Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“I should have thought to ask that,” Josh said, annoyed at himself.
My family knew me well.
“My fault,” Ian said, a look of apology in his blue eyes when he turned them on me. “I wanted to report it first, then we were going to snap some photos. Now I regret not listening to Pep.”
“A photo certainly would have helped but I can’t fault you for doing the right thing and reporting it first,” my dad said. “Unfortunately, without a body there isn’t anything we can do.”
“Maybe the body will pop up again, Pepper,” Josh teased. “If it does, make sure to take photos.”
I turned an evil look on him, but it only made him grin.
“There is the looted mausoleum to consider,” Ian said, and I could have kissed him.
“Weren’t you sent here to investigate the mausoleum being open, Josh?” I asked and grinned.
“We found the mausoleum door ajar,” Ian explained with a look at my dad.
“And, of course, Pepper had to investigate,” my dad said.
“To be fair, Sheriff, so did I,” Ian said.
I loved that my boyfriend never failed to come to my defense. He was a true hero and secretly I think my dad admired that about him as well.
“Watch out, Ian, or my sister will have you mixed up in her half-baked crime hypothesis sooner or later,” Josh warned with a laugh.
Ian smiled. “I hope so, mate, since it makes for an interesting relationship.”
“Enough with teasing your sister, Josh. Do your job and take their statements,” my dad ordered. “And be sure to include the description of the body they saw just in case it pops up someplace else and talk to Dan, the cemetery caretaker. Find out what was stolen from the mausoleum and the damage done.” My dad took off his police hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “I know you well, Pepper. You intend to find out how that body vanished, don’t you?”
I grinned. “You’re darn right I am.”
CHAPTER 2
As if cued from the rewrite I suggested earlier, the sun came out right after Josh finished taking my and Ian’s statements. We were free to go visit his uncle’s and my aunt’s graves.
I gave a forlorn glance at the mausoleum.
“After this break-in extra care will be taken to make sure the mausoleum remains secure,” Ian said.
“No doubt,” I admitted reluctantly.
“You wanted to get back inside there, didn’t you?” Ian said.
“And you didn’t?”
“Aye, I did, especially since it was my fault we dinnae get any photos. I will not make that mistake again.”
“How lucky am I having a boyfriend who looks forward to finding a vanishing body?” I said.
He reached out and pulled me into a firm hug. “As lucky as I am for having a girlfriend who enjoys murder and mayhem.” He gave me a quick kiss. “Now let’s go find those graves before the clouds return.”
I gave a quick glance at the mausoleum and wondered how anyone could have gotten into it in the first place and thought it would be good to talk with Dan, a bit of a cranky guy that most people avoid, and see if he had any insights into the break-in but that could wait. Ian had been eager to see his great-uncle’s grave for months now, his family and business trips and the winter snow having delayed the visit.
“I expected my Uncle Max would have a Celtic cross for his headstone, but I didn’t expect your aunt to have one. Though perhaps it was something they had decided on together,” Ian said, casting a glance at my Aunt Effie’s grave.
It was right next to Max’s grave, death finally allowing them to lie side by side. My aunt and his uncle had been in love since they first met near the end of World War II. Unfortunately, Max was married and circumstances forced him to remain in the marriage, but it did not stop him from having a longtime affair with my aunt, a well-known fashion model. I sometimes wondered if my Aunt Effie preferred it that way since she traveled extensively and often lamented how difficult it would be to sustain a healthy marriage.
“I am glad my uncle found love with your aunt. My da often remarked how his grandfather could never understand why Max had married Trudy. He said that they never seemed right for each other, that Trudy spent more time in Scotland than with her husband in America.”
“Perhaps their relationship suited Trudy,” I suggested. “She was a pleasant enough woman, but she never really involved herself with the residents of Willow Lake.”
“Whatever the reason my uncle stayed with her, I’m glad he met your aunt, and they fell in love and that he followed her here to Willow Lake, otherwise, we would have never met. Their love brought us together and I am grateful to them for that, and I believe they are overjoyed for us.”