Read A Mold For Murder for Free Online Page B

this.”
    “None of it was your fault,” she said gently. “Who knew our guest of honor would be murdered in the back hallway?” Mom shivered, then added, “Jim told me the ambulance left ten minutes ago.”
    “How about the production line? Can the guys get started on their next run?” Getting our family back in the business of soapmaking was the best thing that could happen for all of us right now. Sometimes I complained that things were too quiet in our business, but right now, I would have given anything to have this day be boring.
    Mom shook her head. “No, the police said we won’t be able to use it until tomorrow. That includes our offices, too, Ben. We might as well shut the store down and go home. We’re finished, at least for today.”
    I glanced at my watch and saw that we had two hours left in our working day. It was a first for Mom if she was willing to lock up early.
    “You all can go ahead,” I said, “but I’m staying. At least I can clean up.” We’d rearranged the entire sales floor to fit in the contessa’s talk and book signing, and seeing the disarray when we came back the next day would only bring back all of the events we’d be trying desperately to forget.
    A bright spark came into her eyes. “That’s a wonderful idea. The sooner we can get the store back to normal, the better off we’ll all be.” She clapped her hands, a sure sign that she wanted a family meeting. My brothers and sisters gathered around, and Mom said, “Ben’s had a wonderful idea. Instead of going home early and taking the rest of the day off, we’re all going to stay here and clean up.”
    “Wee,” Jim said.
    “Just what I wanted to do with my spare time,” Kate added.
    Jeff shrugged. “Why not? We need to do it sooner or later.”
    Louisa groaned. “I choose later.”
    “Enough,” Mom said. “We run this business as a family, and we’ll take this blow as a family. Now let’s get busy.”
    Everybody found something to do, and I appointed myself the job of packing all the soapmaking books we’d brought in for the signing back in their boxes. Bob came over and said, “You need any help?”
    “That would be great,” I said. “These won’t fit in my Miata. After we get them loaded up, we can take them back to Diana’s bookstore. You sure you don’t mind giving me a hand?”
    “Compared to some of the other jobs around here, that’s the best offer I’ve had.”
    After the boxes were tucked safely in their cartons, Jim and Jeff helped us load them into the back of Bob’s truck without even being asked. Once we had them all in place, Bob said, “Let’s go, Ben. Hop in.”
    As we drove to the bookstore, he added, “I can’t believe somebody was murdered in our shop today. It’s kind of tough to accept, isn’t it?”
    “I’m having a hard time with it, too,” I admitted.
    “I guess you would,” Bob said.
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Easy, big brother. I just mean that having your girlfriend accused of murder can’t be an easy thing to take.”
    “It’s not,” I admitted. After a few seconds, I added, “Sorry if I jumped on you, Bob. I guess I am a little stressed.”
    “You’ve got every right to be. Was it bad, finding the body like that?”
    I bit my lip, then said, “To be honest with you, it’s something I’d rather forget about right now.”
    My brother nodded as he drove on in silence. A few minutes later I heard him laughing softly to himself.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “Sorry, Ben. It’s nothing.”
    “No, share it with me, please. If there’s something funny about this situation, I’d love to hear it.”
    Bob hesitated, then finally he said, “Man, I couldn’t believe it when Kelly walked through the door. Then when I heard you were the one who called her, I thought you must have lost your mind. You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that.”
    “I just wish it made up for brains,” I said. “They both want to talk to me later, and I’ve got a feeling