Read Online Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime by Tamar Myers - Free Book Online

are you, Magdalena." Doc pretended to reach for another potato pancake, but he had something else on his mind.
     
     
I dodged, nearly spilling the apple sauce. "Watch it, Doc."
     
     
Old Doc frowned. "You still dating that guy down in Baltimore?"
     
     
"We aren't dating, Doc. I haven't even met him yet. We just talk on the phone. We're good friends."
     
     
"He isn't right for you, Magdalena. That Maryland crowd is a wild bunch anyway, but hooking up with someone over the phone is asking for trouble. It's like answering one of those personal ads in the back of a magazine. They're all weirdos, you know."
     
     
I ignored Doc's comments. It was clear that he was jealous of my deepening relationship with Jim Fortuna of Baltimore. True, I had met Jim on the phone, but it was purely accidental. A federal drug enforcement agent working under cover had been murdered at the PennDutch, and when I was calling the work number listed on her registration, Jim had answered the phone. It was Jim's number all right-the number for Jumbo Jim's Fried Chicken and Seafood Palace, and the federal agent had simply usurped it. Ever since then, Jim and I have been planning to get together - just to chat face-to-face, mind you, but it has never quite worked out.
     
     
"What kind of a man calls himself Jumbo Jim?" Doc persisted in asking. "Isn't that a little arrogant?"
     
     
I could feel myself blushing. "The jumbo part stands for the size of the portions he serves, and you are a dirty old man."
     
     
Doc grinned happily in acknowledgment. "Just as long as he stays south of the Mason-Dixon line, I don't mind too much. But like I said, those Marylanders are a tough bunch, so you'd be wise to keep it a long-distance relationship."
     
     
"I'm afraid it's a little too late for that," I said dangerously.
     
     
Doc's eyes narrowed. "How so?"
     
     
I swallowed hard. I hate hurting Doc, but I do have my own life to live. "Jumbo - I mean Jim - is coming up this weekend. At least he was planning to before what happened this morning."
     
     
"You mean the murder out at your place?"
     
     
I don't know why it surprised me that Doc already knew about it. When Roy Beiler died of a heart attack in Emma Rumple's bed, Doc knew about it even before Mrs. Beiler did. I have long suspected that Doc has strategically placed spies. "You seeing Zelda?" I asked boldly.
     
     
"What?" said Doc. He seemed genuinely astonished.
     
     
"Never mind. Doc, you know I didn't do it, right?"
     
     
"Right."
     
     
"So, how do I prove to Melvin that I didn't?"
     
     
"That's not your job, Magdalena. In this country, at least last time I checked, you are considered innocent until proven guilty. Not the other way around. It's Melvin's job to come up with the evidence against you."
     
     
"Yeah, I know, but this is Melvin Stoltzfus we're talking about. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he produced Elvis as his eyewitness."
     
     
"Guess I shouldn't have treated him when that horse kicked him in the head."
     
     
"Bull."
     
     
"Whatever. From what I gather, the most damning piece of evidence is missing. At least that's in your favor."
     
     
I must have stared at Doc with my mouth wide open, because the next thing I knew he had shoved a piece of pork chop in. I spit it out. "Doc! What do you mean by damning evidence? You know I didn't do it."
     
     
"Of course you didn't. But your fingerprints are all over that pitchfork, aren't they?"
     
     
"Yes, but so are Mose's, and, come to think of it, Steven Freeman's. And that's all in addition to the killer's."
     
     
"Right, but like you said, you are dealing with Melvin, and... uh... and - "
     
     
I did the mature thing and decided to save Doc a little embarrassment. "You mean I opened my big fat mouth and shouted out something that might have sounded like a threat."
     
     
"Close enough."
     
     
"Oh, Doc," I wailed, "what will I do?"
     
     
Doc reached out to pat me, but instinctively I pulled away.