own.â
âLisa, what do I have to spend money on? If nothing else, Matthew left me very well off. The house is paid for. I get an income from the businesses.â
âUsually our greatest limitation is our own fear,â Barbara offered. âGood cleaning services are always in need. Why donât you write up a business plan, even if you donât actually go through with it? It will give you some idea of what youâd be getting into. Start with cost of supplies and getting bonded, things like that. How would you train your cleaning staff? Where would you set up shop? How would you get the word to customers?â
âOh, my God.â Lisaâs eyes had gone wider with each question.
âItâs what you would have to do with any business. At least a business plan will tell you if itâs feasible. All that will cost you is time,â Barbara said.
Vanetta seemed to come out of her trance and reached over to touch her sisterâs hand. âI can help you with that,â she said.
âIâd hire you, Lisa, and Iâd like to have someone once a week to give the shop a thorough cleaning.â
âYou see,â Vanetta said with a smug look. âYouâll have more customers than you even thought about.â
âMaybe after I find Grandmaâs golden bowl.â
âGolden bowl?â Barbara asked. Dorsey had mentioned something about a golden bowl, but Barbara had forgotten about that.
âItâs lost. Jordan has a list of suspects. Iâm going to find out who they are and search for it.â
âYou better leave that to Alyssa,â Vanetta said. âOur ancestor acquired the bowl in the early sixteen hundreds, and now itâs lost,â she explained to Barbara.
âHow long has it been lost?â
âI have no idea. Our Aunt Anna kept it. She died in February, and when Grandma searched for it, it was missing.â
Anna had died in February, before the Stones stole Dorseyâs money. Maybe they didnât have it yet.
Â
Harper drove directly to the Stonesâ home. Someone had broken in. They lived next door to Naomi Claxton.
Naomi stood in the yard with a knit hat pulled over her hair. Lumps underneath outlined her hair rollers. Alyssa often said her grandmother began her day later than she used to. She was in her 80s, so she deserved to take as much time as she needed.
John was already on the scene and talking to the Stones as Harper approached Naomi.
âI offered for them to come to my house to get out of the cold, but they certainly are an unfriendly lot,â Naomi said, nodding toward the Stones. âThey arenât as friendly as Wanda was. God rest her soul. Wanda Fisher was a wonderful woman.â
Harper reserved judgment on Naomiâs opinion and elected not to comment. âNiceâ Wanda Fisher had chopped up her husband to fit in the chest freezer. Naomi and her granddaughter, Gabrielle, had found him there after Wanda had died of a heart attack and Naomi went looking for pies she had given her.
Naomi had been arranging a wake for Wanda. She was famous for her pies. Earlier in the month she had given Wanda several of them and Wanda hadnât had an opportunity to eat them before she passed away. Wandaâs relatives didnât live in the area and had refused to give her a memorial service.
Naomi was so upset over her friendâs death and knew her friend wouldnât mind her using them. She went to Wandaâs house to retrieve them. The pies were sitting on top of Harvey Fisherâs frozen corpse. Of course, Naomi had commented that he hadnât been a nice man, as if that was any excuse.
âMrs. Claxton, have you seen anything unusual in the area lately?â Harper asked her. âAnything out of place?â
âI try to mind my business,â she said. âI just got back from a cruise, you know. It was a gift from my grandchildren.â
Harper tried not to
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker