1 A Small Case of Murder by Lauren Carr Page B

are out.” He waved a cream-covered scoop at them to make his point. “This is what happens when you don’t buckle down and do what has to be done. Wilson’s daughter didn’t want to deal with it, so now I have to.”
    Murphy illustrated to his siblings, “And now Dad doesn’t want to deal with it, so we have to.”
    After putting the lid on the carton of ice cream, Joshua handed it to Tracy to put into the freezer. “Okay, Donny, what do you want on your sundae?”
    “The usual.” Leaning across the counter, Donny licked his lips while he watched Joshua dole out the whipped cream.
    Sarah perched on the kitchen stool. “Dad, I don’t under-stand why the sheriff would have killed that man. Lulu’s letter said that Reverend Rawlings was the murderer.”
    “No, Lulu said that she saw a picture of the dead man in the reverend’s office,” Tracy reminded her while Joshua presented Donny with his sundae and proceeded to the next one. “I’ll bet that picture is long gone.”
    Admiral stomped his feet to signal his growing impatience. He couldn’t believe all this food was inches from his mouth and he got none.
    Donny was devouring his sundae. “Why would the sheriff warn the reverend to get rid of the body?”
    Joshua handed a banana to J.J., who sliced it for his, Murphy, and Joshua’s sundaes. “Because Reverend Rawlings is a powerful man and used to everyone following his orders. Don’t forget, Lulu said in her letter that she saw Sheriff Delaney in that picture, too. Those two went way back.”
    “The sheriff could be the killer,” Murphy concluded.
    “Yeah, but, as far as we know, the sheriff didn’t know Lulu saw the picture,” J.J. disagreed. “Rawlings did. She says in the letter that she asked him about it when she saw it.”
    Using his spoon, Murphy pointed at his twin. “Reverend Rawlings could have ordered Sheriff Delaney to kill Lulu to keep her quiet. Can you think of a better hit man? It’s perfect!”
    “Except for a little piece of mail that they don’t know about.” His masterpiece completed, Joshua leaned against the kitchen counter. “And they won’t know about it until I say so.”
    “But if these murders are perfect, then how are you going to nail them?” Sarah wanted to know.
    “Whatever happened to this sheriff?” Murphy asked.
    “He died years ago,” Joshua told them. “But Reverend Rawlings is still around.”
    “You can get him, can’t you, Dad?” Donny grinned. “You brought down an admiral.”
    “Before I brought down that admiral, I made sure I had all my facts straight. When you go up against the big players, you don’t want to miss with your first shot, because they’ll crush you before you get another one.”
    Before the kids had a chance to respond, Tad knocked on the back screen door and stepped inside without waiting for an invitation.
    When he saw that the doctor had his own dog on a leash, Admiral scurried to hide behind the protection of the children’s legs under the table. 
    “Hey, gang.” Seeing the size of Joshua’s sundae, he stopped. “Man! I can hear your arteries clogging all the way over here.”
    “The man stops drinking and gives up drugs, and suddenly he’s a purist,” Joshua said
    Tracy was taking the tub of ice cream out of the freezer. “What do you want on your sundae?”
    “One plain scoop is fine for me.” Tad leaned against the kitchen counter next to Joshua. “Have you heard from Beth?”
    Joshua continued eating. “The last time I saw her she was with you.”
    “What did she tell you this morning?”
    “You know better than that. That’s confidential. What happened at the hospital?”
    “She left,” Tad said. “Jan and I have been looking for her all afternoon.”
    “Did you make Beth mad?” Joshua asked with a teasing tone.
    Tad wasn’t joking. “Yes, I did. I told her I was checking her into detox to get dried out. I left her with a nurse to go call Glenbeigh. When I came back, Beth was