Love Is Murder Read Online Free PDF

have, but there’s stationery in every desk. We can wrap it in that.”
    “Good idea.”
    They preserved the wine and the glass, then finished searching the room. Lucy went through Vanessa’s purse. She hadn’t changed her driver’s license, it was still under her maiden name of “Russell,” but there was a copy of the marriage certificate. They’d been married in Phoenix, Arizona, last week. The best man was Nelson Russell—Vanessa’s brother maybe?—and the maid of honor was Christina Morgan.
    Lucy went through the camera one last time to make sure she had taken all the pictures she thought the police would need. The body, the wine, the pills, the general layout of the room, close-ups of the possible lividity and the needle mark. She’d also taken pictures of Vanessa’s hands and arms, which didn’t indicate that she’d fought back—no obvious bruising, scratches, broken nails, or fibers. She scrolled through earlier pictures and noticed that Vanessa or Trevor had taken a lot of pictures of the grounds—the lodge, the barn, the surroundings. Some were dark and hadn’t come out, but Lucy didn’t delete any in case the police needed them as evidence. She didn’t want any photos to be missing—each was digitally numbered.
    The earliest pictures were of Vanessa and Trevor on their wedding day. They seemed happy. Trevor beamed at Vanessa. The wedding was lavish, at least from what Lucy could tell from the few pictures saved on the camera.
    She set aside the camera. She looked through Vanessa’s address book, then went through her receipts.
    “Anything?” Patrick asked.
    “Nothing that stands out to me.”
    “I’m going to ask that no one come in the room, and ask for all the keys, but that’s no guarantee that there isn’t an extra floating around.”
    “Grace probably has a master key as well.”
    “I wrapped her body in the sheet and top blanket,” Patrick said. “When we get the plastic sheet, I’ll have Alan and Kyle help with the body. You find Steve and ask what the sheriff said. Then we’ll talk to her husband, Trevor. It’s time for you to put that criminal psychology degree to work, sis.”

IV.
    While Patrick and the others took Vanessa’s body to the root cellar, Lucy found Steve in the lodge’s office. He sat slumped at the desk with his head in his hands.
    “Hey,” Lucy said softly, sitting across from him. “You okay?”
    He shook his head. Though he had a lot of responsibility, he was still a young man, not even twenty-one, and this situation seemed to be taking its toll. He picked up a quart carton of orange juice that was on the desk next to him and took a long gulp. Drinking from the carton reminded Lucy of her brothers growing up. Her sister Carina would have a shit fit if she caught them, and always found an innovative way to get back at them. Once, Carina poured hot sauce in the orange juice. Patrick had been the brunt of that spicy etiquette corrective.
    “Did you call to the sheriff?” Lucy asked.
    Steve looked up. He tucked some papers under the desk calendar before saying, “Yes. There’s no way they’ll be here before noon tomorrow, and that’s still contingent on the storm. They’ll know more in the morning. They ran Patrick through their system, I guess, and said he should determine what’s best to do with the body until they arrive.”
    “Patrick is taking care of it. We need to close off that room, however.”
    “Why?”
    “Health reasons.”
    He didn’t seem to find Lucy’s answer odd. That she was becoming a better liar didn’t please her.
    “Who has keys?” she asked.
    “The guests would have two. There’s an extra here. I have a master key for every room.”
    “May I have it?”
    “I won’t go in.”
    “I know, but Patrick wants to control the keys.”
    Steve now looked at her suspiciously. “Why?”
    “I’m just doing what my brother asked. I’m not a cop.”
    He pulled the key from his ring and handed it to her. He then reached