The Perfect Death (Brannon House Book 1) by Stacy Claflin

Author:Stacy Claflin [Claflin, Stacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stacy Claflin
Published: 2020-01-20T22:00:00+00:00

14

Kenzi

I hand the last plate to Ember.

She sticks it in the dishwasher then starts the load.

“I’m going to call the detective and see if he has any updates on the case. Is there anything you want me to ask him?”

She covers her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” I demand.

“I can’t believe I forgot!”

“Spit it out!”

She stumbles over her words for a moment. “I found a love letter in Mom’s things. It was right after you left.”

“A love letter?” I try to figure out the importance. “To Richard? From him?”

“No, from some mystery guy.”

“You’re sure it isn’t from Richard?”

Ember shakes her head vehemently. “Not his writing. And it’s signed SMP. Totally not him.”

Now I’m really confused. “Are you thinking it’s from your dad? Maybe we’re closer to finding him.”

“It was written last month!”

My head flinches back slightly. “Some guy wrote your mom a love note a month ago?”

“Yeah. But I have no idea who he is. The initials don’t match anyone she’s mentioned to me, and I couldn’t find anything online.”

My mind is swimming, trying to make sense of this. “And the note was in her things?”

She nods. “Right.”

“Things Richard packed?”

Her face pales. “You think he knew about it?”

“If he did, why would he put it in her things? That would give him motive. Where did you find it?”

She toys with a strand of hair. “I didn’t—Gretchen did. It was in one of the boxes.”

“Let me see the letter.”

“It’s upstairs.”

I check to make sure I turned off the oven, then follow her up to Claire’s room, trying to make sense of the news. Since my relationship with my sister was estranged, I have no idea if she was the type to cheat or not. Not that I’m judging. I don’t even tie myself down. No idea what I’d do if I was stuck with a guy like her husband. I’m sure he held things over her head and threatened her to keep her from leaving. Just seems like the type.

“Here it is.” Ember hands me an envelope.

I take out the paper and read it. “Well, he seems a lot better for her than Richard.”

“Maybe.” She shrugs.

“You don’t think so?” I read a few lines from the letter. “He sounds obsessed with your mom’s happiness.”

“Mom said Richard didn’t turn into a jerk until after they married. That’s all I’m saying. We don’t even know who this mystery guy is.”

“I’m going to let the detective know about this. This definitely changes things. Gives them even more reason to believe she didn’t kill herself.”

Ember frowns. “Do you think Richard did it? Were we living with a killer? Was I alone in the house with my mom’s killer before you arrived?”

“I can’t answer that, but the detective can find out. I’m sure he’s going to want to look at him closer now, and maybe he can figure out who wrote this.”

“It could be him,” she blurts out. “What if Mom called things off, and he lost it?”

I glance at the neat handwriting and think about the perfectly staged suicide—if Claire was indeed murdered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.