Murder in the Garden District (Chanse MacLeod Mysteries) Read Online Free PDF Page B

lips pressed together. Cordelia Spencer Sheehan had just gotten an award from the governor for her work with abused women—and her daughter-in-law was being abused right under her nose.
    “Did Cordelia know about the abuse?”
    “She isn’t deaf, dumb and blind.” Janna’s voice was brittle. “If it weren’t for the kids, I would have gone to one of those shelters she raises all that money for. Maybe I should have. Talk about scandal! But she always reminded me that his career was more important. Think of all the good he’s going to do when he’s in the Senate .” She mimicked Cordelia’s voice perfectly. “He was still a monster.”
    “And when you saw that your gun wasn’t there?”
    “I decided that the talk with Wendell could wait. I didn’t know how he’d react, but I wasn’t going to let myself be hurt again.”
    She sounded resigned, defeated. She took another drink of tea.
    “At that time, did you wonder what had happened to the gun?”
    “I didn’t think about it. All that mattered was that it wasn’t there. I figured Wendell had taken it. That was his style.”
    She looked out over the lawn again.
    “Go on,” I said gently.
    “I turned off my lights and locked my bedroom door and went to bed. Until I heard the gunshot.”
    “And then what happened?”
    “It startled me. I’d fired the gun enough times to know what it sounded like.” She balled her hands into fists. “I got out of bed, unlocked my door and called 911. I was on the stairs when I heard the second shot. I went to the drawing room and saw Wendell lying on the floor with blood everywhere. Cordelia was standing, with the gun in her hands, looking at him. And then she saw me. She dropped the gun and said something about calling the police. I told her I already had, they were on their way.”
    She closed her eyes and shuddered.
    “I checked for a pulse, and there wasn’t one. I went across the hall to the library to wait for the police to show up. That was when I noticed that the front door was open, and there was water all over the floor. I assumed Wendell had tracked it in—it was really pouring outside. But I couldn’t understand why he didn’t close the door behind him. Too drunk, I suppose.”
    “Who else was in the house?”
    “Cordelia, of course, and the kids. They’d gone up to their rooms after dinner. About ten, I went in to say good night to them in their rooms.” She smiled faintly. “Carey had his headphones on, he always does. Alais was already asleep.”
    “Anyone else?”
    “We don’t have live-in help—Vernita, the one who let you in, leaves every day at six—and ever since Rachel and Quentin moved out—”
    “Rachel and Quentin?”
    “Quentin is Wendell’s cousin, and Rachel is his wife. They moved out about a month ago. Wendell didn’t much care for them, and even though they were in the pool house—”
    She pointed behind me. The small building was just beyond the pool.
    “It was still too close, as far as Wendell was concerned.”
    “And there was no one else in the house?” I pressed.
    “Not to my knowledge.”
    “Do you know where the children were?”
    “They said they were in their rooms.”
    “They didn’t hear the shots?”
    “I assume they had their headphones on. They always do.”
    “And they all had access to your gun?”
    “I never lock my room unless I am going to bed,” she said. “So, yes, they could have. Vernita and the maid who comes twice a week had access to it as well, obviously, whenever they were in the house.”
    “When was the last time you saw the gun?”
    “I went to the shooting range three days ago. When I got back, I cleaned it and put it away.”
    “When you found your husband, did you see or hear or notice anything out of the ordinary?”
    “Besides my husband’s body? I wasn’t really paying attention. I was in shock. The police found the safe in the drawing room was open—”
    Cordelia hadn’t mentioned anything about the safe. Given