Murder in Death's Door County by Elizabeth Rose

sneaking suspicion that my nerves were more
affected by Donovan than I’d care to admit.
     
    — –
     
    “So, is it true you actually found the
body, Annie?” Janie asked during a break in the game. I nodded and held up my
finger as I finished eating a chicken wing. When I was done chewing, I
exclaimed “Mmmmm, these are great! What’s your recipe?”
    Janie delicately lifted an eyebrow, “Is
that your way of letting me know you don’t want to talk about…,” her voice
dropped to a whisper, “you know?”
    Kitty and Lizzy stared at me, waiting
for my answer. I had a feeling that my new friendships hung a little in the
balance based on my answer. They needed me to trust them. And we hadn’t talked
about the “elephant in the room” yet. When Lizzy and I first got there, the
Packers game was in full swing so I got a bit of a reprieve (yes, in Wisconsin,
even women pay close attention to football games). Plus, Janie and Kitty had
put out quite a party buffet, so we were busy eating and drinking. I suspected
that Kitty had brought a lot of the food they had prepared for the Lighthouse
Inn’s now-defunct game party. Regardless of where the food came from, their
kindness and friendship touched me very deeply. What happened next might have
been the drinks or the emotional upheaval in my life, but it bonded the four of
us.
    I looked up to find Janie looking at me.
She gave me an odd, searching look. I felt Janie’s dark brown eyes bore down
deep into my eyes. To be honest, it freaked me out a little bit. Although Janie
and Kitty didn’t look at all like sisters, I often found that they both seemed
to have the ability to see into a person’s soul. Right now, I felt like Janie saw
things that no one else could have seen. I found it disconcerting, yet oddly
soothing. However, it also brought everything I had felt in the last week very
close to the surface.
    To my horror, I immediately burst into
tears. Sobs wracked my body, as I tried to talk, “I’m sorry... this
is-is-is-isn’t l-l-l-like m-me.” Immediately, I felt the wind shift in the room
as my new friends gathered around me.
    I heard a chorus of “there, there” and “it’s
okay.”
    With gratitude, I accepted a tissue and
glass of wine that Janie offered me. In one gulp, I downed the wine.
    “Hmmm... you must have needed that,” Lizzy
said as she deftly took my empty glass. “Do you feel a little better?”
    I nodded, “Yeah, I’ve just been through
a lot in the last week or so.” I blew my nose loudly. “Thanks, guys. I needed
that.”
    “Well, you did find a dead body today,”
Kitty wryly observed as she nibbled on a chip loaded with artichoke dip. “Have
another glass, sweetie.” She filled up my glass again.
    “That isn’t even the half of it,” cried
Lizzy. “Our poor Annie got interviewed by none other than Chadwick!”
    “Oh no! Not Chad!”
    “Tsk! Tsk! That’s too bad!”
    While Kitty and Janie exclaimed over my
bad luck at finding Harry, then being interviewed by Chad, Lizzy brought me
another plate of wings and chips with dip. I thanked her as I accepted the
plate.
    “And you guys know I didn’t kill Harry,
right?”
    A chorus of “Of courses” echoed.
    However, I didn’t miss the look that
Janie and Kitty shared with each other. I resolved to not let it bother me at
this point. They didn’t know me well—it was only natural that they were wary.
    Besides, I was starting to formulate an
idea of my own. Since Lizzy and I had become such unusually fast friends, I
planned to talk to her the next day about us trying to find Harry’s killer. In
the meantime, the four of us enjoyed a resounding Packers win, then another
bottle of wine. With the additional wine, some of the courage I had recently
lacked came rushing back.
    “So what can you guys tell me about this
Chad Dupah. His questioning technique really lacked subtlety.”
    Lizzy nodded knowingly. “Even though I
was a couple years behind them in school, I remember