Read Murder in the Past Tense (Miss Prentice Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) for Free Online Page B

dog.
    Eileen murmured again.
    “All right, all right. I’ll have Pat meet you there later. But you’ve got to promise to . . . ” Again the ambient noise drowned out his words.
    I edged forward and stumbled into a metal stand displaying cardboard tire cutouts. The stand fell over, and immediately Terence came around the divider to face me. The expression on his face was not a friendly one.
    I felt myself shrinking under my load of hot dogs, cups of soda, and wallets. “Um, sorry.” I glanced past him to get a glimpse of Mystery Girl, but this Eileen person had vanished. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. We were—I mean, Lily and I were—um, getting lunch.” I held up my burdens by way of explanation. “I thought I heard crying and—”
    Terence stepped closer. “Amelia—” I didn’t like his stern tone.
    He was interrupted by the sound of a flushing toilet.
    He took my elbow, leaned in and whispered roughly in my ear, “We’ll speak of this later.” And he was gone.
    Hastily I returned to my post. By the time the restroom door began to open, Terence had galloped back up the stairs at surprising speed. Well, he was a dancer.
    I handed over Lily’s wallet, hot dog, and drink. “Wait a minute.”
    I stepped around the wall of tires and scanned the scene, looking for clues to explain what I’d just heard. There were two well-worn plastic-covered chairs and a small table littered with ragged issues of catalogs and Mechanics Illustrated as well as several tall cardboard signs boasting of tire prices, but nothing to indicate just what the heck was going on. Eileen must have left by the garage entrance, which was across the street from the Greyhound bus station. Hmm.
    “What gives?” Lily was standing behind me.
    I shrugged and turned. “It’s nothing. Come on, let’s go eat these in the park.”

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    “Isn’t this cute?” I asked Lily. “It’s a tiny stewardess uniform!” We’d been strolling down the aisles of Vickery’s dime store after lunch and happened on the toy department. “Look at the little wing pin on the lapel.”
    Lily wrinkled her nose. “It’s just a doll. I outgrew that stuff years ago! Besides, it’s a knockoff of the real one.”
    “I just like to collect them,” I declared in order to justify my childish interest. I picked up a brunette version.
    Lily gave a snorting giggle. “She looks like Pat Gerard. Look at that chest!”
    “That’s not nice, Lily. She—omigosh! Look!”
    It was Pat Gerard herself, walking rapidly up the aisle toward the checkout as quickly as her husband had just done a half hour earlier in Mason’s. Scowling, she swept past without noticing us. In one hand she carried an inexpensive yellow cotton sundress with a sunflower pattern at least several sizes too small for herself and, in the other, a shoebox. Frowning, tapping her foot, she paid for her selections and left, pushing through the heavy door impatiently.
    “Well,” said Lily, to the closing door, “ignore us, why don’t cha?” She turned to me. “What do you think that was all about?”
    I could have told Lily what I’d heard in Mason’s Variety, but if I’d stumbled on a private family crisis, to tell about it—especially to a gossip like Lily—seemed like a betrayal. Besides, maybe that dress wasn’t for Eileen.
    I shrugged. “Who knows?” It wasn’t really a lie.
    Forty minutes later the entire company had reassembled in the auditorium. Chris Gold paced back and forth next to the piano, checking his watch frequently, stroking his beard and frowning. Finally, at two-fifteen, he whispered something to the pianist, who nodded. Then he stepped forward.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately Terence and Pat are unavoidably detained, so we’ll begin without them. As stage manager I’ll be stepping in on the occasions when Terence is busy. So if you’ll turn to page one of your scripts, we’ll begin the musical read-through. Linda, will you read for Pat’s