Cast Iron Conviction (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 2) by Jessica Beck

“Do you?”
    “Not particularly, especially since they’re so unhelpful.”
    “Then it’s agreed. I’ll get started on making copies,” Annie volunteered.
    “What should I do while you’re doing that?”
    “Try to figure out how we’re going to approach this mess tomorrow.”
    “Couldn’t I make the copies instead?” I asked her. Frankly, I didn’t know where to begin our investigation into a ten-year-old murder.
    “Nope. I called it first,” Annie said with a grin.

    By the time she rejoined me up front, I hadn’t made the slightest bit of progress in my assigned task. Annie asked, “Have you been able to come up with anything yet?”
    “I’d rather sleep on it, if you don’t mind.”
    My twin sister laughed at me. “I thought you might. Why don’t you keep these safe in the meantime?” Annie asked as she handed me a neatly stacked set of papers.
    “I can do that. Would you like me to drop those off at Kathleen’s?”
    “No, you’re already home. I’ll do it on my way to the cabin.”
    “You could always crash here if you’d like,” I offered.
    “Thanks, but you know me; I’d rather be home. No offense.”
    “None taken. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “You bet you will,” she said.
    Before she could go, though, I said, “Annie, be careful, okay?”
    “I always am, little brother,” she replied with a grin.

    I called Annie half an hour later, and she picked up quickly. “Is something wrong, Pat?”
    “No, I just wanted to make sure that you made it back to the cabin all right.”
    “Listen, that’s really sweet and all, but I’m a grown woman. You don’t need to check up on me.”
    “Believe me, I know to the minute exactly how old you are,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean that I can stop worrying about you. I’ve grown kind of fond of you over the years, and I’d hate for anything to happen to you now.”
    “Right back at you. Like I said, I’m fine. In fact, I’m pretty worn out. Teaching those classes always take it out of me, you know? I think I’m going to take a quick shower and then go straight to bed. Tomorrow’s going to get here before either one of us knows it.”
    “Wait a second. What did Kathleen say about the notes you turned over to her?” I had a sneaking suspicion that my twin had forgotten, or even neglected to make her delivery. “You did give them all to her, didn’t you?”
    “Oh ye of little faith. Of course I did. She was grateful, and more than a little surprised, which kind of ticked me off, if you want to know the truth. I’m not entirely sure that she trusts us to do the right thing.”
    “Well, we did make copies first before she even saw them,” I said.
    “Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?”
    “Yours, Sis. Always yours.”
    “That’s more like it. Now, unless there’s anything else, I’m going to go now. Sleep tight. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “Bright and early,” I said.
    After we hung up, I was glad that I’d called her. I normally didn’t worry that much about either one of my sisters, but when there was murder afoot, I was justifiably paranoid about both of them. While I knew that both of my siblings were more than able to take care of themselves, I still felt overprotective as their brother.
    While my concerns weren’t always overtly appreciated, I knew that deep down, both Annie and Kathleen were happy that I was so concerned about each of them.
    At least that’s what I told myself as fell asleep that night, trying my best not to dream of murder, and failing miserably.

Chapter 11: Annie
    “H ow was your night?” Pat asked me as I walked into the Iron the next morning. He was already hard at work restocking our inventory. “Did you have any trouble sleeping?”
    “It took a while, but I finally managed to get a little rest,” I said. I didn’t want my twin brother to know that I’d been restless all night because of Albert’s murder. It might not have bothered Kathleen as much, but I