Better Off Wed: An Annabelle Archer Mystery

254 Pages·2005·1.22 MB·English

by  Laura Durham

AN ANNABELLE ARCHER MYSTERY
For my parents,
who filled our home with an endless supply of love and
books.
Contents
Chapter 1
Planning a wedding can be murder. Planning
weddings for a… 1
Chapter 2
I pulled Kate to her feet as a waiter appeared… 11
Chapter 3
“I’m absolutely mortified,” Richard spoke into
my answering machine as… 22
Chapter 4
“For your information, a cocktail party for
twenty does not… 31
Chapter 5
“The guests, or should I say suspects, are
starting to… 37
Chapter 6
“Was that so hard?” Richard handed me the
last wine… 43
Chapter 7
“Ransacked is more like it.” Leatrice pulled
me by the… 49
Chapter 8
“So we’re all secured.” Richard swung the
milk crate onto… 54
Chapter 9
“Do you really think Mrs. Pierce’s death
and the break-in… 61
Chapter 10
“I still don’t understand why we’re
offering condolences for a… 69
Chapter 11
“Now that you’ve found me, how can I be of… 76
Chapter 12
I stood inside the expansive marble foyer
of the Pierce… 84
Chapter 13
Fern stopped in midsnip as Kate and I
walked into… 89
Chapter 14
“So Mrs. Pierce had an affair with a
prominent political… 96
Chapter 15
The doorbell rang, and I glanced over my
shoulder into… 101
Chapter 16
I stood in front of the bathroom mirror after my… 106
Chapter 17
“Everything that could possibly go wrong
today already has.” Richard… 115
Chapter 18
A high-pitched, warbling whistle followed
Richard’s loud tap on the… 120
Chapter 19
“Well, we can cross Mr. Boyd off our suspect list.” 128
Chapter 20
“So, did the same person kill Mrs. Pierce
and Mr. Boyd?” 135
Chapter 21
“I’m leaving you, Annabelle.” Richard stood
in the doorway of… 142
Chapter 22
Kate swung into a parking space in front
of the… 148
Chapter 23
My cell phone rang, and I hunted for it on… 154
Chapter 24
I hurried to pick the champagne flute out of the… 162
Chapter 25
“I flattened it.” I sat up; one hand on my… 169
Chapter 26
Leatrice stood underneath a huge bouquet of
helium balloons in… 174
Chapter 27
“I think we should call the police in on this.” 185
Chapter 28
“I’m telling you, Annabelle. Maxwell sounded
upset that you took… 194
Chapter 29
“Sauro’s is two blocks down on the left.”
We exited… 199
Chapter 30
“The question is, does the murderer know
I’ve been sitting… 203
Chapter 31
“That’s what he said?” Kate sat on the floor of… 209
Chapter 32
Leatrice knelt next to the tiny flower bed
in front… 212
Chapter 33
I raised my head and saw Fern standing next to… 218
Chapter 34
The organ started playing inside the sanctuary,
and a few… 224
Chapter 35
“Dr. Donovan.” My voice sounded unnaturally
high-pitched. “I’m sur…” 228
Chapter 36
“I wasn’t aware you were with someone.”
Leatrice gave Dr. Donovan… 234
Chapter 37
After the police removed Dr. Donovan,
barely coherent and mumbling… 238
Acknowledgments 242
About the Author
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher

1

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p
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Planning a wedding can be murder. Planning
weddings for a living is nothing short of suicide.
“Is there a patron saint for wedding consultants?
Because I think after this wedding, I just might
meet the requirements.” I stood near the top of the
wide marble staircase that swept down the middle
of the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s central foyer.
Below me, dozens of tuxedo-clad waiters scurried
around the enormous hall filled end to end with ta-
bles and gold ladder-backed chairs. After having
draped ivory chiffon into swags on all forty tables,
I massaged the red indentations left on my fingers
by the heavy pins.
“Annabelle,darling,I may be a lapsed Catholic,but
I’m pretty sure you have to be dead to qualify for
sainthood.” Richard Gerard has been one of my clos-
est friends since I arrived in Washington, D.C. three
years ago and started “Wedding Belles.” At the time,