The Case of the Disappearing Corpse (14 page)

“And left
us
to find the body!”

My sympathy for Mrs. Murch took a sudden nose dive. She knew we were there and still left a rotting corpse for us to discover.

The woman pulled at a loose thread on her blouse.

“How did you know it was me?”

“
You
told me! The police didn’t reveal where Frank’s body was found. But
you
knew. When you came out of the hairdressers that day and saw me standing in the doorway, you said how sorry you were to hear I’d found a body in the shed.”

“Oh.”

Leroy rolled over on his back in the ‘tickle my tummy’ position. Of course this didn’t present a very professional image but I guess he deserved a scratch.

“So…what are you going to do now?” I asked, pretending tickling a dog’s tummy was all part of my P.I. job description.

“Trevor, that’s my husband, he’s been telling me to go to the police. But I’m scared they’ll think I’m the murderer.”

“Frank’s murderer is behind bars, Mrs. Murch. But I think your husband’s right. It must be hard to sleep at night with something that big on your conscience.”

She nodded.

As I turned to go I pulled the pink handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to her. “I believe this belongs to you. You must have dropped it when you hit Frank on the head.”

I poked Leroy with my toe. “Okay, let’s go, guys. There’s chocolate cake waiting for us at Krystal’s place.”

Leroy staggered to his feet, a sloppy grin on his wrinkled face. He snorted his excitement, sending whirls of slime over Mrs. March’s pink bunny slippers, then waddled down the path behind us.

Linking arms with Sarah and Tayla I skipped along the street, not caring that I was too old to be seen skipping in public.

“Now I can say the two words I’ve always wanted to say,” I squealed. “Guess what they are?”

“Chocolate cake?” Tayla said walking sedately beside me. Tayla had officially stopped skipping in the street on her fifth birthday.

“Nope.”

Sarah grinned as she poked me in the ribs. “Murder sucks?”

“It sure does,” I answered. “But that’s not it.”

Jack stomped along behind us. “Okay, we give up,” he said. “What are the two words you’ve always wanted to say?”

I took a deep breath and pulled my P.I. cloak around me before shouting at the top of my voice.

“
Case Closed!
”