Page 41 of Chosen Path
“Your conversation went that well, huh?”
She turned to glare at him, then a puzzled look crossed her face. “Why are you whispering?”
He explained how Hope had started to go through the files and the activity seemed to bring her some peace and serenity. “I don’t want to disrupt that.”
Molly’s scowl softened and she lowered her voice. “No, you’re right. She’s had a heck of a day. She’s earned some quiet. I’m not sure my looking through old files is how I’d choose to unwind. But, hey, to each her own.”
“So what happened at the hardware store?”
Molly jerked her head toward the bump out in the front of the room, where three bay windows formed an alcove. He followed her to the windows and sat across from her on the cushioned window seat. She recounted the fruitless conversation and Greg’s disproportionate rudeness.
“I honestly think he was trying to intimidate me. But why?”
Bodhi thought about what the police officer had said. “I think social pressure is a big lever here. The doctor before Doc Larson—”
“The one who ordered the autopsy?”
“Right. Officer Booth told me he was run out of town. When I asked her to elaborate, she said that, as she understood it, it was more a matter of being frozen out. The villagers shunned him and made his life unpleasant enough that he left.”
Molly laughed without mirth. “Well, if they think they’ll chase me away by making me miserable, they badly misunderstand the modern medical residency program. I’m a hard nut to crack.”
They shared a knowing, rueful laugh. She wasn’t wrong. Anyone who’d survived their residency was unlikely to be broken by rudeness. Or sleep deprivation. Or pretty much anything short of torture. He was about to say as much when something outside the window caught his eye: a bright red toque went bobbing by on the opposite side of the street.
“That’s Kimberly Dickerson, right?”
Molly twisted and followed his gaze. “Ugh. Yes. She’s hard to miss with that crimson hat.”
“I should go talk to her. She did offer to give me a tour of the village, and you said she’s a busybody. She may know where Derek is.”
“She may.” She mock-shuddered at the thought of talking to the woman.
He grabbed his jacket and backpack. He pulled his gloves from his jacket pockets and pulled them on. “Maybe I’ll have better luck with her than you did with Greg Rockman.”
“You could hardly have worse luck,” she told him.
He waved goodbye and hurried out the door, pulling it shut quietly. Then he jogged down the steps and ran across the street to catch up with Kimberly. She held a cell phone to her ear and took careful, mincing steps although the sidewalk was neither wet nor icy.
He overtook her without much effort in front of a small, quaint chocolate shop. “Hello, Mrs. Dickerson,” he said as he fell into step beside her.
“Oh, Doctor King. You snuck up on me!” She clutched her coat around her throat with one hand and dropped her cell phone into her pocket with the other.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to startle you. I saw you from across the street and recognized you from last night. Your distinctive hat gave you away.”
She reached up and patted her pompom with a giggle. “Haha, yes. I guess it does make me easy to see. It’s quite warm, though. I picked it up from Kit’s Knits. She has a little shop around the corner where she sells hand knit and crocheted items. She’s very talented.”
“I haven’t had a chance to visit any of the village shops, I’m afraid. It’s been a busy day, what with Corrine Wolf passing away so suddenly.”
She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and fixed her wide, honey-colored eyes on his. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you’d have heard, being on the village council and all. I didn’t mean to drop that news on you if you were unprepared.”
His apology was sincere, as far as it went. If shehad beenunprepared, hewouldn’thave wanted to spring Corrine’s death on her. He was confident she already knew, though.
Her change in demeanor confirmed his suspicion. She drew herself up and bristled. “I did know about Mrs. Wolf, but I don’t appreciate the insinuation that Greg and I gossip.”
He hurried to smooth things over. “I wasn’t insinuating anything. Truly. I understood that Mrs. Wolf chaired the council with you and Mr. Rockman. I just assumed you’d have discussed it as a matter of village business and, perhaps, as friends of Mrs. Wolf.”
“Oh, I see.”
