this to Mae Martha?” Her voice rose and her eyes filled with tears. “She was so nice !”
    “If this companion—this Suzy—didn’t do it, then who did?” Virginia asked. “I think we should get out of here now .”
    “And I think you’re right!” Annie said, but Miss Dimple seemed in no hurry, and instead took her time looking over the room. The studio smelled of oil and turpentine, and paintings lined the walls just as they had before. What seemed to be a newly finished scene of two rabbits nibbling near a rustic fence entwined with what appeared to be muscadine vines sat on an easel nearby.
    Charlie spoke softly. “Her last painting.”
    Miss Dimple nodded. The painting was serene and lovely, just as the artist had been. “I don’t see anything that might’ve been used as a weapon … at least nothing obvious.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine where Suzy has gone.”
    “Unless…” Charlie looked from one to the other. “Unless somebody killed her, too! We haven’t even looked in the other rooms.”
    Annie groaned. “Okay. This is really getting scary. Can we please leave now?”
    “But what if Suzy’s been hurt?” Charlie pointed out. “What if she’s been locked in a closet or something? We have to look.”
    But the rest