Aretha Moon and the Dead Hairdresser: Aretha Moon Book 2 (Aretha Moon Mysteries) by Linda Ross (reading books for 7 year olds .TXT) 📗

and you’ll finally see Jesus standing there in his robe with his long hair and beard, disguised as a pretzel vendor to blend into the crowd.

“I’m sure that’s comforting,” I said to Gigi for lack of anything else to say.

“You’ve been very helpful,” Thelma said, standing.

“One more thing,” I said.  “How did Rose feel about what Kara did?”

“Oh, she was devastated,” Pastor Rick said.

“She paid for what insurance didn’t cover on my surgery,” Gigi said.  “She couldn’t do enough for me.”

“And she had no idea where Kara went?” I asked.

Pastor Rick shifted uncomfortably.  “I truly don’t think anyone knew in the beginning.  Then when we heard that Jeffrey Connell had moved near Hannibal, we all kind of figured that’s where Kara was.  The police had made an effort to find Kara, even though Gigi wasn’t pressing charges.  But as time went on, I think they just figured it wasn’t worth the effort to bring her back here.”

“So why do you think Rose moved close to Kara after what she did?” I asked.

“Rose was always a gentle soul,” Pastor Rick said.  “I think she just wanted to help her sister.  From what I heard, she was always the one bailing her out of trouble when they were growing up.”

“Was their home nearby?” Thelma asked.

“It was off the county highway close to the Meramec River.  Go south on the highway, then take the first turn.  You’ll see a little yellow bungalow on the right.  I think a cousin lives there now.”

We thanked him and Gigi and headed out.  There was a man standing just outside the church door, smoking.  He was pacing, and his agitation was obvious when he pinched his cigarette between two fingers and flung it into the parking lot.  He exhaled and glared at us as we walked past.  I think we both decided that silence was the better option, and we kept walking to the car.

“That must have been Eddie,” I said when we were both buckled up and pulling out of the lot.

“Cheerful sort,” Thelma said.

“He looks like he might hate Kara as much or more than Gigi does.”

“Can you blame him?”

“No.  It seems that everyone who knew her hated her.  Do you suppose he hated her enough to kill her?”

“Well, she disfigured his wife.”

We fell silent as we thought about that.  Kara had smashed part of Gigi’s face, and whoever killed her had done the same thing to Kara’s entire face.

“Let’s check out the house first, then go look at the bar.”

The house was easy to find.  The yellow stuck out against the relentless brown of the river and early winter.  It sat on low ground that I’m sure was flooded every spring.  I thought it must take a lot of patience to wait out the river every year, not to mention the cleanup afterwards.  And then the mold and mosquitoes.

The driveway was unpaved and mostly mud.  We picked out way to the front door, which looked like it had weathered more than one flood.  There was a large crack where it had warped at one of the hinges.

Thelma knocked and we waited.  We hadn’t seen a car, but from the porch we could see a small boat tied to a rickety dock near some trees.  I was about to knock again when a man appeared from behind the trees and saw us.  He stood for a moment, then headed toward us as if resigned.  I had a feeling that not a lot of good news had been delivered to his door.  He was thin and slightly stooped, and his shoulders curved in, making him look like an iced tea spoon.

When he got close, we could see that he wasn’t as old as he appeared on first glance.  His hair was a light brown and thinning.  The eyes looking at us were curious but wary.

“Yeah?” he said when he reached the porch.

“Are you a cousin of Kara Koch?” I asked.

“What about her?  She back in jail?”

“Actually, she’s dead,” Thelma said.  “She was killed in Hannibal.”

“No surprise there,” he said.  “I figured someone would kill her sooner or later, although I would’ve bet she’d have killed someone else first.”

Thelma introduced us and asked him his name.

“Robert Reeves,” he said.  “I ain’t seen Kara in years.  Rose checked on me a few times, and then she said she was moving to be closer to Kara.”  He shook his head.  “I don’t know why.  Kara never did nothing but use her.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“From the time they was kids, Kara used people.  She’d get Rose to be her alibi when she got in trouble.  She stole money from Rose from the time Rose got a part-time job in high school, and then when Rose married a guy with some money Kara leeched off them every time she could.  Stole one of their credit cards and maxed it out.  Stole their car one time.”

“I understand that Kara spent some time in jail,” Thelma said.

“Yeah, in Clayton.  Stole money from her employer if I remember right.  I guess she couldn’t get out of that one.”

“Was she ever violent?” I asked.

Robert snorted.  “Honey, that girl was born with her fists swinging.  She was always in trouble in school for hurting someone.  Spent more time suspended than in class.”

“Did she carry a knife then?” Thelma asked.

“She probably got a knife before she could walk,” Robert said.  “She loved cutting things, people mostly.  I think it turned her on.”  He narrowed his already half-closed eyes.  “Cut me once.  It was after she lost money in a poker game.  I said something and next thing I knew she had the knife out.  Left me a dandy scar on my leg before I got her off me.”

“So how did you end up with the