The Easter Egg Murder by Patricia Smith Wood

encountered in the parking lot this morning. He may have driven a black SUV, too.”
    Harrie protested. “I did not have an encounter. He just helped me up after I slipped. I don’t know what kind of car he was in. I don’t even know if he had a car. Maybe he was walking or just got off the bus.”
    Philip shook his head. “Ladies, we have to talk about this. Let’s sit over here, and you can explain just what you mean about him helping you up off the ground.” He looked at Ginger. “And I need to know why you think he was driving a black SUV.”
    Philip settled himself in the leather chair. Ginger related what she had seen through the office window that morning. Philip asked Harrie questions to get her part of the story.
    “So you don’t think you’ve seen this man before?”
    Harrie shook her head. Philip looked at Ginger, and she thought it over before she spoke.
    “You know, I didn’t recognize him exactly, but he does look sort of familiar.”
    Harrie almost choked on her coffee. “You never said anything about that. How would you know him?”
    “I don’t know, but there was something about him. It’ll come to me. Give me a chance to sleep on it. I didn’t think it was important at the time.”
    “Tell me about this woman you interviewed ,” said Philip.
    “Caroline Johnson, and we did more than interview her. We hired her. She’s our new office manager. She’ll be fabulous.” She explained that Caroline had worked at Snow, Tessler, Knight , and McConaghy and was the managing partner’s assistant.
    Philip frowned. “ She was Jacob Snow’s assistant?”
    “Yes . Is there some significance to that?”
    “ Perhaps. Did I tell you there were two brothers and a brother-in-law in the practice? Jacob Snow was the youngest and became the managing partner in 1952. Then there was Peter Templeton who married Rachel Snow, the middle sibling. Rachel was close to Daniel’s age. They were both much older than Jacob. Daniel and I were friends many years ago. Later on, I got to know Jacob rather well. I must have met Caroline Johnson during that period.”
    Harrie said, “You wouldn’t believe the weird prospects the employment agency sent us. I had given up until we interviewed Caroline. She was perfect for us, and she’s available right now. My only concern is that she seems almost too good to be true.”
    Philip looked at the young women seated across from him. “Appearances can be de ceiving.”
    Harrie put her cup down. “That was one of my grandmother’s favorite sayings. She said it all the time.”
    He sat back in his chair, and looked at them with his steely gaze. “Okay, then here’s another saying – If you think something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

12
     
     
    Philip Lawrence took his glasses off and sat back in his chair. He vigorously rubbed his face in an attempt to wipe away the fatigue.
    In the hour since Harrie and Ginger had left, he had been thinking about something they told him. He made a phone call and got right to the point. “We spoke a few days ago about you doing more work for me. I’d like to meet with you to discuss that. Could you come by my home this afternoon to go over the details?”
    When the man agreed, Philip ended the call by saying, “I’ll leave word at the gate that I’m expecting you.”
    He hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake, but at this point, he had to risk stirring things up. There were facts that needed verification. He sighed heavily and went back to the safe room. He closed the door behind him, chuckled to himself and thought, Philip, old man, you really are getting paranoid.
    When he ’d started writing the book, he hadn’t planned to solve the crime or even insinuate who the guilty party was. It was just a story that haunted him, one he thought needed retelling. It wasn’t his intention nor was it a good idea to provoke old animosities. However, somewhere during the writing, his perspective changed. It now seemed almost