Music to Die For by Radine Trees Nehring

forest, but her mind wasn’t conscious of landscape. Instead, she was thinking of words from the third chapter of Proverbs: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
    It was hard to sit still, waiting for direction. Everything inside her wanted to be up and moving, taking action. Henry would be here this afternoon, and she hoped to have a progress report ready for him by then.
    Once, when talking about police work, Henry had told her a well-thought-out action plan was of primary importance in any investigation, and the action plan must begin with clear thinking. After he’d explained this to her, she’d added something to his formula—prayer and listening for God’s direction. Right now, though, she had to admit sitting and thinking, even praying, felt a lot like doing nothing.
    Last November Henry had also told her that painstaking research was at least fifty percent of police work, and the other half was paper work. He’d smiled down at her then, and she’d wondered a bit about the paper work, but, if police work was like other professions, well, of course there would be a lot of paper work.
    Last November. That was when she and Henry had faced life-threatening danger together. And, sadly, clearer thinking on her part would have kept them out of danger, though Henry never said anything about that. He didn’t have to. Every time she saw the scar on his forehead, she remembered...
    She lifted her chin. There was no point dwelling on regrets. After all, the real result of last November had been their friendship. And, probably because of that friendship, Henry had continued talking to her about detective work, had even said that, if he were still a police officer, he’d welcome her as his partner.
    Carrie had known he meant it. The dear man was incapable of lying about anything that mattered. She’d wondered if strict veracity had ever hampered his police work. Probably not, because he’d reached the top rank in his division before retiring.
    So, for whatever reason, after last November he’d continued sharing information about the science and art of crime solving with her. She’d decided he was doing it partly for her entertainment, but also because he knew many of the skills he talked about were helpful in everyday life. She supposed by then he’d come to know her well enough to realize that logical thinking, an ability to grasp details, and patience had never been Carrie Culpeper McCrite’s strong points.
    But now, after several minutes of quiet reflection, Carrie was ready. It was time for action.
    Pushing aside her reflective mood, she stood and went to pay the bill. She asked the cashier if the craft grounds had opened this morning as scheduled and received an affirmative answer. Good. She could get in the area for a very careful look-around, and.... who knew what she might overhear if she was quiet, unobtrusive, and listened carefully? She was still way behind Henry in the organized mind department, but could at least prove to him that she’d paid attention to what he’d said, even though they’d both thought his tutoring would be applied in her work and her life at home, rather than to any continued crime solving.
    Carrie left the restaurant and headed downhill toward her room. The first thing on her action list was a call to Brigid Mason.
    The number was easy to find in the Mountain View phone book, and Brigid answered before the first ring was finished.
    “Brigid, it’s Carrie, I...”
    “Carrie! Thank goodness it’s you. I’ve been lookin’ for your call.”
    “How are all of you doing? Is there any news?”
    In answer, words from the other end of the line began tumbling out in Brigid’s colorful language, her voice dropping so low that they were doubly difficult to understand.
    “Law, yes, ’least I guess you’d say it’s news. This phone’s been ringin’ off the wall. That