This Old Rag, Part II

Don’t let this model fool you. She did not pick this old rag off a rack at Walmart’s.

This garment was unveiled in 2022 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. Referred to as the goddess tunic, it is meant to evoke marble and ancient statuary to combine the power of heritage with contemporary inventiveness. The most common traditional ancient garment, the peplos, formed the mainstay of the collection. A peplos was a sewn tubular-shaped piece worn by women. The top layer of the peplos was draped at the waist, which created the illusion of two-piece attire.

So say the fashionistas, but Miriam’s friend, Professor Jason of the medical school, said something different in “The Fire,” one of nine short stories in The Deadliest Deceptions, the latest book in the series to be released this fall:

He noted that Lucia, the victim, had a broken leg and cuts in the soft tissue beneath the charred skin of her palms. Neither of those findings was significant to him. He concluded she likely broke her leg in the fall and cut her hands on the shards of the lamp when she struggled to get up. One observation, however, did bother him. He questioned why she was still dressed. She’d been wearing a peplos instead a sleeping chemise, and she hadn’t brushed out her hair.

Miriam and the professor challenge the magistrate’s finding of accidental death. They’ll be searching for the perpetrator, but don’t let them implicate you. Instead, keep a step ahead. Get your copy of The Deadliest Deceptions as soon as it comes out. To watch for its release, click here.