Quilt Trip: A Southern Quilting Mystery by Elizabeth Craig

leather armchair and smiled gently at Miss Sissy. “Miss Sissy told me she had something she wanted to share with you,” she told Beatrice.
    Beatrice tried to be encouraging, although she wasn’t quite sure she was going to like Miss Sissy’s surprise. Depending on whether she was having a good day or a bad one, Miss Sissy’s surprises could be various levels of extraordinary. Posy gave Beatrice a comforting wink, so it couldn’t be too bad.
    Miss Sissy sprang over to Beatrice’s side and put her hands over Beatrice’s outstretched palm, laying a chocolate bar there. Miss Sissy’s beady eyes greedily watched the chocolate.
    “Miss Sissy!” said Beatrice. “You’re giving me your chocolate? How sweet of you.” She smiled at the old woman, then reached to deposit the somewhat mangled chocolate bar on the end table next to her chair.
    “Eat it!” commanded Miss Sissy.
    Beatrice demurred. “I’m not really hungry right now, Miss—”
    “Eat chocolate!”
    Not wanting to turn Miss Sissy’s good day into a bad day, Beatrice speedily unwrapped the chocolate and put it in her mouth. She had to admit that the sweet taste of the chocolate had a relaxing effect on her.
    Miss Sissy bobbed her head in satisfaction. “That will help.”
    Surprisingly, Beatrice thought that it might.
    At that moment Meadow walked right into the study without knocking. “Are y’all having a party in here? Without inviting me?” She glimpsed the wrapper in Beatrice’s hand. “And with chocolate?”
    “It’s all gone,” said Miss Sissy fiercely. “Only had the one piece in my pocketbook.”
    “If you say so,” said Meadow in a suspicious voice. “Although I’m not altogether convinced that’s the case. Anyway, Beatrice, I wanted to hear how it’s going. What have you found out so far?”
    “I think I’ve ended up raising more questions than I’m answering,” Beatrice replied glumly. “Alexandra offered up a little information—vague information. Really, just inferences and innuendos. I think they’re both holding back something, too. Alexandra hinted at a romantic relationship of some kind between Colton and Muriel. Colton denied any current involvement.”
    “Lies!” offered Miss Sissy, predictably.
    “I can’t really picture Colton Bradshaw and Muriel Starnes together,” Posy said thoughtfully.
    “What else did you find out?” Meadow asked.
    “Alexandra mentioned that Winnie Tyson and her mother had been friends but had some sort of falling out. She didn’t say what. Alexandra said she heard her mother and Winnie arguing last night.”
    “The plot thickens!” said Meadow in a dramatic voice.
    “And Alexandra said that she and her mother weren’t close,” Beatrice continued.
    “Clearly,” agreed Meadow.
    “Colton said that one of the reasons he was here was because Muriel had planned on changing her will after we had our meeting. She still wanted to go through with the changes after supper last night, but he discouraged her from doing so. He felt uncomfortable doing it with all of us in the house.”
    “Mmm.” Meadow gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. “It sounds like perhaps someone was getting cut from the will or maybe receiving less money.”
    “Well, if the quilting foundation had gone through, the amount of the inheritance would have been reduced anyway,” Beatrice explained.
    Meadow gasped. “Are you saying—are you saying that the quilting foundation hadn’t yet been added to Muriel’s will? That it’s kaput?”
    Beatrice sighed. “That’s my understanding, yes.” Now Meadow was going to be completely fixated on the foundation—the murder investigation would be a thing of the past.
    “Well, that stinks!” exclaimed Meadow, hands on her hips.
    “But it sounded like she’d made provisions in her old will for quilting groups,” Beatrice said hurriedly. It would be good to distract Meadow now before she got completely obsessed with the contents of Muriel’s will. “This might