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bed or took a shower and even then, it didn’t always get taken off. “ You just never know when you might want to stop off at St. Michael’s ,” she would say. “ There’s always someone you need to light a candle for .” How true was that?
    “How does John feel about you being over at the house?” Meme called from the kitchen.
    I could hear a tea kettle whistling and walked into the room and pulled a mug out of the cupboard. “John didn’t make it over last night, but he called around nine with another warning not to get involved in the case. The police can handle it just fine, thank you very much. That’s how he feels about it.”
    I carried the sandwich and the tea into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Meme brought in a cup of coffee, heavy with milk, and took a seat on a chair by the window.
    I sighed heavily. “I didn’t think I should mention the fact I’m the one who uncovered the killer the last time Indian Cove went through this, so I told him I would keep my nose out of it though I did have to work there, didn’t I?”
    Meme cackled.
    “And if I happen to overhear something or need to ask a question, well, it’s all in a day’s work.” I smiled at my grandmother and took a big bite out of the sandwich. “Meme, do you know Mrs. Brissart?”
    Meme shook her head. “Never met her. I’ve seen her name in the papers plenty, though. She seemed to be on an awful lot of committees.”
    I nodded and swallowed a piece of the sandwich. “She is. That’s why we have one of our temps working over there, though we should call her permanent by now.”
    “Your sister said you’re going to be working over there this week. I’m real sorry, honey, that you have to go through all this again but at least you didn’t find the body this time.”
    “The housekeeper did. Poor woman.”
    “When you find out who the killer is, make sure you come get me first this time. We can’t go through what we went through last year.” Meme’s voice cracked.
    I decided to change the subject. “What are you doing today?”
    Meme heaved herself out of the chair and went into the kitchen and came back with a little notebook. “I got to go and do a few collections. I let one go for a few weeks cuz he got sick, but he’s back to work now. Can’t let them get too far behind.”
    My grandmother dabbled in loan sharking—on a very small scale and only with a few choice customers. I realized long ago that Meme didn’t need the money and didn’t actually make much on the deals, she just liked helping out people she thought might need a second chance. She had an uncanny sense for knowing which people were good risks and surprisingly, she never got stiffed.
    Meme finished writing something in the notebook and closed it. “And then me and Theresa are going over to Fred’s for some Pinochle.”
    I held my mug between my hands and smiled. “Viagra Fred?”
    Meme shook her head and sighed heavily. “Generic Fred. He can’t afford the real stuff. From what I hear, though, that generic brand does the trick.”
    “Is this first-hand knowledge?” I asked, staring at my grandmother and not sure I wanted to know.
    “Naw,” Meme said with a wave of her hand. “Ester likes to brag, but if you ask me, even with those generics, I can’t see how a ninety-four year old man is going to get any use out of them. I think Ester’s full of hot air.”
    I kissed my grandmother goodbye with an admonishment not to cheat. Meme just cackled and pushed me out the door.

CHAPTER NINE

    On the way to the Brissart home I drove through the old part of town, and stopped at Kruger’s Market to pick something up for lunch. If what Chantal had told me about Bradley’s food being poisoned was true—a tidbit of information that John all but confirmed last night—then I planned to bring my own lunch rather than nibble on anything in the Brissart household. I worried about using the refrigerator and opted for an apple and a package of rice