Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 03 - Valentined (25 page)

Eventually, Detective Abbott finished his glowing comments
about Essie and the commendation ceremony ended with the group slowly migrating
to the dining hall where cookies and punch were served to all.  Essie’s
children remained in the lobby to meet the three policemen and to hear them
describe personally how they’d first met Essie and how her concern over the
white powder in her secret admirer valentine eventually led to solving this
major crime.  All three of the police officers appeared to be enjoying talking
about Essie and her exploits.  Essie’s children seemed a bit overwhelmed that
Essie had done what she had done all by herself.  There was a lot of polite
smiling, but Essie knew that eventually she was probably going to be lectured
by one or more of her children about taking unnecessary risks.

One person who wouldn’t lecture her was her granddaughter
Mindy.  As her children and grandchildren stood around talking to the three
police officers, Essie drew Mindy aside.  She wanted to get this young woman’s
take on the recent events.

“Grandma!” declared Mindy, giving Essie a warm hug, “you are
my hero!  Not only do you catch a criminal, but you do it by using your very
clever art skills!”

“I just used what stuff I had on hand,” said Essie, downplaying
her efforts.  She knew quite honestly that a thorough investigation of her fake
valentine would quickly indicate that it came nowhere near the quality of the
one sent by her secret admirer in Boston.

“Even so,” said Mindy.  “I bet none of my friends’ grandmas
could ever do anything like this!”

“Well, you taught me about the artistic features of the
card, Mindy,” said Essie.  She felt a deep empathy for this young woman who
always seemed so shy and socially awkward.

“I’m glad I could help you, Grandma,” replied Mindy.  “If
you ever need help on any of your adventures, you can always ask me!”

“I will keep that in mind, my dear,” replied Essie.  “Now,
how about some punch and cookies?”  Mindy smiled and the two women headed for
the dining hall, along with the crowd of well-wishers.

As Essie stood in the dining hall, nibbling cookies and
sipping punch, surrounded by her friends and family, she felt a tap on her
elbow.

“Essie,” said Hubert Darby softly.  “I just wanted you to
know how much I admire you.”  He blushed and rocked back and forth on his
squeaky shoes.

“Thank you, Hubert,” replied Essie.  “Truth be told, I liked
your valentine the best.” 

Hubert’s face turned red and he gasped for breath, pulling
and twisting his suspenders nervously.  Then, suddenly, he bent over and
planted a kiss on Essie’s cheek.  Essie froze and smiled.  Everyone gathered in
the dining hall turned and looked at the large, befuddled man who was smooching
the guest of honor.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Miss Essie!” said Hubert.  Essie,
for maybe the first time in her life, was speechless.  Everyone cheered and
Hubert and Essie smiled warmly at each other.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patricia
Rockwell is the author of two cozy mystery series.  VALENTINED is the third in
her Essie Cobb senior sleuth mysteries. The first, BINGOED, introduced Essie
and her gang of amateur detective friends who live in the Happy Haven Assisted
Living Facility. The group attempt to find out what has caused a fellow
resident to collapse and fall into a coma after he wins a dollar playing Bingo.
Their efforts are rewarded with a series of merry adventures, just as in
PAPOOSED concerns a story of an abandoned infant and how Essie and her pals
babysit the child while they track down his mother.

Rockwell
also writes the Pamela Barnes acoustic mystery series, which follows the
psychologist and acoustics expert as she assists local police in solving
various crimes with sound clues. In the first of these, SOUNDS OF MURDER,
Pamela discovers an accidentally-made audio recording of a strangling death and
uses her knowledge of sound to determine the identity of the killer. The second
book, FM FOR MURDER, presents Pamela with an intriguing case. A local disc
jockey is shot to death on-air. No one sees the killer but many listeners hear
the crime unfold. Pamela uses the radio station’s recording to help the police
track down the wily murderer. In the third of the series, VOICE MAIL MURDER,
Pamela helps in an investigation of the local university football coach’s
murder. The man is found stabbed to death in a seedy motel. The only clue is
his cell phone which contains voice mail messages from three unknown women.
Pamela uses her knowledge of the sound of the human voice to help the police
solve this mysterious case.

All of
Rockwell’s books are available in both paperback and e-book format on Amazon
and other sites. You can read more about this author and her work on the
publisher’s website: www.cozycatpress.com.