Chapters (50)
- COVER
- PRAISE FOR TITLES BY MIRANDA JAMES
- ALSO BY MIRANDA JAMES
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT
- DEDICATION
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- AFTERWORD
- LETTER TO THE READER
- SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM BLESS HER DEAD LITTLE HEART
Where had she kept them?
THIRTY-THREE
Again, the answer was obvious after barely a moment’s consideration. If Aunt Dottie had copies of the Veronica Thane newsletter, where else would she keep them but in the same room with the books themselves? They were probably in a box in the closet. I couldn’t recall ever having gone through that closet, though I’d bet Azalea knew exactly what was in every closet in the house.
Before I dashed up the stairs to check, however, I had a couple more questions for Melba—bits of things that had surfaced from somewhere in the beehive of my brain.
“Got another one for you. Talking about her computer reminded me,” I said. “Did they take Carrie’s computer from the house?”
“They sure did.” Melba nodded three times. “Just like they do on television crime shows. Said they were going to check everything on it.”
“I figured they probably would.” I hoped they would go through her e-mail in particular. The clue we sought might be lurking in a message. I was happy to leave that particular job to the professionals. In addition to her mail, whoever did the work could go through all the newsletter issues. I would do what I could on my end, especially if Aunt Dottie had copies of the precomputer issues.
“I’m done, Charlie,” Melba said as she pushed her chair back and stood. “And I checked the clock. It’s almost nine thirty. I have about enough time to run home and freshen up before church, so I’m going to head out now. Will you see that Kanesha gets my notes?”
“Of course,” I said. “You can leave them on the table.”
Diesel had evidently been sound asleep, because I hadn’t heard a peep from him in quite a while. Melba’s stated intention to leave—and the noise of the chair scraping on the linoleum—woke him up. He started muttering and butting his head against her legs, telling her not to go. She laughed and scratched his head and along his spine.
“Sorry, sweet boy, but I need to get to church. I’ll see you tomorrow at the office, and I might have a treat for you.” Melba smiled down at the cat. He warbled back, sounding slightly happier. The word treat always worked. He also knew what office meant.
“We’ll see you out.” Diesel and I accompanied her to the front door, and I gave her a quick hug before she headed down the walk to her car. Diesel meowed after her until I shut the door and he could no longer see her.