A Killer Read by Erika Chase

tendrils that fell in a frame around her face. The long green cotton blouse she wore had the empire waist she’d favored since giving birth to her second daughter. Somehow, those last pounds and inches just wouldn’t disappear.
    Lizzie laughed. “I think it was last Sunday that I was over. It’s been a hectic week for you, too, I’d guess.”
    “That doesn’t begin to cover it.” Paige hugged Lizzie. “And you’ve had quite the week, I hear. A dead body and all. Tell me about it.”
    Lizzie pulled one smaller gift bag from her tote before stashing it in the hallway. “This is for the non-birthday gremlin. I’ll tell you all about the goings-on later. But it has been a weird few days. And you’ll never guess who’s investigating the case.”
    Paige grinned. “I’ll just bet it’s Mark Dreyfus. I knew you two would bump into each other at some point.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me he was the chief? And isn’t he awfully young to be chief? He can’t be more than thirty-two or thirty-three.”
    “He probably got the job because of his army background, or maybe there weren’t any other candidates. I forget the details, if I even knew them. And, I forgot to tell you because it happened when you were out of town taking that longer course, the name of which I always forget, and well, it just never dawned on me that you’d want to know. Does he still curl your toes?”
    “You remember that!”
    “Of course I do. In fact, I even saved some of the notes we used to pass in math class.”
    Lizzie groaned. “How much do you want for them?”
    “No way. I plan to read them at your wedding, girl,” Paige said with a laugh.
    “That’s okay then. They’ll be too yellowed and crumbling to read by that point.”
No point in adding fuel to the fire by telling her about our hike.
“Where’s the rest of the gang?”
    The shrieking of two small girls answered her question, as they flew through the kitchen door and flung themselves at her. Lizzie loved visiting the Raleigh household. She and Paige had grown up together, spending almost equal time in each other’s houses. Their parents had been good friends, until the accident, when Lizzie’s mama had cut herself off from everyone. Paige and her mama had been a big help to her, offering comfort and a second home. Paige was the sister she never had. They’d both known Brad Raleigh at high school, and Lizzie couldn’t have been happier when the two of them finally got married. Now she was godmother to Jenna, and “auntie” to her and her sister, Cate.
    After supper and the official opening of gifts, the girls went off to play while the adults took their coffees into the living room.
    “What’s up with that dead body, Lizzie?” Brad asked.
    Lizzie stared at him a moment before answering. “You’re growing a beard, aren’t you? I’ve been trying to figure out what’s different and that’s it. Or else you’re getting too lazy to shave these days.”
    “You’re sharp tonight, Lizzie,” Brad said with a grin. “My lady here is not overly pleased. I’d be rightly grateful if you’d tell her you like it.”
    “You know, Paige, it does give him a certain rugged man-of-the-bush appeal.”
    At six-five, Brad had kept his body as trim as the day they’d graduated. Not one for team sports, he’d been more an outdoorsman, hiking and hunting luring him away from town each weekend. Until marriage trimmed the number of outings and the frequency.
    “Anyway,” Lizzie continued, “Thursday was a strange evening.” She told them about it in detail.
    “They can’t believe Molly had anything to do with it,” Paige said in a shocked tone.
    “They’re checking us all very closely. They had Sally-Jo Baker in for an interview at the station this afternoon. I’m dying to hear how that went.”
    “So to speak,” Brad said, straight-faced.
    “Precisely. The police are trying real hard to find a connection between the dead man, Frank Telford, and one of us.