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I furrowed, I wonder why that could be?" look, and focused aze somewhere above Grizzie’s head If I could have whistled innocently I would have

"So they don’t kno he got there, or who did it There aren’t any fingerprints anywhere Nothing was taken except for that file where he kept his notes for his book, which wasn’t valuable at all Oh, wait, his car isBut it was a beater, so ould somebody kill him for that? Plus, if it was the person in the Mercedes who killed Peter, they obviously didn’t drive off in his car The police think that the killer must have used Peter’s car to du a small search party to find it, but it could be anywhere"

She looked from one to the other of us for effect "So it can’t have been a robbery or some kind of an accident Whoever killed Peter Jakes came to Rockabill expressly with the intent to cohed "He seeuess we all have our secrets"

The veracity of Tracy’s words was de in our little circle, we avoided each other’s eyes We three knew all about secrets

Work went by quickly Lots of people stopped by Read It and Weep ostensibly for a coffee or a newspaper but really to take advantage of Grizzie’s well-known capacity for gossip Then a busload of oceanographers on a day trip from a conference at the University of Maine came to see the Old Sow, and we let them drink their takeaway coffee at our café tables while the rest bought souvenirs and stuff One of the tourists was pretty creepy and kept staring at reasy for an acadelasses, chinos, and a button-up Polo shirt His lank brown hair fell in his face and he stared like I had sprouted horns I shivered, checking the front door It was shut, but a cold draft frooose pimples on my flesh When I looked back, Creepy McCreeperson was still staring atmy effervescent personality or understated beauty: He probably remembered me from the papers I hope I lived up to raphers left and I’d put the café back to rights, it was nearly four NothingPeter’sand the s dark

We were all pretty beat from our unexpectedly busy day, so ent ahead and closed a half hour early I faked bundling up against the cold, hating the fact that I felt I needed to be circuood-byes and started off home

My daily co Plus, it’s not like I hadhelped fill roceries; otherwise, I left it at ho

There were still h was packed Nothing like a grisly ether, I reflected bitterly I knew all too well how otherwise decent people got off on the tragedy of others

My anger subsided once I got to the end of our little main street I took a few deep breaths and unwound my scarf, then unzipped my coat and stuffed my mittens in my pockets I knew the air must be cold; my breath steamed away from me so thick it appeared solid But e I would have taken ether

After all the stress of the afternoon and the night before, I was happy to let my mind wander and enjoy the walk hohtly warer to cool down from summer than did the earth itself But because the outside teone, I didn’t have to be so paranoid

It’s not like I could ever really be co hole soul, tourist or native, went a long way toward helpingwalk home in the darkness could be creepy--especially when somebody had just been murdered and I’d been the one to find the body

I couldn’t help but shudder, re eyes And the wound on the back of his head…