Three, Four, Shock at the Door by Amerie Brand

Author:Amerie Brand [Brand, Amerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CleanTales Publishing
Published: 2024-04-06T00:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

“Nothing here,” Norman said, standing in the middle of the room. He had been so certain they would find something, but after a thorough look around the room, he didn’t feel any more informed than when he entered.

There was no sign of what he was selling. In fact, the items in the room were minimal. Dupree had a single small bag in the room and the rest of his clothes were scattered about, draped over chairs, or piled on the second bed in the room. There was a single toothbrush in the bathroom and a book about software on the night table.

“Wait,” Abby said. She was down on the ground, looking under the bed. “I might have something.”

Milo sensed Abby’s excitement, and she scampered over, sniffing under the bed. Abby emerged with a small slip of paper in her hand.

“What’s that?” Norman asked as Abby sat on the bed to open it.

“Looks like a phone number.”

Norman crossed over to look at it. Abby was right. There were ten digits scribbled in messy handwriting.

“Let’s call it!” Abby reached for the phone, but Norman put a hand out to keep the motel phone in its cradle.

“Wait,” he said. “What if it’s the murderer?”

“Exactly! We catch the person off guard and get a confession.”

“Or they come right over here to track us down! What if they kill someone else?”

“That won’t happen,” Abby said. But Norman didn’t know how she could be so sure. Abby gave him a look, clearly frustrated.

“Look, if you want to solve this thing, then we need to follow all leads,” Abby said. “It’s the only way to get to the bottom of things.”

Norman knew Abby was right. Now wasn’t the time to waver. Plus, the sooner he solved this crime, the sooner he could clear his motel’s name and get more guests here. And wasn’t that the whole point of investigating? Norman swallowed his uncertainty and nodded.

Abby lifted the motel phone and carefully dialed the number she found. Norman was close enough to Abby that he could hear the phone ringing even when it was pressed up against Abby’s ear.

“Hello?” Norman felt his breath catch in his throat as he heard a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“Hello, who is this?” Abby asked. They waited, wondering if they were about to hear the name of the person who murdered Charles Dupree. But then there was a click and the dial tone screamed back at them, a mocking tone.

Abby looked over at Norman with raised eyebrows.

“A woman,” Abby noted. The phone call hadn’t been an entire waste. At least they knew there was a woman in Charles Dupree’s life.

“But she hung up when you asked her who she was…”

“Maybe she hung up when she heard my voice,” Abby suggested. “I wasn’t the person she was expecting. Or hoping for.”

“A crime of love,” Norman mused, thinking back to Abby’s words earlier. “Maybe your ’new angle’ isn’t so far-fetched, after all.”

“This is my job, Norman,” Abby teased him.

“But Dupree wasn’t married.

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