The Heirloom Murders by Kathleen Ernst Page A

Dellyn sighed and turned away.
    Downstairs, Dellyn made the introductions. “This is my Aunt Sonia Padopolous. Sonia, my friend Chloe works at Old World with me.”
    “Nice to meet you,” Chloe said. “You’re Dellyn’s aunt … ?”
    “Oh, not by blood, but I’ve known Dellyn since she was in diapers.” The plump woman held a picnic basket in one hand. She wore lavender polyester shorts, a frilly cotton blouse—both a little too tight—and short white socks with thick-soled tennis shoes. Her cropped hair was the flat red of a bad dye job. Chloe guessed she was probably in her mid-sixties.
    Sonia turned to Dellyn. “Honey, I brought over some fried chicken and cole slaw. And my Oatmeal Gems.”
    “Thanks. I’m not hungry, though. You’ve got to stop bringing things over.”
    “You have to eat,” Sonia said firmly. She marched into the kitchen and insisted on setting the kitchen table right that minute.
    Dellyn took a pitcher of cold tea from the fridge. Chloe accepted a tall, sweating glass gratefully. She fended off the offer of fried chicken by explaining she was a vegetarian, but tried to make nice by taking a large helping of cole slaw.
    Roelke’s disapproving voice echoed in her mind: Coffee and cole slaw? It’s two o’clock in the afternoon. You need protein.
    Lovely. Now both of the problem men in her life had intruded into the day.
    “So,” Sonia said. “You work at Old World too? Are you one of those guides?”
    “We call them interpreters,” Chloe said. “But actually, I’m curator of collections.”
    “Chloe’s not a Jill-come-lately to the history world, like I am,” Dellyn said. “She actually knows what she’s doing.”
    “Sort of, anyway.” Chloe took a bite of cole slaw, and strangled a cough. Good Lord! How could someone ruin cole slaw? She grabbed her glass of tea and gulped.
    Sonia didn’t seem to notice. “Dellyn’s parents would have loved you, then. They knew everything there was to know about Eagle history.”
    “Speaking of that, I’ve got Valerie’s article about the Eagle Diamond I was telling you about, Chloe,” Dellyn said. She got up from the table and, behind Sonia’s back, slid a napkin-wrapped chicken leg into the trash can. Then she grabbed a few stapled pages from a stack on the counter, and handed them to Chloe.
    “I knew you’d find it,” Chloe said, as she wondered how she might discreetly dispose of her cole slaw.
    Dellyn slid back into her chair. “I didn’t find it. It made me so crazy that I finally went to the library and dug out the magazine, and made a photocopy.”
    Sonia reached across the table and patted Dellyn’s hand. “Hon, you’ve had two terrible shocks in a row. I’m not surprised if you’re feeling a little punky. Now, what’s this about the Eagle Diamond?”
    “You know the story?” Chloe asked.
    Sonia rubbed at an invisible spot on her fork. “Everyone around here knows the story. But it’s just a legend.” She slid a plate of cookies toward Dellyn. “Have a couple of my Oatmeal Gems.”
    Dellyn’s face was tight as she dutifully took a cookie. Chloe looked from her friend to the neighbor, trying to figure out the vibes. Aunt Sonia was eccentric, but aside from her cooking, seemed harmless. Dellyn, though, was acting uncharacteristically wired.
    “I hear the mailman,” Dellyn said. She slid from her chair and headed toward the door. Chloe watched with admiration as Dellyn slid her cookie into a pocket of her shorts. She was good at this hide-the-food thing. Chloe still didn’t know how to ditch the slaw without being obvious, so she steeled herself for one more bite of the vinegar-and-pepper-with-a-bit-of-cabbage mess, washed down with another gulp of tea.
    By the time Dellyn returned to the kitchen, Sonia had finished her own meal. “I’ve got to run on home,” she said. “Still no word on the service?”
    “They had to do an autopsy, remember,” Dellyn said stiffly. “That slows things down. But