Stairway to Fatal Suspicions (Willow Oaks Inn Mystery Book 5) by Amerie Brand

Author:Amerie Brand [Brand, Amerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CleanTales Publishing
Published: 2024-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

“So, do you have something to tell me?” Detective Lovell sat across from Norman and Helen in an interrogation room. Norman felt the cold metal of the table beneath his forearms.

“We’re not here to confess,” Norman said, wanting to dispel this myth immediately. “While you’re here blaming Helen, we’ve been out doing your job.”

It was a bit too aggressive, and Norman knew it. Hadn’t he been mentally chastising Helen for her aggressive stance with suspects? But Norman couldn’t handle the way Lovell looked at Helen with hate and distrust in his eyes.

“Investigating your own crime?” Lovell asked. “Do you think I haven’t seen that before? It’s usually the guilty ones who bend over backward to help.”

“It makes no sense for me to be the killer,” Helen burst out, clearly upset to still be a suspect. “I was at a funeral when it happened. And Norman was three towns over.”

“Which means we both have alibis,” Norman added. “Maybe it’s time to start looking at the real suspects.”

“Franklin Masterson was arrested for fighting with Conrad,” she continued. “I’m not a detective, but even I find that suspicious. Maybe you need to accuse him of murder.”

“No one said anything about murder,” Detective Lovell said. “Is that a confession?”

“Oh, come on,” Norman said with frustration. “We all know that’s where this is headed. You just held a press conference where you said the death is suspicious. We all know what that means.”

“Did you speak to my cousin?” Helen asked. “She’ll tell you I was at the funeral the whole time. I wasn’t anywhere near that house when Conrad Barnes died.”

The detective was quiet for a minute, weighing his options. Norman had been in enough of these conversations to understand that he was about to divulge some information. Nothing huge, just a hint designed to surprise them or catch them off guard.

“How can you be so sure?” Lovell asked, leaning forward. “You don’t even know when the man died.”

Norman’s initial instinct was to fight against this fact. He wanted to protest and say that of course they knew when Conrad was killed. But, after a moment of thought, he had to admit the detective was right. Norman assumed the man died shortly before Helen found him based on the photos he had seen. But they didn’t have confirmation of this.

“When did he die?” Norman asked. He knew Lovell wouldn’t give away such crucial information, but Norman pressed his luck anyway. The detective didn’t speak, but he did glance at the clock on the wall, as if to tease him.

So, the timeline just increased.

There was no way the detective would bring this up unless the death had occurred earlier than they assumed. This new detail made Norman’s thoughts fly a million miles an hour as he reassessed everything he knew. And then, a hard truth emerged: If the man was killed before her aunt’s funeral, it could be harder to eliminate Helen as a suspect.

“But wait,” Norman said, working this out in his mind. “Even if he was killed before the funeral, Helen’s in the clear.

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