The Tune of Murder

 This last heartache is a long time leaving/ Die for shame darling. Die for shame.

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The Tune of Murder

LUKE MICHAELS could see the sidebar of the bed frame inches above him, and thought it too thin and polished to be any part of a cross, and yet it was, distinctly that, in his mind and heart. He would have touched it except that he could not lift his arms. One of his hands was palm-down on his abdomen and he recalled with great peace that he was injured. He wasn’t dying, though, only falling toward sleep, something very pleasant to him. And music was rushing through him. He heard it in his head and felt it in his body, and less so, though warm, against his hands. He hummed it with his entire fading self. The cross of music, music, and the cross, love eternal, love. Love. Music. Sweet blessed love music. Blessed music.

Who killed handsome musician, singer, songwriter Luke Michaels? What clues lie in the books of lyrics written in his script? Young Johnny Rowland is arrested for the murder and although his great aunt Letitia knows he is hardly innocent, she is convinced he is not guilty. She enlists the aid of her neighbor, Galway Evans, a former attorney who is now an aspiring handyman, and they begin an investigation into a music community that seems to embrace both God and the devil. Letitia Dunbar follows leads into family and her church while Galway enters the musicians’ world. They discover the ties that bind family and friends and truths that more than solve a murder. “Die for shame, darling. Die for shame.”

Toad or Frog?

Frog at Cave HollowThis frog was found near the opening of a large cave at Cave Hollow, Warrensburg, Missouri. The cave wasn’t on the main paths lacing the wooded park. This fellow is a nice specimen. Frogs like water, they’re more reclusive and fearful. They have smooth skin, long legs, webbed feet. The opposites traits are those of toads.

I’ve read that the tiny ones hiding in the grooves of some tree bark are also frogs, but I remember catching a few–they were the size of my thumbnail, and were dry and bumpy, and a mottled color much like the bark. I was told then that they were tree toads. So, I like toads, but I can’t find the kind I recall. I hope I didn’t make them up. Below is a closer photo of the Cave Hollow frog.

closeupfrogOh, yes, I forgot–bulging eyes, another characteristic of the frog. These look like the headlamps on some cars (I guess the cars took after the frogs, not vice versa).

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