Margaret Maron - One Coffee With

"Poison in both cups!" said Lemuel Vance. "So it didn't matter which one Riley picked. I guess old Bert was smarter than he looked."

"Aren't we all?" said Leyden.

W ITHOUT quite knowing how it happened, Sigrid found herself riding down in the elevator alone with Oscar Nauman. Her awkwardness had returned, and she tried to cover with a rude remark.

"I hope you have another pipe. That wad of adhesive tape looks pretty asinine." He ignored it. "I'll pick you up ats even."

"Pick me up for what?"

"Dinner. I've decided we ought to start fresh."

"You've decided-" His gall left her speechless.

"Wear your green suit," he said. "The one with the purple and indigo blouse."

The elevator doors slid open on the ground floor.

"You looked in my closet yesterday? How dare you! That's invasion of privacy!" Indignantly she hurried to catch up with him as he strode down the hall. He held the door for her at the back entrance of Van Hoeen Hall where Detective Tildon waited with the car.

"Seven o'clock," Nauman repeated. "Green suit. And leave your hair loose."

"Be damned if I will!" she said angrily as she slid into the car beside Detective Tildon and banged the door shut.

Tillie looked shocked at her unprecedented display of emotion, but Sigrid ignored his curious face. Never had she met a man so willful, conceited and infuriating!

Even so, as they drove through the college gates, she found herself wondering if she could finish all the reports in time to stop by Anne's apartment and hunt for those jade earrings.

Born and raised in central North Carolina, Margaret Maron lived in Italy before returning to the USA where she and her husband now live. In addition to a collection of short stories she's also the author of 16 mystery novels. Her works have been translated into seven languages her Bootlegger's Daughter, a Washington Post Bestseller won Edgar Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards. She is a past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime writers' league, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.