Read Dead In The Water (Rebecca Schwartz Mystery #4) (The Rebecca Schwartz Series) for Free Online Page B

up. I really should try again. But I couldn’t find the reserve strength right then.
    Keil seemed to be reading my thoughts. “She puts everybody through changes.”
    The doorbell rang, the front door opened, and someone with heavy footsteps trooped through the house. I hoped it was someone friendly.
    “Grandma.”
    “Hello, Keil. Come kiss your old grandma.”
    Reluctantly Keil stepped forward and would have given her a kiss on the cheek, but she engulfed him. She wasn’t particularly fat and she wasn’t particularly grandmotherly, but it was already obvious she was a strong presence.
    She turned to me. “Ava Langford. You must be the lawyer.”
    I took the hand she offered. “Rebecca Schwartz.”
    “How’s Marty?” The question was sympathetic, but the brown eyes were full of judgment; of whom, I didn’t know yet.
    “Doing very well,” I said. “Staying calm.”
    “Cool as a cucumber. Libby?”
    “Upstairs. She’s very upset.”
    “She’s just trying to get attention. That’s the way she is. Keil! This place smells like a fast-food joint.” She opened two windows over the sink as she asked, “Will you be staying?”
    She wasn’t tall, this woman, about five five or six, I’d say, and she was built strong. She was deep-bosomed and heavy-bellied, and she didn’t have much of a waist. Her hair was a rich brown—not a gray hair in sight—and it was a little wavy. She would have been a handsome woman if it hadn’t been for her eyes. They made me nervous.
    I made a quick decision. “Yes. Until I get Marty out of jail.”
    I didn’t want to stay. I wanted like hell to move to a quiet B&B, but something was holding me here—Libby. I had no idea why. She scared me. I didn’t know how to talk to her or how to help her. Keil could probably take care of half a dozen kids like her without even breaking a sweat. She didn’t need me and there probably wasn’t a damn thing I could do for her. I just thought I ought to stay, that was all.
    “I have to do an errand for Marty. I’d better go get dressed.”
    Ava followed me upstairs. “Is there food in the house for the weekend? If I know Marty, there’s not. I’d better go shopping and get things under control.”
    I went into my room and heard her go into Libby’s. “Libby? It’s Grandma! Aren’t you glad to see Grandma?”
    “No!”
    “Libby! I’m ashamed of you. Your mama’s in jail and you’re acting like a two-year-old. How’s that going to help your mom? After all she’s been through, I’d think you could act a little more grown-up.”
    “I’m playing with my Barbies now.”
    “Grandma came all the way from Walnut Creek and you won’t even give her a hug.”
    The shower into which I gratefully stepped drowned them out.
    As I was putting on my makeup, someone knocked softly at my door. “Come in.”
    Libby did, and made herself at home, sitting on my bed and bouncing. “Can you get Mommy out of jail?”
    “Yes, honey. Absolutely. It might not be today, but she’ll be home by Monday at the latest. I promise.”
    “What happened to Sadie? I forgot to ask.”
    “Well, I think she really did get murdered. Somebody stabbed her.”
    She found a loose thread in the bedspread to play with. “Mommy didn’t do it, did she? It really is a mistake, right?”
    “Of course it is.”
    Anyway, I didn’t
think
her mommy did it. I certainly hoped not.
    She had an alibi, didn’t she?
    I wasn’t being set up, was I?

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Cannery Row was pandemonium. It was a Saturday, the biggest day for aquarium visitors. People were arriving in flocks, but the place was still roped off with yellow crime scene tape. Some left quietly, others stayed to rubberneck. Some, who had driven a hundred miles or more, wanted to argue.
    Nice-looking young uniformed police were keeping the mob at bay. A couple, looking exhausted, hovered on the sidelines, apparently taking a break. One of them accosted me. “Hey, aren’t you Whitehead’s