A Crying Shame: A Jesse Watson Mystery
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The saddest part of all is that Brian and Vicki are no longer around to see their precious daughter grow up. Mom said that it was a crying shame, but she knew they were in heaven watching down over her, and they know that Maisy is in good hands.
However, the good thing is that Benjamin Beard will spend the rest of his life in prison for what he did. He was lucky that he didn’t get the death penalty. If it had been up to me… well, let’s just say he’d be in a hotter place than jail.
Jacqueline Beard kept her promise by making sure everything was on the up and up with our adoption of Maisy. She was given Power of Attorney by her husband and stood by him until he was sentenced to life in prison. Then she did as she said she would do. She sold his practice, their house, and even sold all their cars. She said she wanted to start fresh and she didn’t want anything that the two of them had owned together, except the money. So she took the money and ran. I don’t blame her. I would’ve done the same thing.
After dinner, Mom and Billy were sitting on our new large sectional sofa in our new family room in the back of the house watching me play pinball on our new pinball machine—something I’ve always wanted—when all of a sudden Athena and Thor started howling. I turned, looked around and saw Maisy standing next to Billy’s legs. She took one step forward and then fell. I ran to her and scooped her up in my arms.
“Did you see that?” I exclaimed. “Isn’t she young to be walking?”
“She’s not walking,” Mom said. “She pulled herself up. I think the step was an accident.”
“No way!” I said. “She’s walking! Go buy her a horse, Billy!”
“Oh, I think we can wait for a couple of days.”
Mom and Billy laughed.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Billy said to me. “I got a call today about a murder over on Middle River Road. A woman called me and said she thinks a woman in her club is poisoning the other women, one by one. She wants to hire me to investigate it.”
“Isn’t Middle River Road close to your house, Mom?”
“It sure is,” Mom said. “Middle River is the next one over from South River. It’s only a few miles away.”
“There’s one other thing I have to tell you,” Billy said. He looked at me and then stood up. “You might want to give Maisy to me and then sit down.”
“Okay,” I said as I handed him Maisy, but remained standing. “What is it?”
“The chief called today. He’s had another vision,” Billy said and then chuckled. “He told me to tell you that he saw us with five kids running around the house. He says we’re going to eventually have a big family.”
Maisy cooed, Mom snickered, and the dogs howled. Spice Cat jumped up on the pinball machine and meowed loudly. I flopped down in the chair, overwhelmed at the prospect.
Billy smiled that incredible smile of his and said, “See, I knew you and I were soul mates right from the start!”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to Greene County Sheriff Scott Haas for taking the time to help me to get to know the Sheriff’s Office, and how they interact with the citizens of Greene County and other law enforcement personnel. The sheriff and his deputies are truly the best, and the tales I tell are not indicative of how they really operate. I sleep better at night just knowing they are patrolling our streets, and that their goals are to make our community a safe place in which to live. Much love to Athena, Thor, and Spice Cat for giving me such outrageous fodder for my novels. You are loving and amazing animals. Love to my family. This one’s for you, Jan.
Look for my next book: Middle River Murders
A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #4
This book is dedicated to the person for whom the character
of Claire Benson was created, Jan Downey… my sister..
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Acknowledgments