by Mary Daheim
A second ambulance had, in fact, been summoned for Nan Leech, whose head injury and ostrich bites required medical attention. As the vehicle drove away, Joe and Woody stood in the parking lot.
“Thanks for letting me in on this,” Joe said.
“No problem,” Woody responded. “All I had to do was swing up the hill to collect you. Once we’d checked out the known suspects and learned that George Guthrie, Nan Leech, and Rufus Holmes all had carry permits for concealed weapons, it was a process of elimination. We discovered that Guthrie and Holmes both had .38s. Of course anyone could have an illegal firearm, but Nan was the one suspect we hadn’t yet checked out, so it was possible that the 9 mm handgun was registered to her, and we’d have to bring her in for questioning. I figured I might as well have you come with me, instead of filling you in later. Sancha should be here any minute. I filled her in on the phone, but she lives over near the university. She’s probably stuck in traffic. Maybe I’ll let her interrogate Judith and Serena. Sancha may be miffed because she wasn’t on the spot.” Woody’s head swiveled around to scour the parking area. “Where are Judith and Renie?”
Joe also searched the lot. “I don’t know. Their cars are still here. So’s the ostrich.” He gestured toward Emil.
“They wouldn’t have gone very far,” Woody remarked, though there was a note of doubt in his voice. “Maybe they walked over by the big fountain so they could sit down.”
“They’ll be back,” Joe said with confidence. “My dear wife and her cousin never stray too far from a crime scene,” he added, then frowned. “I wonder how Jude-girl figured this one out?”
Woody chuckled softly. “She’s pretty clever when it comes to seeing through people.”
“True,” Joe agreed. “But officially, you solved the case. With the gun, I mean. You can match the slugs to it.”
“Right,” Woody said. “I wasted some time, though, by going to Nan’s condo instead of coming here first. I should have realized that these tours operate on weekends. But at least I had a search warrant and got the gun from her home.”
Joe was now pacing up and down the sidewalk. “Where the hell are those two? It’s not like them to just up and disappear.”
“They’ll show up,” Woody said. “After all, what could have happened to them?”
Joe laughed. “Not much. Not after what went down in the office with Nan and the ostrich. No,” he added, “you’re right. It’s a crazy thing, but those two women keep getting into hot water, and yet they always come out on top. I’m sure they’re both just fine.”
At last, Emil yanked his head out of the hole. The ostrich stared at Joe and Woody. He looked as if he wanted to tell them something.
About the Author
Seattle native MARY RICHARDSON DAHEIM began reading mysteries when she was seven. She started writing them when she was eleven, but her career as a published novelist didn¹t begin until much later. After graduating from the University of Washington¹s School of Communications, Daheim worked on small-town newspapers and in corporate public relations. Her goal to write fiction remained in place, however, and she began publishing the Bed-and-Breakfast series in 1991, adding the Alpine mysteries a year later. She is married to David Daheim, and the couple lives in Seattle. They have three grown daughters: Barbara, Katherine, and Magdalen. Daheim received the Pacific Northwest Writers Association 2000 Achievement Award “for distinguished professional achievement and for enhancing the stature of the Northwest literary community”.
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Other Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries by
Mary Daheim
from Avon Books
JUST DESSERTS
FOWL PREY
HOLY TERRORS
DUNE TO DEATH
BANTAM OF THE OPERA
A FIT OF TEMPERA
MAJOR VICES
MURDER, MY SUITE
AUNTIE MAYHEM
NUTTY AS A FRUITCAKE
SEPTEMBER MOURN
WED AND BURIED
SNOW PLACE TO DIE
LEGS BENEDICT
CREEPS SUZETTE
And in Hardcover
SUTURE SELF
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A STREETCAR NAMED EXPIRE. Copyright © 2001 by Mary Daheim. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition February 2007 ISBN 9780061752926
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