Grace Sees Red Read Online Free PDF Page A

“You here to see Percy?”
    Cathy dismissed him with a wave. “I’ll be with you in a minute, Kyle.”
    Kyle nudged a curled hand against the chair’s controls, spinning to face us. “You have to be Frances’s friends, right?” he asked.
    Bennett and I stopped. In my peripheral vision, I noticed Percy perk up.
    â€œWe are,” Bennett said. “Do you know what’s going on? Can you tell us?”
    Kyle blinked and shot us a full-wattage grin. “Sure, I can.”
    â€œHold up there, kid.” Percy rotated his own motorized chair and whirred across the room to join us, parking himself between me and Bennett. “These folks are here to see me.”
    Actually, we’re here for Frances.
    With his heavily freckled bald crown and smirking, what’s-it-to-you expression, Percy was a doppelgänger for the actor Gene Hackman. He had a similar nose and lots of laugh-line wrinkles, but didn’t seem particularly jolly right now.
    â€œHello,” I said, “I’m Grace Wheaton.”
    He raised an elbow the way most people might shoo a fly. “I know who you both are. Nice to finally put faces to names.” He turned to Bennett, squinting up at him. “So you’re Marshfield. I thought you’d be taller.”
    Cathy giggled. “Isn’t this funny? You know them but they don’t know you. Why on earth did Frances keep you such a secret, Percy?”
    â€œI’ll tell you why.” Percy’s deep, gravelly voice would be ideal for narrating luxury car commercials. “Because of this.” He winged both arms this time, twisting to face me. “She’s embarrassed.”
    I didn’t know what to say, though clearly he expected some response. “I’m sure that’s not—”
    â€œYou can’t be sure. You don’t know.” Though he cut me off, he didn’t do so unkindly. Nodding toward the front of the building, he said, “Until five minutes ago you didn’t even know I existed.” He turned to face Bennett. “Did you?”
    Kyle inched his chair closer. “Frances talked about you two all the time. You think maybe when the police release her, we can discuss me coming out to visit Marshfield Manor? I’d really like to see it for myself one of these days.”
    I tried to ignore my churning gut. “Why are the police talking with Frances?” I asked. The coroner out front, the mention of homicide detectives, Cathy referring to Frances as a “witness”—this was not good.
    â€œNow, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Cathy leaned in closer. She slid a glance toward the hallway. “We’re not supposed to talk about any of this.” Her body language screamed that she was ready to spill.
    A crack of lightning zinged across the gloomy sky. Before I could expel a breath, thunder rattled the windows.
    â€œYoung woman,” Bennett said. “I ask you to take pity on an old man’s nerves and please tell us what’s going on here and how Frances is involved.”
    â€œWell,” she said, drawing out the word, “this morning—”
    â€œCathy, what’s taking you so long?” I glanced up to seeDebbie calling from the Sun Gallery entryway. “I need help up front.”
    â€œOops. Gotta run.” Cathy’s grin never dimmed. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
    When she was gone, Percy gestured with his eyes. “Have a seat, both of you,” he said. “I’d offer to pull out a chair for you, Grace, but”—he winged his elbows again—“gallantry doesn’t come easy for me these days.”
    Although he delivered the words with self-deprecating humor, there was distinct sadness in his eyes.
    Using the thumb and index finger of his right hand, Percy manipulated his wheelchair’s joystick, deftly maneuvering the conveyance to a nearby table with his back to