Christmas Chocolates and Crimes by Cindy Bell

Author:Cindy Bell [Bell, Cindy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-23T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Charlotte decided not to call Benjamin before visiting him. She knew she could easily get his number from Beth, since she had the entire class roster. However, she thought it might be better not to let him know she was coming. As it was, she knew that rumors about her involvement in the murder were spreading through town, and though she wasn’t sure if they had reached him yet, she didn’t want to take any chances. Instead, she decided to pop up at his door. When she parked in front of his house, a flutter of uncertainty carried through her. Would he even open the door for her? His car was in the driveway, which indicated that he was home. As she approached the door, she tried to feel confident. It was hard to with suspicion hanging over her head. When she knocked on the door, she braced herself for his reaction.

“Hello?” He peered out through the screen door. “Charlotte? Right?”

“Right.” She was relieved that he at least remembered her. “Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to check and see if you were all right.”

“Isn’t there a class tonight?” He studied her for a moment then invited her inside.

“Oh, I’m on my way. I just thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing. I heard your house was broken into this morning. Is that true?” She held his gaze.

“Yes, it was. It’s the strangest thing. I almost felt silly about reporting it to the police since nothing valuable was taken. But someone did break in.” He pointed to the damage on the door frame. “Forced their way in, whoever it was.”

“Wow, that must have been so frightening.” Charlotte wrung her hands. “I’m so sorry you experienced that.”

“Not as frightening as what happened to you.” He looked back at her. “You did find Martin, didn’t you?” His tone changed as he brought up the topic. She guessed he had heard the rumors, and now he was fishing to find out a bit more.

“Yes, I did.” She shook her head. “It was horrible. Do you have any idea who might have broken in?” She hoped the change in subject would send a clear message that she didn’t want to discuss Martin’s death any further. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore and worried that her explanation of how she found his body, would only make the rumors worse.

“No, not a clue. But to be honest it seemed to me like whoever it was, was looking for something in particular.” He shrugged. “I have no idea what.”

“Did you get anything new recently? Anything special?” Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “Maybe the person just couldn’t find it?”

“Nothing new at all. You know, a few fruitcakes for Christmas, just the normal Christmas things. Nothing valuable.”

“Doesn’t sound like anything to break in over. Hmm. What about any servicemen? Did you have anyone in to fix anything recently?” She shifted from one foot to the other and attempted to casually glance over his shoulder into the house.

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.