Murder Under the Covered Bridge by Elizabeth Perona

time.”
    Joy and Marcy started discussing television, which always bored Francine. She slipped the journal Jonathan had given her out of her stash of costume clothing and examined it. When she’d looked at it back at the bridge, there hadn’t been a lot of light. Now she saw more detail than she had before. The front cover had been blank, but her grandmother had stenciled the drawing on it. That means this is a pattern of some kind, Francine thought. She briefly wondered if it were simply a popular symbol of the times. Maybe she’d put too much stake in the similarity to the graffiti she’d seen carved into the beam of the bridge.
    â€œWhat’s in the diary?” Charlotte asked.
    Francine suddenly realized she couldn’t possibly do this with Charlotte around. She’d have to share it, and since it was her grandmother’s, she didn’t want to. Not yet.
    â€œNothing, really.” She put it in the pocket of the raincoat. She’d look at it later.

five
    Once they got closer to Rockville and had cell reception again, Francine made a phone call to William’s wife, Dolly, and learned that he was at Union Hospital in Clinton. Dolly was distraught and couldn’t seem to say anything about William’s condition, other than he was in a coma. Francine promised that she would be over soon to visit them.
    On the outskirts of Rockville, the women drove past a large, gaudy billboard that read, Visit Mary Ruth’s in Rockville! As seen on Food Network! The accompanying photo was of the front of Mary Ruth’s Fabulous Sweet Shoppe at the festival.
    â€œThat’s odd,” Francine remarked. “I don’t remember seeing that yesterday when we came in.”
    â€œYou were driving.”
    Two hundred yards later they drove by another sign, this one a temporary wooden placard painted in Mary Ruth Catering pink, set by the side of the road on private property. Try the corn fritter donuts, as seen on Food Network! Mary Ruth’s Fabulous Sweet Shoppe!
    That just doesn’t sound like Mary Ruth , Francine thought. She turned her head, continuing to stare in disbelief at the sign as the SUV sped by. On the other hand, she knew the festival was anxious to capitalize on Mary Ruth’s notoriety. This would be just the kind of homespun advertising that would appeal to fair-goers . Perhaps Mary Ruth had nothing to do with it.
    When the Covered Bridge Festival Committee approached Mary Ruth about operating a food booth at the Festival, what sealed the deal was the large home in downtown Rockville that a rich patron offered her as a place to stay and prep food. The patron hated the crowds and went on vacation during the event. Once Mary Ruth saw the mansion and its complete commercial kitchen, she’d agreed to do it. The rest of the Bridge Club had been willing to stay for ten days and pitch in to help get the food ready each day. Jonathan had stayed the night last night just to do the photo shoot in the morning.
    The traffic backup got bad the instant they made it into Rockville. “It was a big mistake to come this way,” Joy said. “Francine, can you guide us around the back roads?”
    Though she hadn’t grow up in the area because they’d moved to Evansville when she was a little girl, Francine had been there often over the years and knew her way around. Joy followed her directions until they hit another backlog. This one wasn’t moving.
    Joy drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “At least we’re closer than we were.”
    â€œIf we’re going to help Mary Ruth anytime soon,” Francine observed, “we’ll need to hoof it from here. Are you ready, ladies? Charlotte, do you feel up to it?”
    â€œI guess I’ll have to be.” Charlotte grabbed her cane and, without hesitation, opened the back seat door.
    Francine was glad Jonathan wasn’t with them. Charlotte was grumbly but Jonathan would have been