The Fool Dies Last by Carol Miller

Author:Carol Miller [Miller, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2021-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

‘If the neighbors thought it was interesting before, now they’ll really have something to get excited about,’ Hope observed drolly. She was standing by the window in Summer’s kitchen, watching the two uniformed police officers as they circled around the outside of the house, searching the perimeter for anything suspicious.

Summer, who was sitting on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island, sank her face into her hands. ‘Oh, lord, the neighbors. I forgot all about them.’

‘The neighbors?’ Detective Phillips looked up from the stack of Summer and Gary’s mail that he had been thumbing through, checking that there were no other items of concern in the pile. ‘Have you previously had trouble with them? A disagreement or grudge, perhaps? Some incident that might have escalated …?’

‘No, no. There hasn’t been anything like that,’ Summer answered. ‘The neighbors are harmless.’

The detective’s brow furrowed. ‘Then what’s the problem?’

‘There is one part of the neighbors that’s dangerous,’ Hope explained. ‘Their tongues.’

He nodded, understanding now. ‘And a bunch of cops pulling up to the door and wandering about are going to set those tongues wagging?’

‘Mercilessly,’ Hope said.

Her face still in her hands, Summer grumbled, ‘It’s already bad because of Gary.’

The furrow in the detective’s brow resurfaced. ‘Has your husband been causing difficulties? Has he had run-ins with the neighbors?’

The tips of Summer’s ears turned pink.

‘Difficulties, yes. But not with the neighbors,’ Hope told him. She added in a discreet tone, ‘Summer and her husband have separated.’

Summer’s ears promptly went crimson. Detective Phillips’s cheeks had a slightly rosy hue, too. His reaction to the news brought a smile to Hope’s lips. Thank goodness for small favors, she thought. If she and Summer were going to have repeated dealings with the police, then it couldn’t hurt that the detective in charge of the matter had some warm feelings toward her sister.

There was a brief pause, then Detective Phillips seemed to recollect himself. ‘Well, there isn’t anything to worry about in here,’ he determined, setting the mail down on the counter.

‘That’s one relief, at least,’ Hope said.

‘A relief,’ Summer agreed, ‘but embarrassing. Terribly embarrassing. I overreacted. I saw the Tarot card with the mail, and I jumped to the most dreadful conclusions: I was next. I was about to die. The same thing was going to happen to me that happened to Marilyn and Roberta. It was silly. Ridiculously silly. I realize that now, of course. And I’m mortified. I frightened Hope. I wasted police time and resources—’

As she spoke, Summer lifted her head. Her peachy skin was flushed. Her eyes were soft and her lashes damp. She looked exceedingly pretty and vulnerable and in need of protection. Detective Phillips didn’t disappoint.

‘You didn’t overreact in the slightest,’ he told her, moving from the counter to the island. ‘And you didn’t waste police time. You were absolutely right to call me. In fact, you would have been wrong not to call me. This is a serious matter. There is nothing whatsoever for you to feel silly about.

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