A Winter Kill Read Online Free PDF Page B

down.
    Glenwood Cemetery’s located very close to town. It’s a beautiful place with big trees and lots of history. I drove down the steep hill and through the grounds slowly. Just looking around. The trees were covered in new snow. Everything was pure and white and very pretty. There was no wind.
    On a hill in the distance, I could see a mound of earth. I drove over to have a look. A new grave. No headstone yet and the flowers piled on the ground were still fresh. The snow was marked by tire tracks and footprints.
    They’d buried Maureen here. Everyone had left, and it was still and quiet.
    Everyone, except for Jason Fitzpatrick. He was wrapped in a good winter coat. A wool scarf was around his neck and leather gloves were on his hands.
    He didn’t look up as the black-and-white OPP patrol car came to a stop. I got out and put on my hat and my own gloves. I walked over to him.
    â€œEverything okay?” I asked.
    He jumped in surprise.
    â€œSorry,” he said. “I didn’t hear you, Officer. What’d you say?”
    â€œI asked if everything’s all right here.”
    He looked at me closely. I look so different when I’m in uniform that most people don’t recognize me. “Didn’t I see you earlier, at the funeral home?”
    â€œI was there. My mom’s Mrs. Patterson from the youth center. I’m Constable Patterson.”
    â€œHi.”
    â€œJason,” I said. “Were you and Maureen close?”
    His eyes were wet. I thought he’d been crying.
    â€œNo,” he said. He pulled a crumpled tissue out of his pocket and blew his nose. “I hardly knew her. She was just a girl from school and the youth center. She was good with computers. Helped me out once when my laptop crashed. I’m sorry she died. That’s all. They say her father killed her.”
    â€œDo you know anything about that?”
    â€œNah. Just what people are saying.”
    He turned to leave. A shiny red Toyota Echo was parked on the path.
    As I’ve said, I’m not a detective. I’m just a probationary constable. I could get in trouble for interfering with the investigation.
    But I had a thought, and I couldn’t let it go.
    â€œI was the one who found her, you know,” I said. He kept walking. His head was down against the wind. “I found a ring. A pretty ring, with a big blue stone. It was lying on the ground beside her. It might have fallen off as she struggled.” He stopped. Snow fell on his shoulders.
    â€œDo you know anything about that ring, Jason?”
    He turned and looked at me. “I’ve seen it. She wore it to school. She thought it was pretty. Girls like that sort of thing.”
    â€œIt was pretty.”
    â€œWhat happened to it?”
    â€œThey gave it to her mom,” I said. I glanced at the freshly turned soil. Had Maureen worn it to her grave?
    His face twisted in pain. He let out a small sob. He wiped his glove across his eyes. When he looked at me again his eyes were dry.
    â€œThat’s good,” he said.
    â€œShe didn’t seem to have many friends. I’m glad you were her friend. My mom says Maureen got a rotten deal out of life.”
    â€œLife’s tough sometimes.” The snow was falling faster now. The air smelled of newly dug earth. “Be seeing you around, Constable.”
    He wiped flakes of snow off the window of the red Echo with his hand. He got into the car and drove away.
    I stood by Maureen Grey’s grave for a long time. Snow fell around me. My radio called me to Main Street. A woman had slipped on the ice in front of the library and couldn’t get up.

CHAPTER NINE
    I got to the library at the same time as the ambulance. The lady was eighty years old and had broken her left arm. I could see pain in the lines in her face, but she tried to be cheerful. She thanked the paramedics and me for our trouble.
    I didn’t wait until my shift was over before going to my