Law and Author by Erika Chase

alike.”
    Lizzie sat back to enjoy the discussion. She was impressed that Andie had put so much thought into it. But she wasn’t really sure how Molly was taking it all or where it was going.
    â€œIn what way?” Molly asked.
    â€œWell, Poirot has his Captain Hastings and Miss Lemon. Stephanie Plum has her pal Lulu and Connie in the bail bondsman’s office.” Stephanie sat back, obviously pleased with herself.
    Andie chortled and leaned forward on her seat. “Right on. And there’s Inspector Japp. Stephanie has Morelli and, of course, Ranger.”
    â€œOh boy, that Ranger gets my heart to pitty-patting every time I read about him,” Stephanie added, fanning herself with her napkin.
    â€œI understand what you’re saying.” Molly’s voice was a bit louder than usual. “Of course, Agatha Christie focused on the details of the crime rather than going into so much detail about their private lives.”
    Lizzie tried to hide a smile by taking a sip of her tea. This was getting very interesting.
    â€œI might point out,” Molly went on, “that there were bombings in some of Christie’s books, too. In
The Big Four
, the murderer set a bomb to go off at the end but then disarmed it when Poirot appealed to his attraction to a young woman. And in
Postern of Fate
, the house of Tuppence was bombed, although that was due to the war. But there are others—
Taken at the Flood, The ABC Murders
. . . .”
    The front doorbell rang, interrupting her. Molly looked startled and then quickly said, “I’ll get that,” beating Bob to it. He’d just sat back down with two more cheese straws on his plate. He made to get up but Molly put up her hand to stop him. He shrugged and settled back to eat.
    In a couple of minutes Molly returned with Darla in tow. “We have a guest at our meeting tonight,” she said, indicating a wing chair next to Bob for Darla to sit in.
    Bob searched Molly’s face and seeming to find an answer, said, “It’s sure good to see you, Darla. I’m happy you decided to join us after all.”
    Darla looked startled. “I’m not joining y’all. No way. Just sitting in and visiting tonight.”
    Bob looked taken aback but then laughed. “That’s what I meant. Now, what have you been up to?”
    Molly spoke before Darla could say anything about her afternoon exploits. “I’m glad you could make it, too, Darla. Now, what can I get you to drink? Some sweet tea? There’s a fresh pitcher here.”
    Darla nodded and also accepted a small plate, choosing a couple of crackers, slicing a sliver of Edam cheese from the serving dish Andie had brought over. Lizzie looked over at Molly, who merely raised an eyebrow.
    â€œYou missed the fun part, the part when everyone givestheir opinion about the book and Molly digs her heels in since it’s not by Agatha Christie,” Bob said with a chuckle.
    Everyone laughed, but Darla looked confused.
    â€œDon’t let him tease you, Darla,” Molly said. “We’ve just finished discussing tonight’s book but since I hadn’t really expected you’d have time to read it, you didn’t really miss anything. We’re glad you can join us for some socializing instead.”
    Darla looked hesitant. “My boyfriend, Wade Morris, dropped me off while he goes and does something. So as soon as he’s finished, he’ll be picking me up.”
    The doorbell rang as if on cue. When Molly returned from answering it, she had a young man in tow, towering above her at around six-foot-four, with black hair shaved around the bottom and the top standing straight up with the help of some powerful product, Lizzie bet. He wore a black T-shirt and a black leather vest enlivened with colorful reptile artwork, and black straight jeans. The tail of some type of creature tattooed to his right upper arm slithered down toward his