Murder On the Brazos by Bruce Hammack

Author:Bruce Hammack [Hammack, Bruce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jubilee Publishing LLC

Chapter Eighteen

Painting while sitting didn’t suit Fen, but he soldiered through and squirted another dollop of buff titanium with burnt sienna, giving an additional hue to his current work in progress. The door and walls of his studio were no match for Thelma’s piercing voice.

“Mr. Fen. That hussy is here again.”

Fen shook his head and hollered back. “Can you be more specific?”

The door opened. “It’s that Danni woman who thinks she’s ready for a part on television playing a crime scene investigator. If you ask me, she’s looking to play the wife of someone I know in real life.”

Fen kept working the colors together. “Have her come in and bring us something to drink.”

“You shouldn’t be having company so soon after leaving the hospital. I’ll tell her you’re not up to it.”

Fen gave her a stare that communicated he wasn’t buying what Thelma was trying to sell.

She threw up her hands. “It’s your funeral. I swear, you’re the second most hard-headed man I’ve ever laid eyes on. Sam’s the worst, but I expect that from him. It’s you that doesn’t have an excuse.”

“Get the door,” said Fen.

“I’ll get it, but you keep one hand on your wallet. I know a gold digger when I see one.”

After Thelma left, Fen considered her mini-tirade. It didn’t last as long as most. He wondered if she was warming up to Danni.

The door opened as Fen filled his brush with a color that would give fall leaves a desire to release from their branches and cartwheel to the ground. At least that was the look he was going for. He stayed focused on his brush strokes. “Come in, Danni. I’ve been thinking of you all day.”

Danni moved into the periphery of his field of vision. “Is that a fact? I didn’t expect such a compliment.”

Fen chuckled. “I probably should have said I’ve been wondering if you found anything interesting at the crime scene.”

“Other than it was arson?”

He loaded his brush again, moved to a different portion of the canvas, and applied strokes that were softer than the first. He pulled back his brush and examined his work. “It helps to stand back from time to time to see if you’re blurring the less important details into the background.”

With a nod of confidence, Fen pointed with his brush as he leaned back. “There. See how the tree to the left of the center almost comes at you, but the one to the right fades into the others beside it? It’s kind of like clues in an investigation. Some will stand out and others melt away.”

Danni laughed. “Did that fire cook your brain or is philosophy a new hobby of yours? Did you hear me? We’ve ruled the trailer fire arson.”

Fen wiped his brush and placed it in a cup of solvent. “That was never in doubt, was it?”

“I guess not, but I always get jazzed when I discover the type of accelerant used and where the fire started. I also found something that might break the case wide open.

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