Read Online The Big Chili by Julia Buckley - Free Book Online Page A

Lilah.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI— Well, I’m afraid people will say I had a motive.”
    â€œCome on!”
    â€œNo, it’s true. People probably don’t realize this, but I was—jealous of Alice. I sometimes felt as if she—showed off at church functions. To the point that the rest of us were left in her shadow.”
    â€œWell, that’s not fair. You work very hard for the church, Pet.”
    â€œI know. And I’ll admit I like my fair share of the attention. Well,
you
know that better than anyone.” She gave me a humble look, and I realized this was a Perpetua I had never seen before. “But it wasn’t just that. You know that I spend time with Father Schmidt. We have him over for dinner every Friday night, and he often comes over to play cards, or on Friday nights to watch
Bones
.”
    I giggled. “He likes the those gory special effects, does he?”
    â€œOh yes. We’re all big fans.” Pet’s face was sweet and childlike. Then it grew hard. “But Alice had started suggesting that it wasn’t appropriate for Father to come to our house. She suggested to me—and to Father—that he should stop coming over. This upset Father very much; he’s sensitive to any accusations of impropriety, you understand.”
    â€œOf course.” Poor Father Schmidt. It was hard to be a priest these days, even if you were a good and decent person.
    Pet looked near tears; her eyes glinted in the dark. Mick rubbed against her leg and she patted his head absently. “Thething is—the Grandys have always hosted the priests at their home—going all the way back to the 1960s, when my mother was the first to invite Father Eisenbart for Thanksgiving dinner. After that all the ladies vied to have the priest over for dinner, but it was always sort of a Grandy tradition. And in the meantime, we’ve become good friends. We enjoy Father Schmidt’s company, and he enjoys ours. I think it would be a very lonely life if he had to sit in the rectory all the time and never fraternize with his parishioners.”
    â€œOf course it would. And it’s ridiculous to say it’s inappropriate for him to have dinner with you or anyone else.”
    Pet sounded relieved. “Well, I thought that, too. Alice—in the last few days—was really campaigning about it, talking to other people in the community. And the thing is, I felt she did it not because she thought it was wrong but because she wanted to ruin something for me. Alice Dixon always wanted to ruin things. I don’t know why.”
    She wiped at her eyes again. I leaned forward and squeezed her arm. “Pet, I’m sorry that Alice is dead, but I’m going to say this: she wasn’t a nice person. I never thought so myself, and I’ve heard two different accounts today that verify that idea. It’s not speaking ill of the dead to simply speak your mind. She wasn’t a good person, and you’re better off without her in your life.”
    Pet looked at me fearfully. “But that’s exactly what I’m afraid the police will find out!”
    *   *   *
    I FINALLY CALMED her down, and her sisters reappeared. Once again I offered them hot chocolate, and once again they refused. “We promised Pet we’d make apple pancakes,” saidHarmonia with a wink while Mick licked her hand. “It’s her favorite treat, and it will cheer her up.”
    â€œIt sounds delicious,” I said. “Can I get a recipe sometime?”
    â€œSure,” said Angelica. “I’ll write it down for you tonight. It was our mother’s.”
    â€œThat would be lovely. I keep a little notebook of my favorites. I’ll be adding it in. I’ll call it Peg Grandy’s Apple Pancakes.” They beamed at that, and I waved as they walked away.
    Mick and I went inside and I checked the locks on all the doors and windows; an