Grave Doubts (A Paranormal Mystery Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page B

quality, it was the
bird alone that had attracted her, prompting her to take it to the old Indian
behind the counter.
    Quick to recognize a potential
buyer, the old man had waxed eloquently about Indian totems and how they
represented the physical form of an individual’s spiritual guide. The man had
taken Diane’s hand in his leathered palm and turned it over as if reading her
fortune. With a curious glance at Lee, he’d claimed it was Diane’s totem and
even offered to lower the price. Lee sniggered in the background, thinking this
guy should have been selling used cars. To her surprise, Diane had shelled out
the required fifty dollars and taken it home. Cupped now in the palm of her
hand, Lee wondered why Carey had picked this one item out of all of Diane’s
belongings to give to her. She replaced the figurine on her makeup table and
finished getting ready.
    Fifteen minutes later, she was back
downstairs, anxious to get to Robin’s. She placed a ceramic bowl filled with
dry dog food in front of Soldier. The dog sniffed at the bowl and then turned
up her nose.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?
You’re not getting anything else.”
    Soldier sat down, her German
Shepherd ears standing straight up like two exclamation points. The message was
clear. She wanted something else. Lee looked into the bowl and wrinkled her
nose.
    “It is pretty pathetic, I suppose,
but you have no choice.”
    The dog whined and slid her paws
forward until she lay on the floor, her big black nose pressed against the bowl.
Frustrated, Lee yanked the bowl away and added warm water. When she replaced
it, the dog rose and began to eat.
    “Jeez. Is that really what you
wanted?  You communicate better than most four-year olds.”
    Soldier consumed the meal quietly. When
the dog had finished, Lee snapped her fingers.
    “C’mon, time to go outside.”
    She led Soldier onto the back porch
and then let her out into the backyard. She watched her sniff her way around
the withered rose bushes and rhododendrons until the doorbell rang. Letting go
of the outside screen door, Lee left the back door to the house open, thinking
Soldier would bark if she wanted back inside. Lee was surprised to find Carey
standing under the porch light.
    “Hi, Lee. Am I disturbing you?”
    Carey still wore her funeral dress
under a light raincoat, but had removed the gloves and hat.
    “Of course not,” Lee replied. “I’m
going out for dinner soon, but please, come in.”
    Carey stepped inside and Lee
offered her a cup of tea.
    “Just a glass of water, if you
don’t mind.”
    Lee hung Carey’s raincoat on an
antique coat tree by the stairs before going to the kitchen. As she filled a
glass with water, the screen door slammed. She turned in time to see Soldier
pad down the hallway toward the front room with only a cursory glance in Lee’s
direction. Smart dog, Lee thought. She threw some ice into the glass before
following her.
    Carey stood looking through the
front window toward the street. The sun had dipped below the trees, washing the
sky in hues of dark gray. The soft light from a faceted Tiffany lamp cast a
warming glaze across Lee’s collection of antique clocks that lined the walls on
either side of the window, their ticking creating a soothing white noise in the
background. Next to the clocks was an oak bookcase that held about fifteen of
her antique cameras. Soldier sat behind Carey waiting for acknowledgment.
    “Here you go.” Lee offered the
glass of water.
    As Carey turned, the spill from the
lamp caught the area under her left ear lobe, illuminating a large bruise. The
mark was visible for only a moment and then gone. Lee pretended not to notice
as Carey took a long drink.
    “Please, sit down, Carey.”
    Lee gestured to an overstuffed
white chair, and Diane’s sister sank into its comforting embrace as if she’d
just returned from a long journey abroad. She closed her eyes for a moment,
while Lee sat on the edge of the flowered sofa. An awkward