Marriage and Murder (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 4) by Dianne Harman

tell you everything when you
questioned her.”
                “What are you talking
about? I had a long conversation with her this morning.”
                “You may have, but she
felt guilty that she hadn’t told you about the gun she found in Celia’s
nightstand. It was a .38 Smith & Wesson, and it was taped to the underneath
side of her nightstand drawer.”
                “What! A gun in the
nightstand! No, she definitely did not tell me about it.”
                “That’s what she told
Doc. Celia took her in today to see Doc, and Mrs. Allen felt bad she hadn’t
told you about finding the gun. She told Doc about it and asked him if he would
tell you.”
                “Okay, Kelly, tell me the
whole story.”
                When she was finished, he
went over to the counter and poured himself another glass of wine. “Want a
refill?”
                “No thanks. Mike, why can’t
you just go to the Allen home, get the gun, and have a ballistics test run on
it to see if it matches the bullet that killed Jesse?”
                “Wish I could, sweetheart,
but I’d need a search warrant, and I don’t have enough facts to present to the
court to get a search warrant issued. I mean, she had a gun in her bedroom. So
what? A lot of people have guns in their bedrooms. No, there’s no way a court
would grant a search warrant without a greater showing of probable cause, and
there’s not enough here for probable cause.”
                “Too bad. I need to start
dinner in a few minutes, but there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”
                “How do these things always
seem to happen to you, when I’m the county sheriff, and this is my case? Never
mind, even if you knew you probably wouldn’t tell me. I’m beginning to think you’re
one of those people who just walks easy on the earth. Is what you’re about to
tell me the last thing you found out today? Had a rather busy day, didn’t you,
love?”
                “Mike, stop it. I can’t
help it, honest, these things just somehow seem to happen to me.”
                When she finished telling
him about what Ginger had overheard during the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, he
sat back in his chair, turning the wine glass in his hands, deep in thought.
                “So from what you heard
today, there could possibly be three suspects, is that right?” he asked.
                “You’re the sheriff, I’m
not, but yes, I think Celia would qualify as a suspect since she had a gun hidden
in her nightstand. Other than being brother and sister, I have no idea what the
relationship was between Jesse and Celia, or what possible motive she might
have for wanting to kill Jesse, but maybe I should talk to her.”
                “No Kelly, if anyone is
going to talk to her, I should be the one to do it.”
                “Right, you’re absolutely
right, Sheriff Mike. That was simply a slip of the tongue on my part.”
                “Uh-huh.”
                “Anyway, back to the
suspects,” she said. “So we have, sorry, I meant to say you have Celia, the
Pellino brothers, and I’m kind of wondering about the guy at the Book Nook. He
might qualify as a suspect.”
                “True, but the problem is
the members of the group are anonymous and we don’t know who he is. I don’t
think they even use their last names. I doubt if there’s a sign-in sheet or
anything with their names on it. Kelly, I can see something going on in your
mind. What are you thinking?”
                “Just wondering what I
should serve with the Reubens, Mike, nothing all that important,” she said
innocently, glad he didn’t have access to her mind. I think I know how I can
find out the identity of the man at the Book Nook.
                Later, as they