“Sorry, Myrtle. I guess she’s not there.”
Myrtle shook her head. “She wouldn’t be out anywhere yet. The only early appointment she keeps is for the Beauty Box and this isn’t her day. Besides, she was supposed to be here for Jo.” She opened her car door. “I’m going to try the back door.”
“Won’t you be late to the school?”
“It’ll only take a minute. I just want to be sure...” Myrtle pinched her mouth shut and walked quickly down the front walk, her cane punctuating the stones with thumps. As she walked around the side of the house, a sense of foreboding settled over her. “Agnes,” she called as she approached the backyard.
Agnes’ yardman came by each week to do the grunt work in her garden so that she could enjoy tending the flowers. She had a large rose garden currently in full bloom
