Condos and Corpses by Angela K Ryan

Author:Angela K Ryan [Ryan, Angela K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998157559
Publisher: John Paul Publishing
Published: 2019-09-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

At 7:30 on Monday morning, the ringtone of Connie’s cell phone woke her from a deep sleep. If this is a telemarketer, they're going to get a piece of my mind, she thought, as she fumbled to reach her phone on the nightstand. Grace's name appeared on the caller ID.

"Grace? Is everything okay?"

Grace's panicked voice bellowed through the phone. "I am in Unit 1301. Can you get up here right away? Stephanie is fifteen minutes away, and I need someone to come now." The apartment number sounded familiar, but her mind was still foggy from sleep.

"What is it, Grace?"

"Please, just come quickly," Grace said, her words bordering on hysterical.

Connie hastily changed into the jeans and t-shirt that were draped over the bedroom chair and threw her hair in a ponytail as she jogged out the door.

When she got to thirteenth floor, it occurred to her that 1301 was the unit number of Paula's penthouse apartment. The door was ajar, so she entered. A rancid odor in the air told her something wasn’t right.

"Grace?"

The stillness of the room had the impact of thick fog, causing her to slow her pace. It felt as though her mind was working in slow motion, as she scanned the room and the scene before her gradually came into focus.

Paula O'Rourke was lying on the tile floor of her solarium garden with a knife through her chest, while Grace knelt motionless beside her body.

Instinctively, Connie ran over to check her pulse, but stopped short of touching Paula. There was no point. She had obviously been dead for a while.

"What on earth happened?" Connie asked, her stomach turning sour. Connie had never seen a dead body up close outside of a wake.

Grace was rocking back and forth, unable to take her eyes off the body. She finally looked up, but her gaze went right past Connie. "I don't know. I came up to thank Paula for the aloe plant she had given me and to express my condolences over Hank. The door was slightly opened, so I came and found her like this."

She guided Grace into the living room and away from the disturbing scene. "We have to call the police," Connie said, dialing 911 with trembling fingers.

She explained the situation to the operator as calmly as possible for Grace's sake, as well as her own. As the words came out of her mouth, it felt like a dream. This isn’t happening.

"Now they're really going to blame me. Hank is killed in my apartment on Thursday, and today I find Paula dead in hers," Grace said, panic rising in her voice.

"We're going to figure this out, Grace," Connie said in the most confident tone she could manage. "Just don't touch anything."

Now that Grace was away from Paula's body and the police were on their way, Connie looked around the solarium, careful not to disturb anything that could be evidence. She had learned that much from seeing how much care the police took to preserve the crime scene in Grace’s home on Thursday.

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