Read Online Sins and Needles by Monica Ferris - Free Book Online Page B

identify cross-stitching when he saw it that he was on your side. He’s not on your side, Mother.”
    â€œBut darling, he said he would be looking outside the family for suspects, not at us.”
    â€œIn so many words?”
    â€œYes, in exactly that many words. I don’t see why you’re in such a snit over this.”
    â€œOh, I don’t know, either, I guess. It was so awful finding her dead, I think I’m still upset over that. And then to find she was actually murdered—!”
    â€œI understand. It’s enough to frighten anyone. But take a minute, dearest, and just breathe quietly. Let your mind settle. You’ll be all right. Everything will be all right.”
    This was the kind of language Mother used when Jan would waken from nightmares as a child, and it soothed her now to hear her mother’s quiet voice.
    â€œAll right, I’m feeling better now. Thank you, Mother.”
    â€œCall me later if you start feeling anxious again.”
    â€œI will.” Jan hung up and sat down to weep quietly for a few minutes.
    Half an hour later the little receptionist came by again to report another urgent phone call.
    â€œIs it my mother again?” asked Jan.
    â€œNo, it’s your uncle Stewart.”
    Jan sighed and went back to Doctor’s cluttered little office.
    â€œDo you know your mother called me to say Aunt Edyth was murdered?” Stewart demanded, almost squeaking in his distress. Since his normal voice was a baritone, this squeak nearly moved Jan to laughter. But she took a calming breath before replying, “Yes, I know. She talked to me, too.”
    â€œI don’t understand. Why do they think it’s murder?”
    â€œThe medical examiner found some little thing in her head, something metal.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about, something metal?”
    â€œI think they don’t know what it is. Or maybe they do. Mother wasn’t very clear. A pin, maybe, or a nail. Why don’t you call her and ask? The police were just over there.”
    He said plaintively, “I can’t call her. You know Susan and I don’t get along! You’re the one who found her—you must know more about it! When was this ‘murder’ supposed to have happened?”
    â€œWell, I went over there Sunday morning before ten, but she’d been dead for hours. They did the autopsy yesterday, and today the police are going around asking questions.”
    â€œHave they talked to you?”
    â€œNot yet.”
    â€œWhat will you tell them?”
    â€œHow do I know until I hear the questions?” Jan was starting to feel abused.
    â€œI don’t understand about the pin. How can a pin be used to kill someone? Oh, wait, you mean it was stuck in her ear? I think the Mafia used to kill people by sticking piano wires in their ears.”
    â€œNo, I heard it was stuck in her skull somehow. Like a nail, except it isn’t a nail.”
    â€œWhat? He saw it sticking out?”
    â€œNo, Mother said the undertaker said he felt it under her hair when he was doing something with the body. So he called somebody—the police I guess—and they ordered the autopsy.”
    Jan worked her shoulders to stop the chill flickering between them like summer lightning. Aunt Edyth on a mortician’s slab, with a stranger’s gloved hands on her; Aunt Edyth being cut open by a medical examiner. Jan had attended an autopsy as part of her nurse’s training, and it was one of the most difficult things she’d ever endured. The thought of him opening poor Aunt Edyth’s head—ick, ick, ick!
    â€œUncle Stewart, I can’t talk anymore. I’m at work. I’ve got things to do. I suspect the police will be calling on you pretty soon. Maybe you can ask them to explain it to you.”
    Jan hung up and took several calming breaths. Uncle Stewart was going to be a terrible nuisance until this was over. She wished—as