Read Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 03 - The Priest Who Ate a Poison Petit Fore for Free Online Page A

married.”
    Hannah gave Cate a hug as well, then Buster. Glancing over to Magdalen, she opened herself up for one more. The woman obliged. Magdalen then turned to Vera. “You did this?”
    Vera smiled and cocked her head. “Well. It seems I have this friend who called to tell me another friend was not happy with what she was going to get married in. Since I now have more money than one person should, thanks to that friend, I figured I should do something about that. Besides, I needed to get her a wedding present. So, my friends and I got together, arranged an online meeting with an amazing designer who works at a company I own a part off. Then I paid a team of seamstresses a whole lot to get it done in short order.”
    The smile on Hannah’s face spoke volumes. Vera’s gesture caught her by surprise, a rare event in her life. Her mind raced back through the events that led to this day. The investigation into Chef Julia Karas’ murder. The meeting of Vera, and the woman’s ultimate inheritance of a multi mega million-dollar empire. Thanks to all those coincidental events, she now stood in a wedding gown that far exceeded her greatest expectations.
    “Where’s Gran and your mom?” Buster inquired. “I kind of thought they would be here.”
    “Mom and Dad are still in the rainforest on a dig. Gran didn’t want to come along. She wants it all to be a surprise.”
    “And she will be,” Cate assured. “As will everyone. How many guests are you up to?”
    “I drew the line at two hundred and fifty. I didn’t want it this big, but well, over the years, it seems I made some acquaintances.”
    Again, Magdalen assumed a stunned face. “There’s maybe fifty from our side.”
    “That’s fine,” Hannah assured. “You and Hym are the important ones.””
    Magdalen drew up a sudden, pensive look. “Are Susan and Calvin coming?”
    Hannah confirmed. “They are, but they are also going to be looking after the Reverend.”
    “Have you considered a backup plan just in case? Given the Reverend’s condition and all.”
    Magdalen’s question struck Hannah. A backup plan , rolled through her mind. Calvin. Susan. Backup plan . Something about the words toyed with Hannah. Acting as one. Each as a backup. Could it be? A tap on the shoulder brought her back to the moment.
    “Uh-uh,” Cate issued in a stern voice and a wave of a finger. “Not today. Head in the game. Wedding dresses and lunch with us girls. That’’s all that needs to be running around that genius of yours right now.” She tapped the center of Hannah’s forehead. “You can twirl it around up there on your way to Happiness tomorrow.”
    “But a backup plan would---”
    “We’ll discuss a real backup plan as soon as we finish here.” Cate turned to Buster. “You sure you’re not coming?”
    Buster shook his blond head. “I’m meeting the other half of this party at Garrity’s for the tuxes. Then we’ll grab a bite somewhere.”
    Hannah frowned but agreed, though a question still played in her head. Could the deaths be a backup to hide some larger plan? Every one of the victims tied together through Susan and Calvin’s medical practice. However, linking them to that single thread held a limited number of possibilities. Cate had checked into the financials of each known victim. She mentioned nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing raised a red flag. No victim left anything to the practice. Their final bills were settle. Settled , Hannah pondered. A possibility . She wondered if a victim’s sudden death led to the settlement of bills without looking into their medical history. If the diagnosis did not match the billing for procedures, then by killing those for a different reason would make sense. In a sick kind of way , Hannah further noted to herself. In doing so, only the immediate cause of death would need investigation. This caused another few questions to come to mind. Could the murders just be a front to bilk insurance companies? Could, at