Murder is a Dirty Business by Tricia L. Sanders

Author:Tricia L. Sanders
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781962175036
Publisher: Tricia L. Sanders

Michelle had dinner on the stove when I arrived.

“Yeesh, you stink.” She wrinkled her face and pinched her nose.

“I know. Do I have time for a shower before we eat?”

“Oh, yeah, ’cause I’m not sitting at the same table with you.” She crossed her eyes and fanned the air.

“No need for all the drama.” I kicked off my shoes, peeled off my shorts and T-shirt in the laundry room, and ran upstairs in my underwear. If I’d learned anything since Esther left, it was to save myself work—less to carry down on washday.

In the shower, I reflected on what Jessie had told me about the night Brian died. Something didn’t add up, and darned if I knew what it was. That was only part of the story. Maybe Sarah could provide some answers. I hadn’t seen her since before Brian died.

My shoulders ached from all the cleaning, and my calves were tight and cramped. No doubt these were muscles I hadn’t used at the gym. I didn’t remember the last time I’d even worked out. I stood under the hot water and let it run down my back.

As a rule, sweats or a robe would have been in order, but I had questions, and I wanted them answered in person. I dressed in a pair of jeans and a light sweater. As soon as we finished dinner, I was going to have a talk with Sarah.

When we sat at the table, I turned on the television to watch the news.

“Hey, isn’t he the detective who questioned Jess?” Michelle asked.

Sure enough, Detective Case Alder was standing outside the police station answering a reporter’s questions.

“Indeed, it is.”

He told the reporter how he was working several leads and was narrowing the suspect list. A blanket of dread settled over me. Was he closing in on Kim? Sarah? If he was narrowing the suspects, did that mean Jessie was off the list?

After the interview, details of Brian’s funeral filled the screen. The services started tomorrow at ten, and in lieu of flowers, the family requested donations to the high school athletic fund. Did “family” mean his wife or his parents? Kim had no one, except for a missing-in-action alcoholic father. If she ever needed my support, it was now. I didn’t know how Brian’s folks were handling the situation, and I guessed Kim wasn’t their favorite daughter-in-law.

The next segment zoomed right in on my face and widened to show the mayor shaking my hand.

“That’s you,” Michelle said. I muted the TV, and she grabbed the remote. “No way. I want to hear this.”

When a commercial came on, Michelle turned off the tube and glared at me. “How many ways can you ruin my life?” She shoved the rest of her dinner into the garbage disposal and slammed the plate into the dishwasher.

The phone rang while I was wiping the table.

“I got it.” Michelle snatched the handset and headed to the other room. “Hello?”

I added detergent to the dishwasher and pressed the start button.

“Guess it was a wrong number,” she said, returning the phone to its cradle.

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