Is your Thanksgiving menu all planned out? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Mine is dressing, but the whole shebang is delicious. Welcome to Tuesday Tales, presented by a small group of authors, where word and picture prompts inspire passages in the books we’re writing. Today’s word prompt is narrow. My snippet is from a cozy mystery set in fictional Glisten, Georgia. When you finish reading, make sure to visit all the talented authors of Tuesday Tales.
“You had a narrow escape, Peri.” The horizontal creases in Roy’s forehead deepened. “What if you had come along while the murderer was finishing his dirty business?”
“Maybe I could have stopped it!” I blurted.
“No, we’d have two corpses instead of one.”
At his blunt words, Robin grimaced as if she had bitten into a green persimmon. “He’s right, Peri. Oh my God, I didn’t realize what a close call you had.”
He continued. “It’s imperative the two of you be careful. Don’t be overheard discussing any of this.”
I grabbed his arm. “Surely you don’t think Luella had anything to do with it?”
“You met her only three days ago. Can you vouch for the workings of her mind?”
“No, but…”
“No buts.” He waggled a finger at me. “Until we know for sure, she is as suspect as anyone else.”
“Am I on that list?” I hoped my voice didn’t sound as quaky as I felt inside.
“Not on mine, but you may be on Pelier’s. That’s even more reason not to give him any ammunition. I want the two of you to keep quiet and blend into the woodwork. Can you do that?”
“We’ll try,” Robin offered.
“Nope, not good enough.”
“We’ll stay on the down low,” I assured him.
He nodded. “Good. In this instance the two of you cannot make everything all nice. It’s a bad situation, but the investigation will get to the bottom of it. Remember, Officer Castor will be here until I return. Plus…” About to say something else, instead he turned and headed outside.
“What is he not telling us?” Robin questioned.
“I’m wondering if he was about to warn us not to stick our heads out of the gopher hole in sight of the murderer, else our heads may be lopped off.”
She gasped. “So he thinks the murderer has his eye on us? It’s bad enough that you’re on the detective’s suspect list.”
I crumbled our lunch wrappers into a wad and picked up the takeout bag. “I suppose it makes sense. Pelier is starting at ground zero and doesn’t know me from Adam.”
She sidled closer. “But what Roy demands is impossible. How on earth am I supposed to keep my head down as a reporter covering the story? How are you supposed to keep yours down when you found the body?”
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the piece inspired by the word narrow. If you haven’t done so already, check out the other excerpts at Tuesday Tales.
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Spirited Stories
All rights reserved, copyright @ 2023 Flossie Benton Rogers
Good questions! Not going to be easy to keep a low profile. Great scene.
No, I suspect it’s not. We’ll see.
Great snippet!
Thank you!
Oh dear – and it seems the plot keeps thickening. Now I want to know what he didn’t say. And more, oh, so much more I need to know.
This is a great story and I love how it’s all coming around.
I’m so glad you like the story, Trisha.
Good questions there at the end. And interestingly enough, at my dad’s yesterday, we were watching an episode of “chopped” and they were cooking with persimmons. I said I had never tasted one. Dad said they were kind of tart. LOL – and now here we are! LOL! I love it when things like that happen. Seems like serendipity. Jillian
Oh wow, I love when things like that happen! My grandmother had a persimmon tree. They were SO GOOD when ripe and so bitter when green.
That’s exactly what my dad said. they had them in the yard when he was a kid.
Uh oh. I feel a threat in the air and it’s drawing closer. Great way to build suspense and keep us on the edge of our seats.
Thanks, I’m glad you feel the suspense.
I love how they suddenly realize how dangerous the whole situation was. I especially love how much Roy cares for them and tries to keep them safe. Great job!
Roy is a good guy.