House Warming Homicide by Susan Harper

Author:Susan Harper [Harper, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2024-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

9

“Kadie?” said Corica with unexpected vehemence. “That’s who Phillip’s been dating?”

Greta wondered what threats Spence had made to coax the girl into coming downstairs. She looked mortified and seemed to be measuring the distance between herself and the front door. Phillip had risen with a panicked look and something in his posture suggested an attitude of protectiveness toward this intruder who had presumably been lurking in the house since before Greta’s arrival. Spence looked on incomprehensibly, as if witnessing some domestic drama in which he had little interest or investment.

“Who’s Kadie?” asked Greta, confused as to why the appearance of this girl had provoked so much passion.

“She was Aldous’ sister,” said Corica.

It took Greta a minute to register the significance of that name. “Aldous, the guy who was dating Maggie?”

“Before he took his own life. Must have been, what? Three years ago this summer?”

Somewhat daringly, Kadie spoke up for the first time. “Can… can I go, please?” she said in a timid voice. “My parents are expecting me home.”

“Not at the moment,” said Spence. “If you’d like, I can call them for you.”

Greta realized that Kadie must have witnessed much of the drama of the past hour from within the closet where she had been hidden. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but someone has just died.”

Kadie nodded tearfully. “I was in the room with Phillip when he found the body. It must have been under the bed for at least half an hour before we saw it. When he yelled, we knew it was just a matter of time until someone caught us. I didn’t have time to think. I just dove for the closet.”

“How did you even know she was up there?” Phillip asked Greta.

Several people gave him a bemused stare.

Before Greta could respond, Lindsay spoke up. “Phillip, friend, you’re not nearly as good at hiding things as you think you are.”

“Was that the scraping noise that I kept hearing?” asked Debbie. “Did you have a ladder raised to the window?”

“I mean, how do you think she got in?” Phillip sat back easily in his chair. Now that he’d been exposed, some of the tension seemed to lift. “I wasn’t going to risk sneaking her in through the front door.”

“She wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place!” cried Debbie. “We warned you months ago, you’re not to be going out with her.” Debbie shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “This family is falling apart!”

Greta thought she was beginning to understand the reasoning behind this seemingly random prohibition—dating a member of the immediate family of the boy Maggie had once dated would have greatly upset Maggie. By all accounts, his death had been a severe trauma.

“Remind me again how Aldous died,” Greta said.

“This isn’t the place, Greta,” said Terry sternly.

Surprisingly, Debbie cleared her throat and answered. “The poor boy shot himself. In the cabin where he’d been staying. Maggie found him.”

“Yeah, but I don’t see what that’s got to do with us,” said Phillip with an indignation that made him look oddly like his mother.

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