Read Online The Ginseng Conspiracy (A Kay Driscoll Mystery) by Susan Bernhardt - Free Book Online

look, to do what I could to help. A second part, the guilty, terrified part, wished I’d never seen it and made me want to retreat. In the sandy water next to an array of flat rocks, the professor lay with his head partway submerged. The gentle rapids splashed water over the rocks and his body. I reached down and touched his body. Rigor mortis had set in. His face was distorted. His eyes stared out murkily with the lifeless gaze of death.
    Elizabeth followed down the path and took her cell phone out of her pocket. “I'm calling the police.” With trembling hands she phoned.
    “The operator says they're on their way. I can’t believe it! Sherman Walters…dead? Kay, you just asked about him the other day. Poor Mary Ann,” Elizabeth said putting the phone back in her pocket looking at me. “Sherman's wife, Mary Ann. Where is she?”
    “I feel sick to my stomach,” Deirdre said, regaining her composure. “He’s been dead a while. There’s no glow anymore…an ethereal…”
    “Ethereal what?” I asked, staring at Walters' body.
    “After death, the physical body is left with an ethereal glow. It’s weak, but…”
    Elizabeth shook her head, the vein in her forehead bulged at the temple. “Please, Deirdre, don’t start in with that stuff,” Elizabeth said. “Now’s not the time for all that—”
    “Well it's true. I'm just trying to explain to Kay about—”
    “Deirdre, I've had enough. I said stop it. You're not helping the situation. We've all just had a shock. And if you are going to get sick, stay away from this area,” Elizabeth said, her face inches from Deirdre's face. Elizabeth put out her arms preventing Deirdre from getting back closer to the professor's body. “You aren't going to mess up any evidence. It’s a crime scene. I mean it!”
    Deirdre and Elizabeth both huffed and turned to me. Deirdre frowned, her arms folded over her chest. Elizabeth glowered, red in the face. “Kay,” Deirdre said, defiantly, glancing at Elizabeth.
    My jaw tensed. “Later,” I said, shaking my head. I was tired of always having to be the peacemaker when the two of them got started.
    A wave of nausea rose from my stomach as well. I fell silent and sat down on the cold ground, taking a couple of deep breaths. I wrapped my arms around my bent knees close to my chest, facing away from both of them toward the professor, and waited for the police to come. I knew it was a crime scene, but what made Elizabeth think so? Perhaps because of all the CSI-type shows and books that were so popular. Nowadays, everyone was an expert on everything because they saw an actor do it on television or read about it in a book from a mystery author. I couldn’t think of anything to say to Elizabeth or Deirdre that wouldn't betray that I knew more about the professor’s death. I had to think this through. My heartbeat throbbed in my temples, and their bickering didn't help matters.
    The events of last night flashed in my mind. I felt so damned guilty. I should have done something, anything. Could I have changed the way this all had turned out? Al knew this was our usual walk we took each day. I had just mentioned it to him a few days ago. He was nearby when Deirdre asked me last night if I wanted to walk today. Was finding Walter's body a little too neat? Did Al leave the professor here for us to find? For me to find? As a warning? Had he recognized me in the vacant store? Oh my gosh! I wanted to scream , but I needed to appear calm.
    Fifteen minutes later, sirens wailed in the distance. It seemed like hours since Elizabeth had made the call. Like a shot, I stood up. The police arrived first. They identified the body as Professor Sherman Walters. Deputy Chief Bill Murphy and Detective Ron Carstairs started questioning us as to the circumstances of our discovery. Of course Bill Murphy, one of the hooded conspirators, would be the first one to show up. Elizabeth did most of the talking. Murphy went off and made a call on his cell phone