related to him or anyone else in this town.â
âSo, what brought you to South Cove? I heard you had a pretty nice gig in San Francisco.â
âIf you call dealing with battered women and the men who love to hit them a nice gig, then yes.â
Who was this guy? I was getting pretty tired of the questions. Like Iâd moved here five years ago as part of my evil plan to kill Miss Emily on Sunday.
âI heard you were an attorney and married to some stockbroker or something.â Detective King glanced up at me.
âWell, the rumor mill got part of it right. I was married to a stockbroker and I was an attorney. I practiced family law, which means I worked more hours than the other associates and made half as much.â
âYou didnât know anyone here when you moved?â
âOnly Miss Emily. All it took was talking to her one weekend, and sheâd convinced me to pull up stakes and move here. I spent an afternoon with her drinking iced tea when I stayed for a short vacation at Madisonâs Bed-and-Breakfast. She got me.â I started to tear up.
He checked his list. âWell, thatâs about it. Letâs go back into the office.â
âWhat did Doc Ames find? How did she die?â My mind wandered back over the scene from Doc Amesâs office. Who were those people? âAnd whatâs happening in the office?â
âI canât go over the specifics of the investigation with you. As a former attorney, you should know that. We need to go back to the office for the reading of the will.â Detective King peered back at me. âIâve been told you are going to be very happy.â
Happy? What the heck was he talking about? Miss Emily lived off her small pension check, using coupons to afford her groceries.
âWhatever she left me, Iâm sure it will be more sentimental than financial.â
âI guess you could call the inheritance sentimental.â
I followed Detective King back into Doc Amesâs office. Looking around, I spied Amy, who patted the chair next to her when she saw me.
âWhat did he want?â Amy whispered.
I kept an eye on Detective King to see if he was listening. He headed toward the front, but it seemed like he was going to talk to the tall, skinny guy with Doc Ames. The three of them spoke in low tones and kept glancing over at me. The guy was a royal jerk. âHe just wanted to get my story about when I found Miss Emily.â
âAre you a suspect?â Amy grabbed my hand. âThatâs just dumb, you loved that old lady.â
âNo, for some reason, Mayor Baylor has taken me out of the suspect pool.â I watched Amy for any reaction. âWhatâs up with that, do you think?â
âHow should I know? Heâs crazy.â Amy started to dig in her purse for something, avoiding eye contact.
âAmy? Did you ask Mayor Baylor to tell Detective King to keep me out of this?â I pressed my friend, who continued to focus on the bottom of her purse.
âWhy would I do that? And more to the point, why would he listen to me? The man hates me.â Amyâs voice sounded muffled from the purse.
I suspected Amy knew more than what she was saying, but if my friend had kept my name out of the investigation, more power to her. I didnât kill Miss Emily, and it would be pretty hard to find out who did from the inside of South Coveâs makeshift jail. Iâd have to think about taking Mayor Baylorâs name off my list, quid pro quo, but not until I talked to him. âHey, what time does he come into the office tomorrow?â
âMayor Baylor? Not until nine-thirty, ten. Why?â Amy regarded me from her excursion into her purse. She offered me a peppermint Life Saver from a half-gone roll. My stomach growled. I took the Life Saver.
âI wanted to talk to him about Bambiâs developer boyfriend. Have you found out anything?â I hoped this reading would