Fly by Night (A Gracie Andersen Mystery Book 3) by Laurinda Wallace Page A

immediately. A young woman with long brown hair, who appeared to be in her late 20s or early 30s, stood looking at them with questioning eyes.
     
    *****
     
    Kim’s hands trembled as she punched in Gracie’s cell phone number. She took a deep breath to steady herself. From the living room bay window, her daughter Sara watched the deputy carry two shotguns and a box of shotgun shells to his cruiser. Investigator Hotchkiss frowned and looked back at the big house as she slid behind the wheel of her car.
     
    *****
    “Slow down, Kim. Now, what did they ask you, exactly?” Gracie strained to understand what Kim was telling her.
    Between sobs, words piled over the top of one another. She could barely understand what the frantic woman was saying. Gracie bent her head in concentration, pressing the cellphone hard against her ear and shoulder. Pulling a potholder from a drawer, she opened the oven door and pulled out a pan of muffins. Tipping the pan over, the fragrant blueberry muffins tumbled onto the cooling rack. Haley stirred from her bed and trotted to the kitchen door. The dog woofed half-heartedly as Jim’s truck rolled in, crunching over the gravel driveway. Gracie, still listening to Kim’s tearful discourse, walked to where Haley stood panting and thumping her tail against the kitchen cabinets. She pushed the screen door open, motioning Jim to come in.
    “All right, Kim. I’ll be over this afternoon. You’d better call your attorney before then. I’m sure you don’t have anything to worry about. The police have to investigate everyone. It’s just standard procedure. You can’t be an actual suspect.” She paused, listening intently again. “Yes, I’ll be over right after lunch.”
    She ended the call and stuffed the phone in her jeans pocket. Jim was already in the kitchen, helping himself to coffee and a steaming blueberry muffin.
    “Ouch! These are hot!” He dropped the contraband, blowing on his burnt fingers.
    “I just took them out of the oven. Give them a minute or two.”
    Jim scowled in displeasure, opening the refrigerator door to snag a carton of half-and-half. He dumped a generous amount into his coffee before attempting to pick up another muffin.
    “I gather that was Kim Jackson on the phone,” he said.
    “You gathered correctly,” Gracie affirmed.
    She sat down on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, carefully picking up a hot muffin for sampling. She broke it in half, watching the steam rise before taking a bite.
    “The sheriff’s department was up there a little while ago, questioning Kim about where she was the night of the murder. They also took two shotguns that D. B. had in his office.”
    “Well, that confirms what Toby’s lawyer said about them continuing the investigation.” Jim sat down on the other stool, slurping a mouthful of coffee.
    “I can’t imagine they’d seriously consider Kim a suspect. It’s just ridiculous.”
    “We might think so, but you don’t know what’s really going on with people.”
    “There must be other suspects, like that Ben Richter. Kim tried to tell them that. Her impression is they’re not too interested.” She took another bite of the cooling muffin.
    “Funny you should mention him. He offered his legal services to Tobias today while I was there.”
    “Really,” Gracie said. “I just heard he was an attorney the other day from Midge. Why would he want to represent Toby? He doesn’t have any money to pay him.”
    “Toby and I asked him the same thing. He says he’d work out a reasonable payment plan to make it easy on him. He went on about defending the rights of the little guy and noble ideals—things like that. Of course, there was a mention of protecting the Meadow too. It’s a bunch of hooey, if you ask me, but Toby’s thinking about it. He’s just not very comfortable with the public defender guy.”
    Haley’s wet nose suddenly appeared on Gracie’s thigh, sniffing hopefully.
    “Hey! No begging. Scram!” Gracie