Edit to Death : Myrtle Clover #14

Chapter Three

Myrtle gave Hubert a sharp look. "Have you called Red?"

He still gazed blankly at her.

"Have you called the police?" she snapped. "Or an ambulance? Maybe you just think she's dead."

Hubert's expression didn't change and Myrtle gave an impatient sigh. "Miles, could you call Red?"

Miles was already dialing his number.

Myrtle said briskly, "All right, Hubert. Why don't you take a seat?" She pointed to a white wicker chair on the front porch and Hubert obediently headed over to it and plopped down.

Then Myrtle took out a tissue from her purse and carefully pushed the front door open. She didn't see anything. Myrtle walked through the small entranceway into the den and then to the staircase against the back wall.

There she saw Pearl, her head in a very odd position on the floor. The rest of Pearl was on the stairs behind her. Pearl's eyes were staring blankly in an expression that mimicked Hubert's, except blanker.

"Do we need an ambulance?" called Miles from the porch.

"I'm afraid not," said Myrtle grimly. "But we will need Red."

"He's not picking up, so I called the station and the deputy is coming over," said Miles.

Myrtle muttered, "That's right; he was supposed to be speaking at some sort of community policing seminar."

"Which deputy is this, now?" asked Miles.

"A new one. The last one thought Bradley was a little too small for him," said Myrtle.

"What is this guy like?" asked Miles.

"Not as bright as the last one," said Myrtle. "And he requires a bit of hand-holding."

Miles gave every indication of being about to ask her another question and she quickly interjected, "Can you keep an eye on Hubert? I'll be right back."

She crouched down to see if there were any clues that she could see near Pearl without touching or moving her. She couldn't see any broken fingernails or any other signs of a struggle. It didn't look as if she'd been strangled and then shoved down the stairs. There were no rugs on the stairs that might have tripped her up. Under the circumstances, and judging from what had happened with the manuscript, her fall and death seemed extremely suspicious.

Myrtle carefully walked into the den and glanced around. There were no signs of a manuscript anywhere. She looked for a chunky, clunky computer with stickers on it and didn't see one. She walked to the kitchen. Again, no sign of any stack of papers and no computer.

Myrtle walked, frowning, back out to the porch. She was relieved to see that Hubert seemed to be himself again.

"I'm so sorry about Pearl," said Myrtle to Hubert.

He nodded and gave a big sigh. "It was a shock to see her like that. I'd left for the grocery store to stock up on beer and came back home with it. Then I remembered I had a prescription to pick up at the drugstore, so I headed over there."

Myrtle said, "Did you speak with Pearl when you came back from the grocery store?"

Hubert said roughly, "I didn't see her, and she didn't call out to me, if that's what you mean. But I was nowhere near the staircase, so I couldn't see her—if she was already there. I only went to the kitchen and then I was back in the car again."

Myrtle said slowly, "Did you know that Pearl came to visit me, today?"

Hubert shrugged. "She mentioned something about it last night, but I didn't realize that's where she was off to this morning."