Blackmoore Sisters 01-Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs Page B

girls’ faces, she continued, “Do you girls have herbs and crystals that help with fertility?” She waved her bejeweled fingers around the room, indicating the shelves of herbs and cases of crystals.
    “Oh, yes, of course!” Fiona laughed.  
    “Then that’s what I need for my granddaughter. Can we package them up like gifts? I don’t want her feelings to be hurt.”
    “Of course.” Morgan went over to her herb rack. “I can make a bottle of evening primrose oil she could use for skin care and I can make some custom tea bags with dong quai and false unicorn root. Those are great for fertility.”
    “I can create a necklace, earring and bracelet set with moonstones, rose quartz and amethyst. Those stones go perfectly together and they will help with fertility too.”
    Anastasia clapped her hands together. “Perfect! I knew I could count on you girls.” Stabbing her cane onto the floor, she pulled herself up. “When can I pick them up?”
    “I’ll probably need a couple of days, what about you Fi?”
    “I have a few other orders to work on, so about four days. Could you pick them up on Friday?”
    “Certainly. I’m here for the entire summer, so no rush.” Anastasia said graciously as she turned toward the door.  
    “I hope you dear girls haven’t been hurt by all that dreadful business with the Littlefield woman.” She half turned to face them.
    “Not too much. We’ll be fine.”
    “It was quite disturbing. My cottage is only a stone’s throw from where it happened.” Anastasia shuddered.
    “Oh, that must have been scary for you.” Fiona narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t see or hear anything, did you?”
    “As a matter of fact, I did.”  
    Morgan’s eyes widened. “You did?   What?”
    “I was having tea on my porch, as is my custom in the morning, when a young man burst out of the woods and ran off down the road toward the ocean. It quite startled me. I nearly had a heart attack.”  
    “What time was that?”
    Anastasia wrinkled her brow looking up at the ceiling. “Well, it must have been around quarter past eight or a bit earlier. I usually take my tea between eight and eight thirty.”
    Fiona felt her heart beat racing. That was just about when Prudence was killed! “Did you see what he looked like?”
    “My eyes aren’t too good these days, dear. All I saw was that he had one of those hooded sweatshirts, but as he ran by the hood fell back and I noticed he had one of those awful tattoos.”
    “A tattoo?   Of what?”
    “I’m not sure. It looked like a lightning bolt or something.”
    “Anastasia, did you tell the police about this man?”
    “The police?   No. They didn’t even bother to talk to me,” she said waving her hand in dismissal. Then she turned the knob and opened the door. “Well, you girls have a lovely day.”
    Fiona shot Morgan a raised eyebrow look. “A young man running out of the woods right at the time of Prudence’s death? Maybe he saw something?”
    “Or killed her.”
    Fiona felt a chill run up her spine. “Either way, one thing is for sure, we need to find out who has a lightening tattoo on their neck and pay them a visit.”

Chapter Twenty Two

    Fiona liberated the steamed clam from its shell and carefully peeled the membrane from its neck. She dunked it in broth, then butter and popped it in her mouth making nummy noises as the sweet, salty steamer slid down her throat.
    “These are awesome, thanks for bringing them home from work,” she said to Jolene, seated across from her at the wrought iron table.
    “Yes, thanks,” Morgan and Celeste echoed her words.
    Jolene looked up from dunking her own clam and smiled. “You’re welcome.”
    The four of them sat on the back patio in the fading evening sun. Situated high on a cliff, the patio sat at the point where the water from the Atlantic flowed into Perkins Cove, giving them a three sided view of ocean.  
    The sound of seagulls and sting of the salt air were a perfect backdrop for the