Classified as Murder by James Miranda

Author:James, Miranda
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2011-03-22T16:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

What the devil was going on in the Delacorte mansion? Had one of the family lost it completely? The whole episode of the phone call seemed surreal now.

What malefactor was so stupid that he forgot to block the phone number from caller ID? Or did he do it on purpose, with the knowledge that I was bound to report it?

I had no answer to those questions, though I lay awake more than an hour trying to find them. The other conundrum I couldn’t solve was why the caller used the phone in the victim’s bedroom.

The caller had thrown down the gauntlet, and Kanesha Berry would rise to the challenge. That call might prove to be a costly mistake.

There was some kind of sick intelligence at work here, and the more I thought about it, the more it disturbed me.

But was it enough to keep me from returning to the Delacorte mansion and fulfilling my duties as an executor?

On balance, I decided it wasn’t. I wasn’t keen on the idea, but I also liked to think I had at least enough courage to do my duty by James Delacorte. He sought my assistance for a reason and put his faith in my abilities, and I was determined I wouldn’t let him down.

With that resolved, I drifted off to sleep. Beside me Diesel slept also, no longer disturbed by my restlessness.

I woke the next morning a little after eight, and I felt much better than I would have expected after the trouble I had falling asleep. Diesel wasn’t on the bed, and I figured he was downstairs somewhere.

Ten minutes later, in pajamas and slippers, I padded into the kitchen to find Sean in sweatpants and T-shirt at the stove.

“Morning, Dad,” he said. “Eggs’ll be ready in a couple minutes. Coffee’s made.”

“Thanks,” I said. I poured myself some coffee and took it to the table. I glanced around. “Where are Diesel and Dante?”

“Out in the backyard,” Sean said. “Thought I’d let them run around while I made breakfast.”

“How long have they been outside?” I had a sip of my coffee.

“About fifteen minutes.” Sean stirred the skillet of eggs.

“I think I’ll go let them in,” I said. “I heard thunder rumbling before I came downstairs.”

“I’ll finish with the toast while you do that,” Sean said.

Dark clouds were rolling in when I opened the door on the porch. Diesel sat on the steps, and he mewed several times as he moved up onto the porch. I couldn’t spot Dante at first, but when I called his name, he emerged from the azaleas along the back fence and ran toward me. Rain began to fall as he hopped up the steps.

“Looks like I got here just in time,” I told them. Diesel meowed twice, and Dante looked up at me, his tongue hanging out as he panted. He must have been playing hard. I checked his feet for dirt, because I suspected he had been digging in the flowerbed. No dirt clung to his paws, I was relieved to see.

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.