Elizabeth Lynn Casey - Southern Sewing Circle 08 - Remnants of Murder by Elizabeth Lynn Casey Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Lynn Casey
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Councilman Adams sat in that man’s precious sunroom and pled the town’s case. It didn’t matter how many blasted pies Betty Adams sent along with her husband in the hopes of sweetening their chances.
“In fact, I think he may well have been one of Margaret Louise’s taste testers for her sweet potato pie recipe a year or so back. Probably even lent a tongue for all those cookbook concoctions she’s been trying out on us the past six months.”
Clyde Montgomery cared about one person and one person only. Himself.
“Victoria? Have you heard a thing I’ve said?”
Had she ever.
Suddenly, it all made sense. The pleas of Sweet Briar’s business owners and town officials may have fallen on deaf ears when it came to asking Clyde to sell some of his property. But there were other ways to reach their goal.
Pulling her gaze from Dixie’s exasperated face, Tori retrieved her pen from its resting place atop her still-clean notebook and began to write.
Sweet Briar Business Association—find out who is on its roster.
Councilman Adams/wife Betty.
Track down all food deliveries—what/from whom.
Compare all to the start of Clyde’s visual decline.
When she reached the end of her list, she glanced up to find Dixie now staring at her.
“What kind of list is that?” Dixie snapped.
She took in her notes and shrugged. “It’s a to-do list, of sorts.”
“I thought we were supposed to be drafting a list of suspects.”
“We are. This to-do list will help us do that.” She spun her notebook around to face Dixie then watched as the woman took in each and every entry. “We find out these things, we just might be able to narrow our list of suspects down to the right one.”
Dixie’s finger tapped Tori’s second line. “Why do you have Betty Adams on here?”
“She apparently sent along some home-baked treats when her husband would try to plead the town’s case.”
“I went to high school with Betty’s older sister. I don’t think she’d be party to something like murder.”
Murder.
That’s what all of this talk came back to …
“Dixie, if we’re going to consider the possibility that Clyde was murdered, we’re going to have to accept the reality that someone did it. That someone could be anyone . Even the sister of an old high school chum.”
Chapter 11
Tori propped herself up on her pillows and carefully studied the names who’d made their way into her notebook before she and Dixie had parted ways.
Many, like Carter Johnson and Lana Morris, were longtime business owners who stood to gain immeasurably if a resort opened up on the outskirts of Sweet Briar. Carter’s diner—one of the only restaurants in town, and Lana’s gift shop—chock-full of the sorts of souvenirs that tourists craved, stood to reap the kind of rewards most small business owners could only dream about.
Bruce Waters at Waters’ Hardware had proven a harder sale for the list as vacationers had little to no reason to shop in his store.
No, the stores that stood to truly benefit from the sale of Clyde’s lakeside property were the ones that would appeal to those who flocked to Sweet Briar for a little rest and relaxation. Places like Elkin Antiques and Collectibles, Calamity Books, Shelby’s Sweet Shoppe, and Bud’s Brew Shack all fit that bill, just as their respective owners claimed a spot on the list she and Dixie had drafted.
She’d wanted to cross out Leona’s name the second Dixie added it, but left it for appearance purposes. Leona was, indeed, a local shop owner. The possibility the sixty-something had anything to do with Clyde’s accelerated demise, though, was virtually nonexistent.
Then, there were the council members most closely aligned with the businesses along the town square. They, too, stood to gain from a resort by way of votes from grateful constituents in the next election. Travis Haggarty and Granville Adams made that portion of the list as did Granville’s bribe-baking wife,
“In fact, I think he may well have been one of Margaret Louise’s taste testers for her sweet potato pie recipe a year or so back. Probably even lent a tongue for all those cookbook concoctions she’s been trying out on us the past six months.”
Clyde Montgomery cared about one person and one person only. Himself.
“Victoria? Have you heard a thing I’ve said?”
Had she ever.
Suddenly, it all made sense. The pleas of Sweet Briar’s business owners and town officials may have fallen on deaf ears when it came to asking Clyde to sell some of his property. But there were other ways to reach their goal.
Pulling her gaze from Dixie’s exasperated face, Tori retrieved her pen from its resting place atop her still-clean notebook and began to write.
Sweet Briar Business Association—find out who is on its roster.
Councilman Adams/wife Betty.
Track down all food deliveries—what/from whom.
Compare all to the start of Clyde’s visual decline.
When she reached the end of her list, she glanced up to find Dixie now staring at her.
“What kind of list is that?” Dixie snapped.
She took in her notes and shrugged. “It’s a to-do list, of sorts.”
“I thought we were supposed to be drafting a list of suspects.”
“We are. This to-do list will help us do that.” She spun her notebook around to face Dixie then watched as the woman took in each and every entry. “We find out these things, we just might be able to narrow our list of suspects down to the right one.”
Dixie’s finger tapped Tori’s second line. “Why do you have Betty Adams on here?”
“She apparently sent along some home-baked treats when her husband would try to plead the town’s case.”
“I went to high school with Betty’s older sister. I don’t think she’d be party to something like murder.”
Murder.
That’s what all of this talk came back to …
“Dixie, if we’re going to consider the possibility that Clyde was murdered, we’re going to have to accept the reality that someone did it. That someone could be anyone . Even the sister of an old high school chum.”
Chapter 11
Tori propped herself up on her pillows and carefully studied the names who’d made their way into her notebook before she and Dixie had parted ways.
Many, like Carter Johnson and Lana Morris, were longtime business owners who stood to gain immeasurably if a resort opened up on the outskirts of Sweet Briar. Carter’s diner—one of the only restaurants in town, and Lana’s gift shop—chock-full of the sorts of souvenirs that tourists craved, stood to reap the kind of rewards most small business owners could only dream about.
Bruce Waters at Waters’ Hardware had proven a harder sale for the list as vacationers had little to no reason to shop in his store.
No, the stores that stood to truly benefit from the sale of Clyde’s lakeside property were the ones that would appeal to those who flocked to Sweet Briar for a little rest and relaxation. Places like Elkin Antiques and Collectibles, Calamity Books, Shelby’s Sweet Shoppe, and Bud’s Brew Shack all fit that bill, just as their respective owners claimed a spot on the list she and Dixie had drafted.
She’d wanted to cross out Leona’s name the second Dixie added it, but left it for appearance purposes. Leona was, indeed, a local shop owner. The possibility the sixty-something had anything to do with Clyde’s accelerated demise, though, was virtually nonexistent.
Then, there were the council members most closely aligned with the businesses along the town square. They, too, stood to gain from a resort by way of votes from grateful constituents in the next election. Travis Haggarty and Granville Adams made that portion of the list as did Granville’s bribe-baking wife,
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