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inspiring chest swell with song. Just as the congregation
finished Eleanor slipped in a side door and took a seat near
the mortician's wife.
Reverend Prendergast's eulogy was long and effusive. It
seemed to wander down one path and then switch to another.
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Jessie stopped listening. Now that her mom and Gilly were
here she realized how much she'd wanted to spend Christmas
with them. At the same time, she regretted the loss of her
private time with Luke even though she knew it was just as
well.
His left arm rested against her right one and she felt his
hard warmth through the thin fabric of her dress. A lump
collected in her throat when she remembered the way he'd
tried to protect her from Kit. She'd thank him later even
though it hadn't been necessary. He'd already protected her.
She was a completely different woman from the one who'd
agreed to marry Kit Carstairs. She'd never make a mistake
like that again.
Jessie resisted the urge to rest her head against Luke's
muscular shoulder. Just for an instant she allowed herself to
pretend they were a couple, that they'd been married for
several years. Since it was her fantasy she gave them a
couple of kids.
"Jessie."
His whispered voice made her jump. She hoped he couldn't
read her mind.
"Epps is guarding that coffin like it was a cub and he was a
mother bear."
"I noticed."
The obvious question was why? Why was he treating
Letty's corpse like some kind of treasure? Was it because it
was a treasure? Had they incinerated Letty and planted a
treasure in the box? But why? Whatever was in there was
going into the ground in the morning.
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How could a buried treasure do Epps and Prendergast any
good?
The case was frustrating. She wasn't even close to an
answer. Of course she'd been a little distracted in the past
twenty-four hours. Heat surged into her face.
Luke leaned against her. "Hot?"
She gave him a repressive look. No matter how little she
wanted to it was time to put aside the hormones and solve
the murder. She forced herself to list the thing she knew.
Number one: Blanche had died suddenly in bed. Epps had
gotten a death certificate signed by a half-blind octogenarian
doctor and cremation took place before the family was
notified.
Number two: Letty Appleby died when an allergic reaction
cut off her air passages. This time there was an autopsy but
the county medical examiner found nothing suspicious. The
old lady accidentally ingested the peanut oil.
From everything Jessie had heard, she believed Miss Letty
had been much too sharp for an accident like that. Mabel
Ruth and the others believed Blanche had been killed to shut
her up.
Had both old ladies been killed over a secret? And what
was it? The reverend's affair? Or something worse. Something
that had caused Prendergast to lock the church and to carry a
gun. Epps carried a gun, too. No. This wasn't just about an
affair. Jessie was certain of that.
And then there was number three. Why did Epps need an
elaborate operating room at the mortuary? She'd meant to
follow up on that. Tonight she'd go online and see what she
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could find out. There had to be some reason Epps was
hovering around that casket like a mother hen.
Prendergast seemed to be winding down. Jessie tuned
back in.
"Letty Appleby was a pillar of the community. She was the
last living branch of a family that has been here in the
Shenandoah Valley for nearly two hundred years. Letty and
the Applebys will live on in the pages of Mystic Hollow
history."
Something tickled Jessie's memory. Some word. History?
Pillar? Branch? Pages? Yeah. That was it. Pages. But why?
Had Letty been mentioned in Blanche's Book of Shadows?
Pages. Pages of time. A headline swam in front of her eyes.
Local Man Named in Macabre Celebrity Scandal.
She placed it. The top paper on the stack of periodicals in
Miss Letty's parlor. The newsprint was yellow and worn. Why
had she kept that clip? What significance did it have? Jessie
wished she'd taken the time to read the story. She'd find that
online tonight, too.
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