Ladies' Circle of Murder (A Lacy Steele Mystery Book 8) by Vanessa Gray Bartal Page A

determined.
    “Maybe next week,” she said. She stood and left.
    “How sad,” Marcia said, returning to her work.
    As unobtrusively as possible, Lacy set aside her yarn knot and followed Deb. She met up with her at her car, fumbling with her keys.
    “Excuse me,” she called.
    Deb dropped her keys and spun, her hand pressed to her heart.
    “Sorry,” Lacy said.
    “No, it’s okay. I’m a little jumpy lately. Weren’t you at the knitting group?”
    “Yes, I’m Lacy.”
    “Deb,” she said. “I’m sorry about that. It’s been a rough couple of days.”
    “I heard about your husband,” Lacy said.
    “Ex-husband,” Deb corrected. “We were divorced for a while.”
    “I’m still sorry. This must be a painful time for you, and I don’t want to make it worse, but I wondered if I might ask you a few questions.”
    Deb’s gaze narrowed. “What kind of questions?”
    “I’m covering Mr. Hoskins’ death for the paper.”
    “Why? Normal people don’t have their deaths written up in the paper,” Deb said.
    “He was a business owner and part of the community, and he had a tragic and unexpected death. In a small town, that’s news.”
    “I can’t talk about this now.”
    “Of course, I understand. Is there a better time?”
    “I don’t know. It’s hard to think.”
    “I understand. Can I ask one question before you go?”
    “What?”
    “Which was Mr. Hoskins’ dominant hand?” The control for the lift had been found by his right hand. Something about that bugged Lacy, but she didn’t know why. Had she watched him write something with his left hand? She couldn’t remember.
    “He was a lefty,” Deb said.
    Then why would the control for the lift be by his right hand? “Could I ask you one more question, and this is the last one, I promise,” Lacy said.
    Deb gave a long sigh. “One more.”
    “Was there anyone you can think of who had reason to harm him?”
    Deb’s sad expression turned into a sardonic-looking smile. “I can think of one person.”
    “Who?” Lacy asked.
    “Me.”
     

Chapter 6
     
    “Hey, Babe.”
    “Hi, how are you? How’s the class?” Lacy hadn’t expected to hear from Jason. His week was set to be a busy one.
    “It’s good, a lot is going on. What’s new there?”
    I’m almost certain Bob Hoskins was murdered and my mom is somehow connected. Also, I launched my own investigation for the sole purpose of annoying your coworker.
    “I joined the knitting group,” she said
    “Did you make anything?”
    “A knot. Maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s a good one.”
    “That’s my girl. What are you doing now?”
    “I’m on my way to dodgeball.”
    “About that, it occurred to me that I forgot to tell you the rules.”
    “There are rules?” Lacy said.
    “Of course there are rules. There are rules for every sport, but they’re simple. Basically you want to stay on your half of the court and try to catch any ball that comes your way. If you catch, then the person who threw is out. But you can’t hold the ball; you have to toss it away immediately, or you’re out. Also…”
    He continued on for a while. Lacy zoned out.
    “Got that?” he said.
    “Yes, don’t get dead,” she said.
    “Close enough. It doesn’t matter anyway because Travis is going to be there. He’s going to look out for you. It’s going to be fine,” he said.
    “It’s going to be fine,” she repeated with no real conviction.
    “Thanks for doing this. I know it’s not your thing,” he said.
    “It’s no big deal. I’m glad to do it,” she said. She checked the sky to make sure lightning wasn’t about to strike her dead for the lies.
    “You’re the best girlfriend ever,” he said.
    “Are you wearing the t-shirt I bought you that says so?” she asked.
    “Every day,” he said.
    “How is it there? Are you learning a lot?”
    “Almost too much. I’m afraid I won’t be able to remember it all. I’ve already filled a book with notes. The days start early and end