Barbara Graham - Quilted 04 - Murder by Vegetable
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Authors: Barbara Graham
Tags: #Mystery: Thriller - Sheriff - Smoky Mountains
| Barbara Graham - Quilted 04 - Murder by Vegetable | |
| Number IV of Quilted Mysteries | |
| Barbara Graham | |
| Five Star (2012) | |
| Tags: | Mystery: Thriller - Sheriff - Smoky Mountains |
| Mystery: Thriller - Sheriff - Smoky Mountainsttt |
Spring fever, coupled with a full moon, arrives in tiny Park County, Tennessee, and induces the well-named madness. Unfortunate timing puts the first Ramp Festival during the peak of spring fever. Residents and visitors wander elbow to elbow listening to music, eating vast amounts of food—including the odiferous ramps—watching homemade weapons launch vegetables at a stock tank filled with water and rubber duckies. Chaos, fun and sudden death collide when a flying vegetable hits a partygoer.
URDER BY
V
EGETABLE
THE BABY QUILT
B
ARBARA
G
RAHAM
FIVE STAR
A part of Gale, Cengage Learning
Copyright © 2012 by Barbara Graham.
Five Star™ Publishing, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.
No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The publisher bears no responsibility for the quality of information provided through author or third-party Web sites and does not have any control over, nor assume any responsibility for, information contained in these sites. Providing these sites should not be construed as an endorsement or approval by the publisher of these organizations or of the positions they may take on various issues.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Graham, Barbara, 1948−
Murder by vegetable : the baby quilt, a quilted mystery / Barbara Graham. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4328-2621-5 (hardcover) — ISBN 1-4328-2621-2 (hardcover)
eISBN-13: 978-1-4328-2736-6 eISBN-10: 1-4328-2736-7
1. Sheriffs—Fiction. 2. Quilting—Fiction. 3. Tennessee—Fiction. [1. Music festivals—Fiction.] I. Title.
PS3607.R336M88 2012
| 813′.6—dc23 | 2012016868 |
First Edition. First Printing: October 2012.
Published in conjunction with the Author.
This title is available as an e-book.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4328-2736-6 ISBN-10: 1-4328-2736-7
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Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 16 15 14 13 12
For Huckleberry
My thanks to all the “usual suspects”—my husband, friends, and family who accept my imaginary friends as well as me. Special thanks to Michelle Quick for testing the mystery quilt pattern and feigning interest when I am babbling about myself too much. As usual, grateful thanks to Alice Duncan, editor extraordinaire, whose pithy comments and suggestions greatly improve the story.
A MYSTERY QUILT DESIGNED BY
THEO ABERNATHY
FIRST BODY OF CLUES:
Finished size is a lap or crib quilt top, approximately 48″ × 60″. All fabric requirements are generous and based on standard widths of approximately 42 inches. The instructions assume familiarity with basic quilt construction and an accurate 1/4″ seam throughout.
Fabric requirements:
Fabric (A). This is the main or theme fabric. Select a print—floral, novelty, or other non-directional print with at least five colors or shades of colors.
Fabric (B). A neutral, light or dark, should
not
be a busy print.
Fabrics (C), (D), (E) and (F) and (G). Select “interesting solids” (prints that appear to be a single color) of colors or small prints of colors found in the main fabric (A).
Yardage:
(A)—1 1/2 yards of print
(B)—1 3/8 yards of light or dark neutral
(C)—1/2 yard of print
(D)—1 1/3 yards of print
(E)—1/4 yard of print, a fat quarter will work
(F)—1/4 yard of print, a fat quarter will work
(G)—1/4 yard of print, a fat quarter will work
Cutting Instructions:
Be sure to label cut pieces with fabric letter and size cut
.
(A)—from the 1 1/2 yards.
Cut 4 strips 4 1/2″ by LOF (length of fabric)
Cut 4 strips 2 1/2″ by LOF
From the remainder, cut 12 squares 4 1/2″
(B)—from the 1 3/8 yards of neutral
Cut 24 squares 5 1/2″
Cut 96 rectangles 4 1/2″ by 1 7/8″
(C)—from the 1/2 yard
Cut 12 squares 5 1/2″
Cut 4 squares 4 1/2″
Cut 4 squares 2 1/2″
(D) from the 1 1/3 yard
Cut 4 strips 2 1/2″ by LOF
Cut 3 squares 5 1/2″
Cut 12 rectangles 4 1/2″ by 1 7/8″
(E) and (F) and (G)
Cut 3 squares 5 1/2″
Cut 12 rectangles 4 1/2″ by 1 7/8″
HAPTER
O
NE
Sheriff Tony Abernathy heard his twin baby daughters begin the snuffling sounds they made just before beginning to wail for their breakfast, and climbed out of bed. He felt unusually refreshed, and it was then he realized the girls had slept through the night. Glancing back at the bed, he saw Theo's tousled curls move as she rolled over onto her back. Her eyelashes fluttered and lifted. For a change, his wife's hazel eyes did not seem more bloodshot than green/gold.
“They slept all night? Both of them?” Theo whispered as she crawled from underneath the covers and pulled a robe on over her nightgown. Winter was finally over. The days had grown warmer, but nights and early morning were still quite chilly.
“Unless you were up with them and I slept through it.” Tony rolled his shoulders, giving them a little stretch. “I didn't hear a peep.” Before he could say more, the first baby's cry began, then her twin chimed in, the sound of their combined wails almost drowned out by the sound of a heavy boom from somewhere in the distance, echoing through the Smoky Mountains. Tony glanced at the clock. Six-thirty. “I guess I'd better have a chat with Quentin about his cannon. I think he needs to wait until at least nine before he starts shooting.”
“Cannon?” Theo squeezed through the doorway before he did and vanished into the tiny room, little bigger than a closet, shared by their twin daughters and picked up one of the babies. Lizzie. “I know I've been distracted and sleep deprived, but when and why did he get a cannon?”
“He built it. I know you've been unbelievably busy since our precious girls arrived.” He made kissing sounds at the squalling babies. It had taken a bit of study before he and Theo could tell which baby was which and felt brave enough to remove their hospital identification bands. Little Kara had a dimple on her right cheek and Lizzie had none. More often, they depended on knowing Kara liked to shove three fingers in her mouth, disdaining a pacifier. Lizzie adored her pacifier and preferred to use her hands to grasp hair but not her own pale, feathery strands. In his dealings with Lizzie, Tony felt lucky to be bald. He winked at his wife. “I don't know how you could have missed hearing it before. Quentin and Roscoe have been working for months on their weapons.”
“I know, I know. If I'd do something besides spend all day on the couch reading magazines, eating bonbons, and soaking up the peace and quiet around me, I might have some idea what's going on in the world.”
Unable to suppress a smile at the far-fetched, and leisurely, picture she painted, Tony moved behind Theo and reached for the baby she hadn't picked up. Kara. Her tiny mouth opened wide, taking over her whole face, and she began screaming in earnest. It never failed to amaze him how such a tiny creature, barely bigger than a shoebox, could produce so much noise. He held her close to his chest and patted her back. Soon her screams quieted to giant shuddering hiccups. When he could be heard again, he returned to Theo's question. “Quentin has vegetable cannon. It's not made from vegetables, it shoots them. He plans to participate in the demonstration at the Ramp Festival along with Roscoe and his medieval siege weapon.”
“I've heard the sounds. I just didn't know where they came from or if I was dreaming them. Wait a minute; did you say a siege weapon? What is that?”
“I haven't actually seen it.” He watched Theo change Lizzie's diaper quickly and move away from the changing table so he could do Kara's.
“Do they have to practice at this hour?”
“That's going to be my first question.” He gave Theo and Lizzie quick kisses and carried Kara down the stairs. He'd give her a bottle well away from her mother and sister. Whenever possible, they switched the babies regularly at feeding time. Even at four months, Kara fit comfortably on his forearm. When her bottle was warm, he sat down with her and arranged her blanket. Wide blue eyes stared into his and her tiny hand grasped his smallest finger. Tony couldn't help thinking his girls were the prettiest babies ever.
His sons, Chris and Jamie, staggered into the kitchen, followed by Daisy, the family golden retriever. Chris let the dog outside and started rummaging for his favorite breakfast cereal.
“She sure can scream.” Jamie patted Kara's fuzzy hair.
Distracted by watching her brothers, Kara hadn't quite finished her bottle when Theo and Lizzie appeared. Theo handed Tony his cell phone, which she had evidently answered, and supervised the boys eating breakfast while she packed their lunches.
Balancing Kara, her bottle, and the undersized telephone wasn't easy, but he'd been practicing. “Yes?”
“Sorry to call you at home, Sheriff.” Tony recognized the voice. Rex Satterfield, his favorite of the dispatch officers. “I thought you should know there's been a big accident on the highway near Dead Man's Curve. The highway patrol notified me. It's a mess. I've sent about everyone out there but you, including the fire department and search and rescue. Didn't you hear all the sirens?”
“No. What happened?” Tony hated that stretch of road and its nickname. It was a vicious hazard. Because of the river, it couldn't be straightened and because of the solid rock wall on the other side, it couldn't be widened. At least, not within the county's current budget.
Rex interrupted Tony's thoughts. “The preliminary report came in from Sheila. There's a heating oil truck on its side, blocking both lanes of the highway. Of course it's leaking all over the place. I guess the driver didn't want to observe the warning signs about the curve and the speed limit.” His voice reeked of disapproval.
