Read Body in the Woods (A Reverend Annabelle Dixon Cozy Mystery Book 3) for Free Online Page A

lowering her voice, “there is something I would like to ask you. I had hoped Philippa would be able to help me, but as you can see, she’s not very willing to discuss such things.”
    “Of course I’ll help you. Ask away.”
    “It’s about the body, actually. You’ve lived in Upton St. Mary for a long time, haven’t you, Barbara?”
    Barbara smiled. “Born and raised, Vicar! Though I always prefer telling people I’ve not been alive that long!”
    Annabelle chuckled a little.
    “Well, have you ever heard any rumors about Miss Montgomery the school teacher? Specifically her sister?”
    Barbara’s long, thick eyelashes splayed outward as she gasped her surprise. “You know what, I never thought of that! Yes, you’re right, Vicar. That body could very well be her!”
    “Who?” Annabelle said quickly, almost pleading for a name.
    “Lucy. Louisa Montgomery’s sister. I haven’t thought about Lucy in years. I still see Louisa around sometimes though, carrying her huge carpet bag, as uptight as anything. She doesn’t seem to have changed in – gosh – twenty years, now? Lives just opposite Katie Flynn’s tea shop – terrible fuss they had a while ago.”
    “Yes. But what about Lucy? Why did her sister disapp—”
    Annabelle was so eager to blurt out her questions that she almost didn’t notice Philippa’s shuffling footsteps emerge from the bathroom. She stopped herself mid-sentence to smile at the small woman as she came back into the kitchen.
    “Am I interrupting?” Philippa said quietly, almost hanging her head with embarrassment.
    “Of course not!” Annabelle assured her, standing up from her seat. “I was just on my way out to perform some errands. I’ll leave you two to yourselves.”
    “See you, Vicar.”
    “It was a pleasure catching up, Barbara. Hopefully I’ll see you around.”
    “Likewise,” Barbara said.
    Philippa merely nodded, before sitting down and clasping her teacup with both hands in order to stop them from shaking.

    Annabelle leaped into her Mini and started the engine. It roared into life eagerly, mirroring her mood that had been kick-started by the information she had just gleaned.
    Barbara had not said much, indeed, she had been interrupted before fully embarking on her train of thought, but she had said enough. The teacher’s name was Louisa Montgomery; her sister’s name was Lucy. She lived opposite Katie Flynn’s tea shop, a place that Annabelle knew well.
    That was all Annabelle needed.
    In all her time in Upton St. Mary, and of all the pieces of gossip she had come across, there was only one solution she knew would work when one wanted the truth and nothing but the truth: Go right to the source.
    If there was any connection between that body in the woods and the alleged disappearance of Lucy Montgomery, she would find out from Louisa herself.
    Even at this early hour, the village was bustling as it always was on Saturdays with the farmer’s market at its center. Annabelle weaved her Mini through the rough, cobbled streets and turned the corner that led to Katie Flynn’s tea shop.
    The tea shop was situated on one of the most well-preserved, delightfully colorful, and sleepy – even by Upton St. Mary’s standards – streets. What Annabelle found, however, as she drove her Mini carefully down its bumpy cobbles, was anything but calm.
    “I saw you! That’s not the way you hold a dog! If he wants to sniff the lamppost, you let him sniff the lamppost! Who do you think you are?” bellowed none other than DI Nicholls.
    “I… I… I’m Terry Watson,” stammered the frightened man who was cowering in the presence of the tall, imposing figure of the Inspector.
    “I don’t care what your name is! I don’t care if you’re the King of Egypt! When your dog wants to sniff something, you jolly well let him!”
    Annabelle parked the car beside the two figures and jumped out of it.
    “What’s going on?” she said, walking up to the two men.
    The Inspector