Dog Days Murderous Nights: Winnona Peaks Mysteries Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

sorry I have to ask this, but Hailey, where were you after dinner?”
    “I was alone in my room.”
    “Can anyone confirm that?” 
    Christy raised her hand before Hailey answered. “Officer—”
    “It’s just Kathleen at this point.”
    “Well, Kathleen, that’s not going to work.  I can attest to the fact that everyone except Gregory here made other dinner plans.  I can’t say for sure where anybody was except for him and even he went to bed early.  I mean, it’s a creaky old house but I didn’t hear anybody go up the stairs.”
    “Yeah, I didn’t want to disturb anybody so I just picked up a burger after my errands.” Diana offered.
    “Mable and I were getting our beauty rest but I’m not sure my puppy is much of an alibi.” Nori offered, stroking her dog absent-mindedly.
    Kathleen let out a deep sigh.  “Well stranger things have happened in an accidental death.  Insurance statistics say the most dangerous part of the day is right after someone took a bath.  It’s where most household accidents happen.  You know what?  It’s been a long night.  I guess it goes without saying that all of you need to stay close until we clear this matter up.”
    “We’ll be at the dog show anyway so we’ll all be close.”  Nori chirped.
    Christy stood up.  “Kathleen’s right.  We’re upset so we’re not going to get anything else done tonight.  Let’s all just go back to bed.  I’ll have the coffee on early tomorrow morning and hopefully things will look a bit different.  We’ve all had quite a shock.” 
    “I guess it goes without saying that everyone needs to stay close.” Kathleen reminded.  Everyone agreed and got up to go to their rooms.  Gregory hung back a bit to discuss some things with Katherine while Christy tidied up a bit in the kitchen, turning off lights and trying her best to do her normal lock-up routine.  She had to admit that half the time she didn’t lock the back door in Winnona Peaks.  Hearing the dead bolt click reminded her of her Grandfather’s shotgun coming straight as he held it to his eye for pheasant hunting.  The boom of that gun always made her jump. 
    “I really don’t know where to start,” Kathleen said, watching Christy check the back door twice.  “There are no fingerprints or forced entry.  Didn’t you say you had to use your master key to get in when you tried to serve his dinner on a tray?”  Christy nodded.  “See that just leaves the possibility open that someone came in from the veranda.”
    “Without a ladder that would doubtful, and I’m sure I would have seen or heard that kind of racket,” Christy replied.  Kathleen pinched the bridge of her nose.  She had a headache coming on.  This was supposed to be her weekend with her dogs.  She got these headaches at work here and again. 
    “Well I hope tomorrow brings us some new clues,” Kathleen said, squinting through the pain.
    “Do you want some aspirin?”  Christy offered.
    “Thank you but I have a prescription in the car.  I’d better be going now,” Kathleen said,
    as she made it to the front door.  She waved good night with a weak wave and faded into the darkness. Christy locked the second deadbolt on the front door.  She remembered Grandpa’s shotgun again and it made her jump the same way. She decided to leave the porch light on.

Chapter 8
    All Christy did was toss and turn. Her digital clock flashed the red numbers 12:07 and she knew it was going to be a long night.  It didn’t make sense for J.W. to eat the trail mix. He’d already refused it earlier that day. He wasn’t that absent-minded.  He was one of the most together older men she’d ever seen. She was even embarrassed to admit to herself how he made her feel.  People like that always kept what they needed nearby. What happened to his epi pen?
    Creak. Someone was on the staircase!  She had this entire place memorized just by the echoing footsteps anybody made on the stairs or near the