Stay Tuned for Murder by Mary Kennedy Page A

aggrieved. “Forget about her—you’re kidding, right? After all my hard work?”
    “I think I’m on the wrong track. I heard something today that was disturbing, and I don’t know what to make of it. At least—” I paused, my mind whirring, adrenaline pumping. “Tell me if I’m on to something here.”
    My thoughts were coming so fast, the words were tumbling out over one another like popcorn kernels in a popper. I quickly filled him in on what Mildred had said about the courthouse burning down and the newspaper offices being destroyed in a fire, all those years ago. “She said that tons of records, decades of history, have disappeared. They’re gone, vanished forever. The only way to reconstruct them would be to search birth and death registers at the local churches. Or maybe check family Bibles, that sort of thing. It would be a huge undertaking. Some really important information would stay buried forever.”
    He nodded, as if this was old news to him. “It’s true. A big chunk of Cypress Grove history is gone. That’s probably why there’s so much interest in the time capsule celebration. We’re running a three-page spread in the weekend edition.”
    Like WYME, the Cypress Grove Gazette had been promoting the time capsule ceremony every chance it got. The mayor was scheduled to attend, along with all the local politicians, and the movers and shakers. And of course, the media would be out in full force. With any luck, some of the bigger regional newspapers, like the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post , might be there, too.
    “But I think there’s more to it than that,” I said. “Mildred hinted that there’s some big secret involved with the contents of the time capsule. Something that goes way beyond historical interest.”
    “Yeah? A secret? This is the first I’ve heard of it.” Nick automatically patted his pocket as if he hoped to find his notebook tucked away there. When he came up empty, he grabbed a paper napkin and a ballpoint pen Lori had left on the table. “Tell me everything you know.”
    He wrinkled his brow in concentration, his voice low and intense. I had the feeling Nick figured this was the scoop that would catapult him into the major leagues. I hated to disappoint him, but I was as much in the dark as he was.
    “Here’s the problem. I don’t know very much,” I admitted. “Mildred just said she’d been researching the topic for weeks and that she’d found out something important.”
    “Something important?” He stopped writing and stared at me. “That’s pretty vague, Maggie. That could mean anything.”
    I nodded. “I know, but I couldn’t get any specific details out of her. Believe me, I tried. I have the feeling she had access to something very sensitive, something that would cause shockwaves if it ever became public.”
    “I don’t know. It’s not much to go on.” He heaved a sigh, doodling on the napkin, lost in thought. “There’s got to be some other avenue to explore. I’m drawing a blank.”
    Lori reappeared with Nick’s dinner just then and flashed him a blinding smile as she put the plate in front of him. Too bad the toothy grin was completely wasted on him. She stood there for several seconds, one hand on her hip, chest jutting out, still hopeful. When she finally realized he preferred doodling on the napkin to drooling over her, she stomped away.
    “Yes, it’s discouraging. She said just enough to tantalize the listeners, and then she clammed up. It was frustrating.”
    “Maybe she’s a tease.” Nick eyed the heaping plate, practically salivating. He looked ravenous. “Um, do you mind if—”
    “Go ahead and start,” I told him. He immediately plunged into his dinner, scarfing down a huge forkful of pasta. Nick always acts like he hasn’t eaten in a month.
    “You said Mildred was a tease?” I thought of Mildred in her polyester pantsuit and orthopedic shoes and giggled. “I think that’s a bit of a stretch.”