Read Sex Change: A Nina Bannister Mystery (The Nina Bannister Mysteries Book 6) for Free Online

divine creator hate so much?”
    “I don’t know. The Congressman was an advocate of gay marriage. Abortion rights. Legalization of marijuana. The basic liberal agenda. A lot of people don’t like those positions.”
    “Right. So. The second one?”
    “Here.”
    “Same stationary, looks like. When did it come?”
    Dicken Proctor looked at her and said:
    “This morning. It was in the mail this morning.”
    She read:
    TO NINA BANNISTER:
    YOU ARE AN EVIL WOMAN. RENOUNCE YOUR BELIEFS, OR YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO LIVE.
    “Well, that’s comforting.”
    “I’m sorry to have to show you these.”
    She shrugged:
    “I assume that just goes with the territory. Any suspicious characters lurking around the Congressman’s office before his accident?”
    A smile:
    “This is Washington, Nina. Sometimes I think nobody lives here but suspicious characters.”
    “Well. All I can say is, I’ll keep my eyes open.”
    How did one do that, though? she found herself wondering, in a world of suspicious characters?

CHAPTER THREE:   A MEETING AND A MENTAL CONVERSATION

    The following day, Nina had lunch at the House cafeteria.
    She had just finished the meal when she heard this mellow, deep woman’s voice coming from behind her, over her shoulder.
    “Congresswoman Bannister?”
    (What it was like to be called that for the first time!)
    “Yes?”
    She turned around.
    And there was Laurencia Dalrymple.
    Laurencia Dalrymple!
    One of the most famous of all senators.
    Reputed to be the first black woman who would make a run at the presidency!
    Standing beside Nina’s table.
    “May I sit down?”
    “Of course! Of course!”
    “Congratulations on your victory!”
    “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
    “I adored your TV ads. And I wanted to come and see you the first chance I got. I went by your office, and your chief of staff told me they thought you were staying here. You have, by the way, a very friendly chief of staff.”
    “Yes, Dicken Proctor. He loves two things:   making coffee and playing golf. I’ve never seen him play golf, so I don’t know if he’s any good at that or not. But the coffee? He’s an expert. Our little office has the best coffee-making equipment in the world, and Dicken always arrives before everybody else to make a pot. He even had coffee thermoses specially made with the Mississippi flag painted on them. When anybody has to go to a meeting, he makes sure that person has one of those thermoses, and will not have to suffer through bad coffee.”
    “I’m so glad you’re in good hands, my dear. But I did want to congratulate you. It’s a privilege to have a career teacher as a colleague. And, also, somewhat selfishly––it’s always good to have another woman to work with.”
    “How many women are in the House and Senate?”
    Laurencia smiled and said:
    “Now I get to act like a schoolteacher! Well, my dear, I believe I can answer your question. There are at present one hundred senators, total, twenty of whom are of our sex. In the House, the number is four hundred and thirty five total, seventy-nine of them being biologically akin to you and me.”
    “Well. We’re making some progress, I suppose.”
    “I suppose. But, as I say, it is always wonderful to welcome another woman. But welcoming you was not my only reason in coming. I wanted to make a strange—well, suggestion to you. I hope it won’t sound too forward.”
    ‘Please, go ahead.”
    “Would you be at all interested in having a roommate for a time?”
    “I’m sorry?”
    And then there was that smile again.
    “I know. I feel like such a fool…”
    “No, no, actually I was going looking for a place tomorrow. Mr. Proctor was going to show me some possibilities.”
    “So you might be interested in rooming with me?”
    “Of course! I’m just surprised, though—I mean, you’ve been in the Senate for a good many years now…”
    “I’m old, you mean.”
    “No, no. I’m just surprised you need a roommate!”
    “Well, as it