“No offense, Miss Cordelia, but why is it on us to do anything?”
“Because it’s only a matter of time before Edna starts crowingall over town once word gets out that the pastor was murdered, and Archer Reed-Smythe is already giving you the eye. As much as I’d like to believe otherwise, he doesn’t strike me as a fool.”
Daisy sat back in her seat with her arms crossed. “I didn’t do anything wrong, except protect his family’s peace by moving him to someplace more respectable.”
Cordelia softened and patted her shoulder. “I know that, but if we don’t want suspicion pointing your way, we need to come up with an alternative suspect.”
“I see what you’re saying.” Daisy sniffed. “I just don’t like to go around accusing innocent people of wrongdoing.”
“We’re not accusing anyone yet. Just making a list.”
Once Cordelia and Daisy returned to the Chickadee and filled Arline and Belinda Sue in on everything that had happened in town, the four of them decided to put their heads together to come up with some reasonable suspects. Belinda Sue mixed up a batch of appletinis, which was really just a jug of water, a frozen can of apple juice concentrate, and a handful of single-serve vodkas she’d gotten for ninety-nine cents at the H-E-B checkout line. As the chicks sipped on the tart concoction, they began naming everyone in town who came to mind. Thankfully, Belinda Sue had been on board with Cordelia’s way of thinking, so Daisy relented on building a list.
Everything Cordelia learned about investigating a murder had come from reruns ofFather Dowling MysteriesandMurder, She Wroteand whatever else her momma would watch between the jewelry and skin-care hours on QVC, which put them at a significant disadvantage considering Archer’s position. But the one thing they had on their side was knowing Daisy didn’t do it. While he was busy wasting his time looking into her, they could get a few steps ahead of him by looking into everyone else.
By the time they’d finished their first drinks, they had onlythree suspects. At the top were Corbin and Edna Abernathy, who had the most to gain from setting up Daisy, and Honey Stevens, who got put on the list by Daisy for herFatal Attractiontendencies.
And Cordelia secretly added Stella Reed-Smythe to the list, on account of the spouse being the most common killer according toDateline, even though the chicks insisted Archer was the only hell she ever raised. Thus far, she had no motive. Daisy had assured her she knew all about the pastor’s visits to the Chickadee and didn’t mind one bit. And she had a fair point. Plus, now that he was gone, the church deacons were voting on whether she’d even get to keep her house, so being without him didn’t do her any favors.
Daisy puckered her lips and reapplied her lipstick. “How are we supposed to go about investigating the Abernathys when they’d call the sheriff the moment we set foot on their land, especially after Cordelia told off Edna today?”
Belinda Sue’s green eyes sparked with mirth. “Wish I’d gone into town with y’all after all, just to see that go down.”
“It was glorious.” Daisy released a happy sigh.
“I could bring her a pie and an apology,” Cordelia said.
“Hush now.” Daisy sat up so fast, apple juice slid over the rim of her glass and splashed on the concrete. “You’ll do no such thing.”
Cordelia stared down at the glass in her hand. She had yet to take a sip of the appletini and wished she hadn’t asked Belinda Sue to make her one. “I’m not normally like that.”
While Cordelia couldn’t deny Edna had deserved her tongue-lashing and then some, she still regretted the way she’d spoken. She was starting to understand what her momma had gone through when she’d wake up after a nasty bender and go on an apology tour with half the town. Maybe feeling bad about things was just in her DNA.
“Don’t worry about the pie. It’s gonna take a lot more than thatto get you in.” Belinda Sue tilted her glass toward Cordelia. “Edna wouldn’t scratch her own momma’s fleas, and Corbin’s apple fell off the same branch as his daddy. That whole family is rotten.”
Cordelia bit her lip, more than a little troubled that good manners couldn’t see her out of a bad situation. “What do you propose we do, then? Wait for Archer to show up and start handing out arrest warrants?”
“I knew my ears were ringing on the way out here.” At the sound of that voice, equal parts rough and smooth, Cordelia about jumped out of her skin. “Now what makes you think I just go around handing out arrest warrants without provocation?”
Archer had rolled the sleeves up on his shirt, and Cordelia was certain he’d done that on purpose. A man with forearms that nice didn’t go whipping them out without just cause. And he had the nerve to toss around the word “provocation.”
Daisy had gone pale, still not over her last encounter with Archer, but Belinda Sue popped right up. Her cold efficiency was a welcome balm under the heat of Archer’s gaze. “We figured you’d be by sometime to ask your questions, but I’m afraid we won’t be much help as we hadn’t seen the pastor in over a week.”
Archer tipped down his sunglasses so he could look Belinda Sue square in the eyes. “That’s not what Edna Abernathy is saying.”
Belinda Sue wagged her finger at him like he was a misbehaving child. Though to her, he probably still was nothing more than a rambunctious boy with more energy than sense. “Did Edna also tell you our madam made her look like a fool on Main Street? Or is heresy and petty gossip how they run investigations these days down at the FBI?”
Archer raised his eyebrows at Cordelia. “You don’t say?”
The way he looked at her, like he was surprised his little lizard grew up to have crocodile-size teeth, made her skin prickleall the way down to her toes. “If you recall, I used to have no problem putting you in your place.”
“I think about that at least once a week.” He winked at her. Winked! The utter gall of this man could not be surpassed.
“Good. Then you shouldn’t have any trouble remembering that I have no interest in being a source of amusement for you.”
“Believe me, Delia, you’re the source of a lot of things for me, but amusement isn’t one of them.”
He turned to Daisy. “But I’m here on business. If you don’t mind, Miss Daisy, I’d love to have a look at your trash.”
