Read Online Spin a Wicked Web by Cricket McRae - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Cricket McRae
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Mystery Fiction, Murder, Investigation, Murder - Investigation, Women Artisans, Spinning
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kitchen. I rifled
quickly through her cupboards. There. I grabbed the bottle of Hornitos and ran back out to the smithy. I tossed her iced tea on the
grass, replaced it with a shot of tequila and set it on the seat beside
her. Then I patted her on the back, and waited.
It took a while for her to run down, but when she did, she
slammed the shot in one swallow with a grateful glance my way,
shuddered once, and was quiet.
"Wow," she said. "That's the first time I really cried about it."
I wondered whether "it" referred to Scott's death, or his affair
with Ariel-or both.
"Believe me," I said. "It won't be the last time. But it will get
better"
I still couldn't get over the affair between Scott and Ariel. They
were so mismatched: he, a rough-and-tumble, racecar-driving cop
who was at least twenty years her senior, and she, an airy, unfocused artist. He'd been good-looking enough, but I didn't get what
she'd seen in him beyond that. Maybe she'd had a daddy complex?
Yuck.
"There's something I don't really understand," I said. "Why
would you kill Ariel three days after Scott's accident?" It wasn't the
most tactful thing to say, I know. But geez, how else was I supposed
to put it? Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is long
gone.
"They think I was so mad that I didn't care."
"That's nuts," I said.
"They think I'm nuts. Anyone who kills someone else out of
jealousy is nuts. If I'd actually done it, I'd agree with them."
I couldn't help it. I had trouble thinking about Ariel and Scott
without my doppelganger nibbling constantly at the edge of my
attention. Of course it was nuts to kill someone out of jealousy.
But there was a tiny part of me that could understand going nuts
in precisely that way.
"How long had you known?" I asked.
"About three months. I found out shortly after it started." She
looked longingly at the bottle of tequila, sitting on the ground.
I poured out another and handed it to her. "Were you angry at
Scott?"
She gave me a look, then downed the second shot. "No, I thought
it was great that he was seeing a woman who could have been his
daughter, and didn't seem to give a damn whether I knew it or not.
What's to be angry about?"
"Yeah, okay. Sorry. Stupid question. Do you have any kind of
an alibi for when the murder occurred?"
"I might."
I looked the question at her.
"Detective Lane asked me what I was doing between eight and
ten, night before last. If that's when that little bitch was killed, then
I'm home free."
I readjusted my idea that Ariel had been killed the morning of
Scott's funeral. Apparently her body had been at CRAG for hours
before I found her.
"What were you doing?" I asked.
"Ruth and Irene were over here. Jake was, too, for a while. They
were here from a bit before seven until after ten."
I took in the blue half moons under Chris' red-rimmed eyes,
the tiny tremor in her hand even after knocking back a couple
shots of tequila. Could she handle an arrest, a trial, the scandal
that would result in a town this size?
"So let's hope Robin asking you about that time means that's
when the murder occurred. Then they'll have to look elsewhere," I
said. As long as Robin didn't turn her attention back to me.
Chris' eyes flicked up at me and then away again. "I know that
department. Scott worked there for fifteen years. They know what
they're doing. It's just that right now they're going down the wrong track" She stood and nodded toward the house. "Do you
want something to eat? People have given me so much food, and I
don't have much of an appetite right now. I think I'm done beating up on metal for this afternoon."
"No, thanks. I have to be going. But Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"The offer to talk still stands. If you want to be left alone right
now, that's fine, but if you change your mind, well..."
"Okay. Thanks. I'll keep it in mind."
NINE
"So WHAT ARE WE going to do with her art?" Jake Beagle asked.
"We can't
quickly through her cupboards. There. I grabbed the bottle of Hornitos and ran back out to the smithy. I tossed her iced tea on the
grass, replaced it with a shot of tequila and set it on the seat beside
her. Then I patted her on the back, and waited.
It took a while for her to run down, but when she did, she
slammed the shot in one swallow with a grateful glance my way,
shuddered once, and was quiet.
"Wow," she said. "That's the first time I really cried about it."
I wondered whether "it" referred to Scott's death, or his affair
with Ariel-or both.
"Believe me," I said. "It won't be the last time. But it will get
better"
I still couldn't get over the affair between Scott and Ariel. They
were so mismatched: he, a rough-and-tumble, racecar-driving cop
who was at least twenty years her senior, and she, an airy, unfocused artist. He'd been good-looking enough, but I didn't get what
she'd seen in him beyond that. Maybe she'd had a daddy complex?
Yuck.
"There's something I don't really understand," I said. "Why
would you kill Ariel three days after Scott's accident?" It wasn't the
most tactful thing to say, I know. But geez, how else was I supposed
to put it? Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is long
gone.
"They think I was so mad that I didn't care."
"That's nuts," I said.
"They think I'm nuts. Anyone who kills someone else out of
jealousy is nuts. If I'd actually done it, I'd agree with them."
I couldn't help it. I had trouble thinking about Ariel and Scott
without my doppelganger nibbling constantly at the edge of my
attention. Of course it was nuts to kill someone out of jealousy.
But there was a tiny part of me that could understand going nuts
in precisely that way.
"How long had you known?" I asked.
"About three months. I found out shortly after it started." She
looked longingly at the bottle of tequila, sitting on the ground.
I poured out another and handed it to her. "Were you angry at
Scott?"
She gave me a look, then downed the second shot. "No, I thought
it was great that he was seeing a woman who could have been his
daughter, and didn't seem to give a damn whether I knew it or not.
What's to be angry about?"
"Yeah, okay. Sorry. Stupid question. Do you have any kind of
an alibi for when the murder occurred?"
"I might."
I looked the question at her.
"Detective Lane asked me what I was doing between eight and
ten, night before last. If that's when that little bitch was killed, then
I'm home free."
I readjusted my idea that Ariel had been killed the morning of
Scott's funeral. Apparently her body had been at CRAG for hours
before I found her.
"What were you doing?" I asked.
"Ruth and Irene were over here. Jake was, too, for a while. They
were here from a bit before seven until after ten."
I took in the blue half moons under Chris' red-rimmed eyes,
the tiny tremor in her hand even after knocking back a couple
shots of tequila. Could she handle an arrest, a trial, the scandal
that would result in a town this size?
"So let's hope Robin asking you about that time means that's
when the murder occurred. Then they'll have to look elsewhere," I
said. As long as Robin didn't turn her attention back to me.
Chris' eyes flicked up at me and then away again. "I know that
department. Scott worked there for fifteen years. They know what
they're doing. It's just that right now they're going down the wrong track" She stood and nodded toward the house. "Do you
want something to eat? People have given me so much food, and I
don't have much of an appetite right now. I think I'm done beating up on metal for this afternoon."
"No, thanks. I have to be going. But Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"The offer to talk still stands. If you want to be left alone right
now, that's fine, but if you change your mind, well..."
"Okay. Thanks. I'll keep it in mind."
NINE
"So WHAT ARE WE going to do with her art?" Jake Beagle asked.
"We can't
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