Gross Sarcastic Homicide: (A Private Investigator Mystery Series) (Mary Cooper Mysteries Book 3) by Dan Ames & Dani Amore

Author:Dan Ames & Dani Amore [Ames, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Slogan Books
Published: 2014-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

The home’s foyer was as impressive as the outside. A huge vaulted ceiling, a bench off to the right, and a marble floor.

The man walked through the foyer, down a short hallway then turned left into the kitchen.

It was five times larger, at least, than Mary’s. With white cabinets, marble countertops, and professional grade appliances.

“I’m Trey,” the man said. “Valerie’s brother, as you guessed. Do you want something to drink?”

He had a bottle of Perrier on the counter and a stack of paper.

“No thank you. I’m very sorry about your sister,” Mary said. She was surprised by the invite in, and the apparent relaxed state of Trey Barnes. Was he this way with everyone?

“You’re a private investigator?” Trey asked, ignoring Mary’s sympathy.

“Yes, I’m looking into the murder of a man and it could be that your sister’s murder is related.”

“What, like a serial killer?” he said.

“I don’t know,” Mary said.

For a moment, Trey Barnes seemed to remember that his sister was now dead. Mary thought he might start crying, but he regained his composure.

“She was an awesome girl,” he said. “The pride of the family.”

“Are your parents…”

“They’re dead. Cancer got my Mom five years ago, a heart attack got my Dad six months after that. It was just me and Valerie. Now just me.”

He looked around the cavernous kitchen, for a moment seemed to be lost in confusion. He looked at Mary, seemed to be surprised to see her.

“So who are you working for?”

Mary hesitated. She ordinarily never divulged her employer, but in this case it seemed appropriate.

“A psychologist who was treating the victim.”

Trey Barnes nodded.

“Do the police have any leads on your sister’s case?” Mary asked as gently as possible.

Barnes sighed and looked around, as if seeing the house for the first time.

“I don’t think I can do this right now,” he said. “Do you have a card or something?”

“Yes, I do,” Mary said.

“I don’t mean to be rude but I’ve got a lot to do,” Barnes said, gesturing at the pile of papers in front of him. “You can call me if you have any questions. And maybe we can talk more later, but right now, I don’t know. It just comes in waves. A minute ago I was fine, now I’m not, and then a minute from now I’ll feel better.”

Mary pulled out two cards, gave them to Trey and asked him to write his phone number on one. He did so and gave her that card back.

He saw her to the door.

Mary turned to him and said, “I’m sorry again for your loss.”

Barnes nodded.

“She was an amazing woman,” he said. “Now it’s just me.”

Mary didn’t know what to say.

Trey Barnes shrugged his shoulders, nodded, and shut the door.

Mary wished she could have said something profound. But being profound wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.