Christmas and Killers: The Hemlock Inn Mysteries Book 6 by Josephine Smith

Author:Josephine Smith [Smith, Josephine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Western Coast Press
Published: 2022-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

12

The police arrived quickly after our call to emergency services. I’d taken a couple steps into Joseph’s house to check his pulse, but his bulging neck and discolored face clearly indicated that he wasn’t getting up any time soon. My mom and I stood just outside his house as we waited for the police to arrive, holding each other close to keep the chill away.

Officer Scott, one of the more experienced cops at the Pine Brook Police Department (even though he looked seventeen), was the first officer on the scene, and he didn’t seem too surprised to see me.

“Where’s the body?” he asked.

“In the kitchen,” I said, pointing over my shoulder, my teeth chattering from the cold.

He strode past us into the house, then came back out several minutes later. “The rest of the house is empty. Did you touch anything in the kitchen?”

We shook our heads no in unison.

“All right.” Officer Scott nodded, then spoke a few words into his walkie-talkie. “Let’s go wait inside his living room so you don’t freeze out here. I’ve got a few questions for you both.”

We followed him inside the house, averting our gazes from the kitchen. We settled onto a couch in the living room, which was sparsely furnished and quiet. No decorations inside, either. How sad was that? The most vibrant part of his home was outside. Seemed like Joseph spent most of his time in his garden. Or at least, he used to. Now, he wouldn’t spend any more time in that garden.

“Tell me what happened,” Officer Scott said once we were seated and had stopped shivering.

I quickly took him through what had happened, how we’d knocked on Joseph’s front door but hadn’t gotten a response, then decided to go around back to see if he was in the garden, and had instead found his back door open, letting in the cold.

As I spoke, more police officers filed into the kitchen from the back door, a few spreading out to search for evidence in the rest of his house. My mom gripped my hand tightly, her lips pressed together in a thin line as I spoke.

“And why were you here in the first place? Did you know the victim?” Scott asked.

I hesitated, then shook my head. “Not well. He was neighbors with Kathleen. I came by earlier this morning to ask him if he’d seen anything suspicious at her house before her death. Then, I learned about a fight the two of them had before she died, so I came back to ask him about that.” I didn’t want to lie to the police about what I’d really been doing here, but the truth sounded pretty bad to me.

Scott stilled at my words. “And why exactly were you asking questions about a death that’s been ruled an accident?”

“I’ve just had some questions about what really happened. And now her neighbor is dead—that does look pretty suspicious.”

Scott sighed, then stood up. “Stay here. I need to check on something.” He left us sitting alone, going into the kitchen to talk to the other police officers.

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