Death Come Quickly by Susan Wittig Albert Page B

me any of the grisly details, at least not right away. Charlie Lipman, Pecan Springs’ most popular lawyer, has been a close friend for as long as both of us have been in Pecan Springs. McQuaid handles most of Charlie’s investigations. And since Charlie’s clients are usually prominent local citizens, McQuaid often finds himself digging up dirt on prominent local folk. It’s a good thing he doesn’t tell me everything he knows. I might not be able to function around some of these people.
    â€œJudging from what Charlie has told me so far, though,” he added, “it’s a thin case. A very thin, very old cold case. If I can dig up any leads at all, it’s likely to involve some forensic accounting.”
    â€œWell, if you’re looking for accounting help, you won’t do better than Kate,” I remarked. Kate Rodriguez is Amy’s partner: Amy, the wild child, Ruby’s daughter and the mother of Baby Grace, Ruby’s granddaughter. Amy and Kate have been living together for several years now. Kate owns her own accounting firm and does the books and the tax accounting for Ruby’s and my shops and our tearoom.
    â€œNo problem there,” McQuaid replied. “Kate is the first one I thought of, too. The big problem is getting my hands on the records. That’s going to take some out-of-the-box thinking.”
    â€œI’m sure you’ll come up with something creative.” I put the dish of beans on the table. “Supper’s ready. You’d better go out and see what’s keeping the kids.”
    McQuaid set his empty glass down and pulled me against him. “Yeah,” he said. “But all this talk about babies reminds me of sex.” He tipped my head back and gave me a lascivious grin. “Maybe we could make a date, you and me. Like, tonight?”
    â€œSounds good to me,” I said and kissed him on the chin. “But no babies. You hear?”
    â€œAww,” he said, drawing the word out. “You are such a spoilsport, China.”
    But he was grinning when he said it.

Chapter Three
    In England, red roses must be pruned carefully, for bad luck will follow if the petals fall from the blossom as it is cut. In Italy, in the last century, you weren’t supposed to give a fully opened rose to someone as a gift. If you did, a close relative of the recipient would surely die.
    China Bayles
“Herbs of Good and Ill Omen”
Pecan Springs Enterprise

    When Jake comes for supper, she and Brian usually take over the kitchen cleanup. This evening, though, McQuaid wanted Brian’s help with a project out in the barn, and the two of them disappeared. Caitie had done the dishes the night before, so I gave her a break and volunteered to work with Jake. Anyway, I wanted to talk to her.
    â€œI understand that Gretchen is working on her thesis project with Dr. Prior,” I said as we cleared the table. “I wonder—did you hear what happened?”
    If Jake were an ordinary teen, I wouldn’t have gone into it with her. But she demonstrated just how adult she is when she and Brian were involved in a tragic—and deadly—situation with one of the coaches at the high school a couple of years ago. She has her head on straight.
    â€œGretchen told me that Dr. Prior was mugged in the parking lot at the mall.” Jake carried the casserole dish to the kitchen counter. “Actually, Dr. Prior is a friend of Mom’s, as well as Gretchen’s supervisor. She’s been to our house for dinner a couple of times.” She shook her head gravely. “Sounds pretty awful.”
    â€œI’m afraid it is,” I replied. “I just heard about it this afternoon. I wonder—did Gretchen know any of the details?”
    â€œI don’t think so,” Jake said. “She and Kitt—Kitt Bradley is Gretchen’s partner on the documentary—wanted to go straight over to the hospital to see her. But