Barbara Graham - Quilted 03 - Murder by Music by Barbara Graham Page A

soundly when she started talking, and then when he was wide awake, she was dissolving into what he thought of as pre-hysterics. Why had she been so upset it was raining on the body? And what had she said about Art Trimble? She had seen him outside? She didn't say when, but assumed it was just before she had called. And what else? He slapped the steering wheel when it came to him. Of course, the barking seal. He'd told her about the odd message, delivered in a raspy voice, left on Mr. Beasley's telephone. Had Art Trimble made that telephone call? Had he left the message on the answering machine? And if so, why?
    Tony pulled past the covered drive in front of The Lodge and parked the Blazer. He left the covered space for the ambulance. Doc Nash was already on his way up with it. Tony took the camera with him. If this was anything except an obvious accident, he'd get Wade out of his nice warm bed and let him stand out in the cold rain taking pictures.
    The front door was locked, so Tony rang the night bell about six times in quick succession. Finally, the disembodied voice of Beth Trimble came through the speaker. “Yes?” She sounded really cranky about being disturbed.
    “Beth? It's Sheriff Abernathy. Can you unlock the door please? It's official business.”
    “Tony? It's not even four-thirty in the morning. Okay, okay. Art's on his way to open the door for you.” Even as she spoke, Tony saw the door to the owner's residence open. Art Trimble was pulling a dark plaid robe over his baby blue pajamas. His feet were bare as he padded toward Tony, yawning and stretching.
    As he pushed the door open to let Tony inside, he mumbled, “Couldn't stay away from Theo, huh?” He gave Tony a sly, leering look that made Tony want to punch him.
    “Like I told Beth, it's official business.” Tony noted Art's wardrobe and demeanor. He acted like he had just been rousted from a sound sleep, but Theo had seen him only a few minutes earlier. Had there been enough time for him to change and get to sleep? “I'll need you to wait here and let in Doc Nash.”
    “I can just unlock the door and go with you,” Art bounced back. “You know, in case you need help.”
    Tony stared at him, and finally Art quit jumping around. Why hadn't he asked about the nature of the business? Unless he already knew what it was about. “Just wait here for the doctor.”
    Without lingering any longer, Tony strode down the hallway and out onto the walkway. The path lights were the only form of illumination in the back of The Lodge, but at least the rain had all but stopped. Fine drizzle like this wouldn't make the scene much worse. It had to have been almost destroyed already, thanks to the earlier heavy rain. He shone his flashlight on the shrubs. The sudden beam of light sent a pair of rabbits scurrying deeper into the bushes. When it came to rest on the still body, draped so obscenely over the bush, Tony understood why Theo had been so disturbed by the rain. It disturbed him too. It would also make the investigation more difficult.
    He looked up, trying to see where Scarlet had fallen from. Theo waved from her window, almost directly above the body. He waved back, even as he noted part of the railing around the veranda on the floor above her room was down. He also noticed where the body lay in relation to the gap in the railing and decided the general scene was wrong for an accident. She hadn't fallen. There was no way the thing around her neck had come to be there accidentally.
    Doc Nash trotted along the sidewalk holding a blue golf umbrella over his head as Tony started punching the buttons on his cell phone. “Got us another one, I see.”
    Doc Nash waited until Tony snapped a series of photographs before making a cursory examination of Scarlet. He stood for a long time, shining a light on the woman's neck before returning to the shelter of his umbrella.
    From where they stood, Tony could see both the body and Art Trimble. Art stood in the doorway of