Murder at Granite Falls Read Online Free PDF Page B

then.”
    “Did you tell him where I live?”
    “I may be getting old, but I’m not stupid. If he was an axe murderer, I’d never forgive myself. But,” Norma added, “everyone in town knows about you being the new teacher here. And with the Bradleys’ trouble last year and you staying out there, word gets around.”
    Which meant there was a good chance someone might have shared that information without a second thought. But then again, maybe the guy had been totally innocent. Someone needing to deliver a package, perhaps.
    But Norma would’ve noticed a FedEx or UPS uniform.
    Carrie managed a smile. “Thanks for letting me know.”
    Norma’s forehead creased into a worried frown. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. You look worried.”
    “Believe me, I want to know.”
    Norma gave her head a decisive nod. “Well, if I see this fella again, I’ll be sure to tell you. And he won’t be getting any information from me.”
    Carrie smiled in thanks as she headed for the exit, the bag boy following at her heels with the cart. Small towns, she thought with an inward sigh. Friendly, connected and sometimes entirely too trusting. Maybe Norma would be careful…but what if it was already too late?
     
    The view was perfect, from the shaded spot between the drugstore and Marv’s Saddle Shop and Shoe Repair. The tourists window-shopping along Main Street were a better coveryet. And if anyone else saw him, it wouldn’t matter. He blended right into the fabric of this vacation destination town.
    He watched with satisfaction when Carrie stepped out of the grocery store. She paused, shaded her eyes with her hand, and scanned both sides of the street as if she knew someone was watching.
    He remained motionless, his dull clothes fading into the shadows and the dark gray wall behind him, his hat settled low over his eyes. She’d come so close to seeing him, several times, it was almost funny. Now, her gaze flitted past him. Hesitated. Then swept by him once more before moving on.
    It was amusing to observe her inability to protect herself, to clearly identify danger, even in this innocuous setting.
    He smiled to himself. He had time. He’d nose around, and find out exactly what was going on out at the Wolf River Rafting Company. And when he was ready, he’d pay her a little visit so she’d receive a taste of what was to come.
    He could hardly wait.
     
    It felt so good—so normal —to walk into her classroom the next morning, that Carrie smiled to herself. She hadn’t slept well at all last night, with the grocery clerk’s words running through her thoughts in an endless litany and her ears attuned to the slightest sounds outside. That stranger hadn’t just been casually looking for her around town. He’d wanted to find out where she lived. Had someone blithely shared the information—and sent that prowler to her door?
    Since Monday night she’d felt restless during the day, too. Wary. Repeatedly had a crawling sensation at the back of her neck at odd times and would whirl around, only to find that nobody was there. But here at school, surrounded by all of the kids and teachers, she could finally relax.
    Just ten feet inside the door of her classroom, Carrie saw a creased piece of paper on her desk.

    Ordinary typing paper. Nothing unusual. Except that even from a distance, the carnage drawn on it sent a flutter of distaste through her midsection and unsettled the peanut butter and marmalade toast she’d eaten on the way into town.
    Some fifth-grade boys liked to doodle in the margins of their notebooks…weapons and bombs and war scenes. That was nothing new. But as she drew closer, the exquisite detail and blatant suffering in the characters’ eyes were too real, and an entirely different slant from the norm.
    One monstrous, semihuman figure had a look of pure evil on its face, with oversize sharp teeth, and was bedecked with multiple guns and swords and knives. Several bodies lay dismembered on the rough