Read Online Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage - Free Book Online Page A

“First,” he said, “I have a few.” He glanced up. “If you don’t mind, Sensei, I’ll start with you.”
    Mr. Li nodded. If he was nervous, it didn’t show.
    “Your class started when, sir?”
    “Eight o’clock. After the supper crowd left.”
    “Was everyone on time?”
    “Everyone except Mo.”
    I took my place behind the counter, by the Colonel. “I was late from being Doctor Appointed,” I said. “I can get a note if needed.” I stepped up on my Pepsi crate and peered at Starr’s notepad. “Is that all the clues you got? It doesn’t look like much.”
    He moved his notes. “Did any of you pass by Mr. Jesse’s tonight?” he asked, scanning the café.
    Attila raised her hand. “That’s Attila Celeste,” I whispered,propping my elbows on the counter. “She lives down the creek from Mr. Jesse. Her parents drive her around like she’s a princess. If she didn’t take karate, you’d never even guess she had feet.”
    He didn’t look at me. “Colonel, could you do something with her, please?”
    “Hey,” I snapped, but the Colonel put his hand over mine and shook his head.
    Starr picked up his pen. “What time did you pass Mr. Jesse’s place, Miss … ?”
    “Miss Anna Celeste Simpson, and I’m pleased to meet you,” she said, tossing her hair. “My mother and I drove by Mr. Jesse’s a little before four o’clock. We came into town early because we wanted to go to the Piggly Wiggly, plus I needed a trim. Unlike some people, I won’t tolerate split ends,” she added, shooting me a nasty look.
    “Right,” Starr said. “Did you see anyone near Jesse Tatum’s house?”
    “A boy, maybe,” she said. “By the creek. He was pulling something, or … I don’t know. I only saw him through the trees. Who knows what boys do? It’s a mystery to me.”
    My heart lurched. She’d seen Dale returning Mr. Jesse’s boat, sure as my name’s Mo LoBeau. I put my hand in my pocket and closed my fingers around my half of Mr. Jesse’s finder’s fee—money we tricked him out of. Suddenly I felt sick.
    “Can you identify the boy?” Starr asked.
    I tried to slow my heartbeat. What if Attila realized she’d seen Dale at Mr. Jesse’s just before the murder? What if Starr found out Dale had swiped Mr. Jesse’s boat? How much trouble would he be in? How much trouble would I be in? I needed time to think. I turned to Starr. “All boys look alike to Anna Celeste,” I said. “She’s boy crazy.”
    “Soldier,”
the Colonel snapped, clamping his fingers into my shoulder. “At ease.”
    Attila blushed. “I am not boy crazy,” she said. “All I saw is light hair and a dark shirt. Black, maybe. I didn’t stare. Why would I? I didn’t know Mr. Jesse was dead.”
    “Maybe it was Thes,” I suggested. “He’s a boy.”
    “It wasn’t me,” Thes yelped. “I got red hair. And a dark shirt, well, that could be half the boys in town.”
    Starr looked around the café. “Did anybody else see him?”
    Skeeter looked at Attila, then at me. I could see it in her eyes: She knew it was Dale. Panic swirled through me like a flock of blackbirds banking into a tree. I shook my head. She nodded so faintly, her nod could have been mistaken for a breath. She wouldn’t say anything. Not yet, anyway.
    “Anna, I’ll need to talk to your mother,” Starr said.
    “Betsy Simpson, she’s in the book,” the Colonel said,finally pouring Starr’s coffee. “You don’t really think a kid killed Jesse, do you?”
    “I’ll ask the questions,” Starr said without looking up, and the vein in the Colonel’s forehead jumped to attention. Now I reached over and patted the
Colonel’s
hand. “Colonel, did Jesse Tatum come in for supper tonight?”
    “Negative,” he growled, picking up a dishtowel.
    “Well, that’s twice a pity,” Mayor Little said. “The Colonel’s teriyaki chicken is simply out of this world. And if Jesse had come in for dinner, he might not be so passé. Oh my gosh,” he added,