Framed For Murder (An Anna Nolan Mystery) by Cathy Spencer Page B

necessary. It’s only a five-block walk.”
    “But it’s getting dark, Ms. Nolan. I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you walk home alone in the dark.”
    “It’s very kind of you to be concerned, Sergeant, but Wendy and I could use the walk.”
    “Let me walk you home then, Ms. Nolan. I’d be glad of the exercise, too.”
    “Poor guy,” I thought, “maybe he’s afraid that he won’t be able to get away from Amy if I leave him alone with her.” I accepted his offer and rose to my feet. Tremaine turned back to Amy and extended his hand to her.
    “Thank you again for the information, Ms. Bright. I’ll look forward to seeing you at the station tomorrow. Shall we say at 9 AM?”
    “I will if you promise to call me Amy,” she said, holding onto his hand.
    “Amy it is, then,” he said with a smile. “See you tomorrow.”
    “Night-night, Sergeant,” she said, beaming. Obviously, she was over her fear of Tremaine. I could feel the heat she was generating from where I was standing. How on earth was she doing that? I shrugged. It was none of my business what went on between the two of them.
    “Coming?” Tremaine asked, glancing at me. I nodded, and Wendy and I followed him across the lawn to the gate. I turned to wave goodbye to Amy, and she smiled and gave me a “thumbs-up” gesture. I nodded before following Tremaine down the driveway and out onto the sidewalk.
    The evening air had cooled and I wanted to zip up my jacket. “Would you mind taking Wendy for a moment, Sergeant?” I asked. He nodded and I handed him the leash. When I straightened up from fastening my jacket, he began walking away before I could take it back. Wendy trotted contentedly beside him while I hurried to keep pace with his long legs.
    “How long have you known Ms. Bright, Anna?” he asked.
    “Amy was living here when I moved into town. We speak to each other on occasion.”
    “And why did you visit her tonight?”
    “To be frank, Sergeant, there was talk around town that she had been seeing Jack. I wanted to find out if it was true, and how well Amy knew him.” I thought that my honesty would disarm him, but he didn’t even blink.
    “Why?”
    “If I’m going to walk with you, Sergeant, you’re going to have to slow down,” I said, starting to puff a little.
    “Sorry,” he said, shortening his pace, “I do that to people. So, why did you want to find out how well Ms. Bright knew your husband?”
    I decided to try for a more even footing with Tremaine by appealing to his human side. “Come on, Sergeant. If it had been your ex-wife who was murdered and you were the prime suspect, wouldn’t you want to find out everything you could?”
    He stopped and turned to face me. “Anna, let me remind you that this is an official police investigation. Prying into the case could land you in serious trouble. Please, stay out of it. Have a little faith in my abilities. I’ll find out who did it. The Mounties always get their man – or woman – haven’t you heard that?”
    “That sounds promising. Do you have any other suspects?” I asked, staring into his eyes. He blinked first. I shook my head and took Wendy’s leash, setting off again.
    “I’m following various lines of inquiry.”
    “Amy Bright being one of them? You don’t seriously think Amy did it, do you?” I asked.
    “I don’t know.”
    I ignored his reticence. “I had my first real conversation with her today, and I don’t believe that Amy is a murderer. She’s too nice, for one thing, and besides, I don’t think she has the brains to do it. If Amy had killed Jack, the police would have found her standing over his body with a smoking gun.”
    “Instead of finding you,” he replied with a blank face.
    “Ah, but with no murder weapon, and I had an alibi, or most of one,” I countered.
    Tremaine said, “It doesn’t take much of a brain to shoot a man and dump his body beside the road, Anna. It could have been sheer coincidence that you and your dog