Read Online Murder in a Basket (An India Hayes Mystery) by Amanda Flower - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Amanda Flower
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texted me about it. Instead, I found out from a cop stopping by the reference desk.”
“ Texted you? You want me to text you something like, ‘Hey, found dead body. All good.’”
“ It would have been nice to have been told by you.” His eyes softened. “When I heard, I was worried. All I could think about was what happened last summer. You’re not planning to get involved, are you?”
I didn’t say anything.
“You are, aren’t you? I appreciate what you did for me last summer, but this is different. You don’t know the people involved this time. You—”
“ Bobby, let’s go.” Erin came up from behind me.
I was grateful for the interruption. “You’d better get back to the library, or Lasha is going to send out a search party for you.”
“ This conversation is not over,” Bobby said.
That much I knew.
Chapter Ten
At the end of the day, I packed up my car with paintings and paints to head home, but at the last second, I turned left, which was the opposite direction from my duplex, when leaving campus. The hot dog vendor in the minivan behind me made an obscene gesture as I abruptly changed my mind.
I turned into a small strip mall and parked in front of the office of Lewis Clive, Esq. Lew’s office was in a storefront tucked in between a card shop and shoe store. I glanced into the shoe store’s win dow. The snow boots were out in force. It wouldn’t be long before they’d be needed.
A mechanical beep-beep sounded when I stepped into the office suite.
It was after six, so I wasn’t surprised when the secretary’s desk was empty. What did surprise me was who greeted me in her place. Sitting in the middle of the waiting room was none other than Zacchaeus, labradoodle extraordinaire.
Zach barked.
“Stop that confounded racket, Dog!” Lew bellowed from the back office where I knew he was smoking an unfiltered cigarette. The man was bound and determined to die of lung cancer.
I held out my hand to Zach and patted his head. That quieted him. “Lew?” I called. “It’s India.”
There was a pause. I could almost see him take a drag of his cigarette. “Come on back.”
I wove around the receptionist’s desk and down the short hallway to Lew’s office. Zach padded behind me down the carpeted hall.
“That dog had to come with you, did he?”
I patted Zach’s head. “He’s not so bad.” Zach leaned against my leg.
Except for the framed diplomas on his walls and picture of his family on his desk, the room had as much personality as a mo ck-up office in an office supply warehouse. The walls were off-white. The floor was covered with industrial brown carpet, and the ceiling was dropped tile. I found the lack of color depressing.
“ Take a seat.” He motioned to the sofa situated underneath the lone window. Zach laid his head across my knees. Lew sat behind his metal desk, signing one legal-sized document after another at breakneck speed. “Just give me a minute. I promised my secretary I would get these signed before I headed home tonight.” He signed one last document. “There.”
Lew stood and patted his breast pocket. Deftly, he removed the pack of cigarettes he always kept there. He lit up, and I opened the window. A cold burst of late October air blew into the room, but it was better than the smell of Lew’s cigarette smoke. Lew was a red-haired-going-to-gray, stocky, barrel-chested guy who kept my parents out of jail on a regular basis.
He pulled an armchair closer to the sofa and sat. “What did your parents do this time? Do you need bond money?”
Not for the first time, I realized most children have never heard the words “bond money” in reference to their parents. I wondered if they knew how lucky they were.
I crossed my jean-clad legs, forcing Zach to lie on the floor. He placed one of his paws firmly on my sneaker. “This isn’t about Mom and Dad. As far as I know, they haven’t broken any laws recently.”
Lew blew out a long drag of smoke out the
“ Texted you? You want me to text you something like, ‘Hey, found dead body. All good.’”
“ It would have been nice to have been told by you.” His eyes softened. “When I heard, I was worried. All I could think about was what happened last summer. You’re not planning to get involved, are you?”
I didn’t say anything.
“You are, aren’t you? I appreciate what you did for me last summer, but this is different. You don’t know the people involved this time. You—”
“ Bobby, let’s go.” Erin came up from behind me.
I was grateful for the interruption. “You’d better get back to the library, or Lasha is going to send out a search party for you.”
“ This conversation is not over,” Bobby said.
That much I knew.
Chapter Ten
At the end of the day, I packed up my car with paintings and paints to head home, but at the last second, I turned left, which was the opposite direction from my duplex, when leaving campus. The hot dog vendor in the minivan behind me made an obscene gesture as I abruptly changed my mind.
I turned into a small strip mall and parked in front of the office of Lewis Clive, Esq. Lew’s office was in a storefront tucked in between a card shop and shoe store. I glanced into the shoe store’s win dow. The snow boots were out in force. It wouldn’t be long before they’d be needed.
A mechanical beep-beep sounded when I stepped into the office suite.
It was after six, so I wasn’t surprised when the secretary’s desk was empty. What did surprise me was who greeted me in her place. Sitting in the middle of the waiting room was none other than Zacchaeus, labradoodle extraordinaire.
Zach barked.
“Stop that confounded racket, Dog!” Lew bellowed from the back office where I knew he was smoking an unfiltered cigarette. The man was bound and determined to die of lung cancer.
I held out my hand to Zach and patted his head. That quieted him. “Lew?” I called. “It’s India.”
There was a pause. I could almost see him take a drag of his cigarette. “Come on back.”
I wove around the receptionist’s desk and down the short hallway to Lew’s office. Zach padded behind me down the carpeted hall.
“That dog had to come with you, did he?”
I patted Zach’s head. “He’s not so bad.” Zach leaned against my leg.
Except for the framed diplomas on his walls and picture of his family on his desk, the room had as much personality as a mo ck-up office in an office supply warehouse. The walls were off-white. The floor was covered with industrial brown carpet, and the ceiling was dropped tile. I found the lack of color depressing.
“ Take a seat.” He motioned to the sofa situated underneath the lone window. Zach laid his head across my knees. Lew sat behind his metal desk, signing one legal-sized document after another at breakneck speed. “Just give me a minute. I promised my secretary I would get these signed before I headed home tonight.” He signed one last document. “There.”
Lew stood and patted his breast pocket. Deftly, he removed the pack of cigarettes he always kept there. He lit up, and I opened the window. A cold burst of late October air blew into the room, but it was better than the smell of Lew’s cigarette smoke. Lew was a red-haired-going-to-gray, stocky, barrel-chested guy who kept my parents out of jail on a regular basis.
He pulled an armchair closer to the sofa and sat. “What did your parents do this time? Do you need bond money?”
Not for the first time, I realized most children have never heard the words “bond money” in reference to their parents. I wondered if they knew how lucky they were.
I crossed my jean-clad legs, forcing Zach to lie on the floor. He placed one of his paws firmly on my sneaker. “This isn’t about Mom and Dad. As far as I know, they haven’t broken any laws recently.”
Lew blew out a long drag of smoke out the
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