Read 1 The Underhanded Stitch for Free Online Page B

Tall Paul and Denny had alibis. That leaves Ben.”
    “Why do you think Grampy’s protecting Mr. Bentley?”
    Maddy thought about it for a moment. “Beau’s always been one to stick up for his friends. But I suspect it was something more than that.”
    “What?” Agnes was leaning forward, hanging onto every word, like someone listening to ghost stories around a campfire.
    “Beats me. But there’s something else. I haven’t told anyone this yet – not Cookie or Bootsie or Lizzie – not even your mom – but I found something inside that bronze bust when I came across it there in the mausoleum. At first I tried to pick up the bust, but it was much too heavy. My efforts only succeeded in making something inside it rattle. So I tilted the ol’ thing forward just enough to get my hand inside and there I found it – a ring.”
    “A ring?”
    “This ring,” said Maddy, opening her fist to reveal a golden circlet with a ruby-red stone.
    “It’s pretty,” breathed her granddaughter, bending closer to examine the ring. “Does it belong to Grampy?”
    “Maybe, by rights of inheritance. I suspect this was Colonel Beauregard Madison the First’s ring. I’ve heard Cookie talk about it, a souvenir taken off his dead body by one Ferdinand Jinks – the outcast town founder.”
    “But if Mr. Jinks stole the ring, how did it get in the head of that bronze statue?” Young Agnes exhibited a sense of logic that proved beyond any doubt that she and Maddy Madison shared the same DNA structure.
    “Hm, good question.”
    “So the mystery isn’t solved!”
    “No, not quite yet,” said Maddy.
     

 
    Chapter Ten
     
     
Just the Man for Heavy Lifting
     
    M addy Madison was a fine looking woman at 58. Even Lizzie, the most critical of her friends, said she had “aged well.” Maddy’s hair was still a light brown – thank you, Lady Clairol – and her complexion was smooth. Thankfully she’d never smoked and was careful to get a full eight hours sleep each night.
    That’s why she wasn’t particularly surprised when Benjamin Bentley gave her a compliment: “I always thought Beau married one of the prettiest ladies in the county,” he said as he served her a sweaty glass of ice tea along with a slice of gingerbread.
    Ben had never married. He shared the sprawling two-story farmhouse with his maiden sister. Looked like the Bentley lineage was coming to a halt with him and Becky.
    Becky Bentley had baked the pan of gingerbread just that afternoon and it was as tasty as it was fresh. She could be heard fussing about in the kitchen while Maddy sat on the front porch with Ben.
    “What a nice thing to say,” she accepted the man’s compliment, knowing it wasn’t meant to be forward. “But Cookie was the homecoming queen, not me, if you’ll recall.”
    “Yessum, I do. Always had a crush on her, but Bobby Brown was in line ahead of me.”
    “Bob’s gone,” she reminded the huge man. “Maybe you ought to invite Cookie over for dinner some night.”
    “Aw, it’s too late for me and her. I’m just an old bachelor, set in my ways.” He nodded toward the house where his sister busied herself in the kitchen. “Besides, Becky’s dependent on me. This is the only life she’s ever known.”
    “Becky’s a strong woman.”
    “Well, I s’pose.”
    “I have to ask you a question, Ben. Don’t mean for you to betray any confidences, but I’m aware that you helped my husband carry off that bust of Colonel Madison and hide it in his tomb.”
    “How come you didn’t tell that to Chief Purdue?”
    “The statue was returned – no harm, no foul.”
    “That’s true. And it weren’t like Beau didn’t donate it to the town in the first place.” He took a sip of his tea before continuing. “So what’s your question, Maddy?”
    “I found something inside that old bronze head. Guess I want to know how it got there.”
    Ben Bentley glanced at Maddy’s granddaughter, silently munching on a slice of gingerbread as