Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jane Tesh is a retired media specialist and pianist for the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. She is the author of the popular Madeline Maclin Mysteries and the Grace Street Mysteries.

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A Little Learning

By Jane Tesh

Poisoned Pen Press

Copyright © 2009 Jane Tesh
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-59058-650-1

Chapter One

I've often said I don't want to have children, and now I know why. I already have three. This bright Sunday morning in September, I came downstairs to find three heads bent over a patchwork of brightly colored cards spread across the kitchen table. The black hair braided with yellow beads belonged to Denisha Simpson, age ten. The green and purple hair sticking up like wiry weeds was attached to her best friend, Austin Terrell, also ten. The light brown hair that could benefit from a good combing belonged to my best friend and new husband, Jerry Fairweather, who is thirty going on ten.

"Okay, we've got all the Pond Palace series except the Drawbridge of Death and the Dungeon of Despair," Denisha said.

Austin moved one stack of cards to another. "Here's all Bufo's Webbed Foot Guard except for Rayford the Sticky-Tongued and Bart the Beeper."

"Weapons over here," Jerry said. "Sword of Destruction, Sword of Light, three Sword of Revenge cards. Can we trade one? What does Ronald have, Austin?"

"I asked him. He won't trade."

"Sword of Justice, Sword of Peace. We're missing the Sword of Illusion."

"That's really hard to find."

I went to the coffee maker. "Good morning, Warrior Toads."

Three heads came up. Three voices said, "`Justice Rules the Swamp!'"

"So I've heard," I said. "How's the collection coming along?"

"We need about twenty-five more to complete the first set," Jerry said.

"First set?"

"Set two comes out this week and set three in December just in time for Christmas."

"Someone is a marketing genius."

Austin rearranged the cards. "We weren't doing too well on our own, but when we combined our sets, we had almost all of them."

"And Jerry bought some more," Denisha said.

I pushed back my tangle of dark curls and poured a cup of coffee. It was typical of Jerry to spend his money on Bufo the Warrior Toad cards instead of buying normal things or paying outstanding bills, but I really couldn't complain. Being married to him is everything I hoped it would be: intensely satisfying, especially in the bedroom, without sacrificing the fun we've always had together. And he was actually working. Before we'd got married, Jerry and I made a bargain that if I'd go back to my artwork, he'd give up his scams and get a legitimate job. To my surprise, Jerry had found a job at the local bookstore and enjoyed it.

"Can we go to Georgia's today and get a few more packs?" Austin asked him.

"Sure. I'll be working there today."

I leaned against the counter and sipped my coffee. As for my part of the bargain, well, I hadn't been as successful. The portrait of children I painted for the local theater had brought me a few more commissions, but I wasn't painting as much as I should. I kept telling myself my detective work kept me busy, but that was stretching the truth.

You can't fuss at Jerry for stretching the truth, now, can you? I told myself, and a little worrisome thought wormed its way into my mind. I looked at my slim, youthful husband, his gray eyes shining as he and Austin argued the merits of Bufo's Glowing Sword versus Bufo's Wart of Power. I'd known Jerry since we met in college, and he'd been very good at keeping his schemes and his problems secret from me. But I recognized the signs. Something was going on, but I couldn't tell what.

He looked up and smiled that smile that had won my heart from the first time I met him. "What's up with you today, Mac?"

"I thought I'd go in to my office for a while."

"Meet you for lunch?"

"Shana wants me to meet a friend of hers. I'm hoping this will lead to another case."

I tried to put my worries aside and concentrate on my new career. My fledgling detective agency could use all cases possible. I'd known when I moved to Celosia the small town wouldn't have much use for a private investigator, but I'd already solved two murders.

"It's been almost two months and no one's felt the urge to kill," Jerry said. "Either you're slipping or Celosia is."

"People are beginning to eye me strangely. I thought about putting the Grim Reaper on my business cards."

"What do you want for breakfast? The kids and I had cheese toast."

"That would be fine."

I took my coffee to the front porch and looked out across the fields surrounding the Eberlin house, the house Jerry had inherited from his uncle. We were still in the process of remodeling. Goldenrod and white Queen Anne's lace shimmered in the morning heat. In the oak trees, cicadas whirred like tiny buzz saws. Beyond the dusty driveway and wandering rail fence, the highway led about a mile into town where Georgia would be opening her bookstore and maybe a few minor crimes would occur. Some shoplifting, perhaps, or a serious case of littering. Something calm and normal. I really didn't want to get involved with another murder.

After a while, Jerry came out with my cheese toast on a plate. "Breakfast is served."

"Curb service. How nice." I sat down in one of the rocking chairs.

Jerry perched on the porch rail and admired the view. He had on his khaki slacks, white shirt, and a yellow tie decorated with flying pigs. "And it's going to be another hot day."

I set my coffee cup beside my chair. "I hope Nell's coming to install the new air conditioner."

"She said she'd get to it today."

The ancient upstairs unit had finally died. Fans helped a little, but in our part of North Carolina, the heat can continue long into October. "Great," I said. The cheese toast was a perfect combination of crunchy toast and gooey cheese. "This is great, too. Have you ever thought about being a chef?"

"One career at a time, please."

I licked an extra bit of cheese off my finger. It had taken a lot of wheeling and dealing to get Jerry to find any sort of job. I wasn't going to push. "How are things at the bookstore?"

"I'm helping Georgia rearrange the magazines. She wants to put in a line of greeting cards."

He continued to look at the fields, but I could tell his gaze was miles beyond the trees and wildflowers. I never dreamed he would ever settle down, much less with me in an old house in a small town, so I wondered if he missed his wandering life. I was glad Austin's and Denisha's Bufo obsession was keeping him occupied.

He brought his calm gray gaze back to me. "Ready for seconds?"

What a loaded question. "With the kids here?"

He grinned. "They need to go get more Bufo cards."

"What were you thinking about just then?"

"Besides you?"

"Not getting restless, are you?"

"No."

"Not feeling the urge to sell fake pocketbooks or play mind reader?"

"Just let me hold an occasional séance and I'll be fine." He put his arms around me. "Actually, just let me hold you."

We were enjoying a long soulful kiss when behind us we heard Austin say, "Eeeuww."

Denisha said, "Austin Terrell, that's perfectly all right now that they're married. You ought to watch and see how it's done."

"There's no way I'm kissing you!"

Denisha was unfazed. "One day you will."

Jerry gave me another quick kiss before letting go. "Come on, kids. We'll ride into town with Mac and see what's at the store."

* * *

We have just one car, my light blue Mazda, so, after dropping Jerry, Austin, and Denisha at Georgia's Books, I went to my office. My office is...