Murder! (Parker & Knight Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her yet, but we’re investigating,” Parker said.
    As he spoke to Steve Grace, he took note that Knight had risen and was walking about the living room taking in the details, and had even picked up the mail lying on the table to examine the envelopes. The living room was neat, given that the only two people occupying the home were little more than teenagers. There was no sign of a struggle or violence and unlike the Kent’s place, the furniture fit the home and was middle class.
    Knight walked over and laid a gentle hand on Grace’s shoulder.
    “Mr. Grace, why don’t we all go into the kitchen and talk? It’s very hot out and I could use a drink of water.”
    Grace stood, wiped at tears, and began walking towards the rear of the home.
    She’s going to work out. Parker thought, as he looked over at Knight.
    Detective Knight didn’t want a drink of water. Detective Knight wanted to see as much of the home as she could without a search warrant.
    Knight must have also noticed the flash of guilt in Grace’s eyes when they told him they were cops, but Parker didn’t think that the guilt had anything to do with the murder of his sister, not after the reaction he had upon hearing of her death. No, that guilt was spawned from something else. Maybe the kid had drugs on his person or somewhere in the house. If that was the source of his fear and guilt, he need not worry; Parker’s only concern was to find out who killed Grace’s sister.
    As they each sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of water, Parker began the questioning.
    “Why do you suspect that Mr. Kent might have killed your sister?”
    Steve Grace shrugged.
    “She was found in his house, right?”
    “Yes, but he has an alibi. He says he was at work.”
    “He could have slipped out. He’s the boss where he works, so no one is looking over his shoulder.”
    “We’ll be checking into his whereabouts, and on that note, where were you between the hours of one and three p.m.?”
    “Me? You think I would kill my sister?”
    “I need to ask. It’s part of the investigation.”
    “I was at my girlfriend’s house in Freehold.”
    “I’ll need her name, phone number, and address,”
    Grace gave Parker the information and he wrote it down in his notebook.
    “Mr. Grace,” Knight said. “Mandy Kent says that you two have slept together, is that true, sir?”
    Grace looked startled.
    “She told you about that?”
    “Yes sir, is it true?”
    “Yeah, two nights ago, Mandy and I... there’s chemistry, you know?”
    “Did your sister know about the affair?”
    “Tiff? No, not unless Mandy told her, and I doubt that happened. They didn’t like each other much. Tiff thought that Mandy was a drunk, and Mandy does drink more than she should.”
    “Can you think of anyone who might have wished your sister harm?” Parker asked.
    “No. Tiff was cool and everybody liked her, well, everybody but Mandy, but that was just jealousy because Alex was always perving on Tiff. That dude looked at her like he’d never seen a girl before.”
    “We’d like to get a look at her room if you don’t mind,” Knight said, and Steve Grace rose from his seat and headed for the stairs.
    ***
    L ooking into his sister’s room started a fresh wave of tears in Grace, and he excused himself and headed back downstairs.
    Parker looked around the room and saw what he expected to see in the room of a nineteen-year-old woman.
    A queen-sized bed was covered in a frilly, pink blanket atop a shaggy purple area rug. Against one wall was a vanity and its surface was covered with bottles of perfume, tins of make-up and what must have been over a hundred different bottles of nail polish. Inside the closet, clothes hung on plastic hangers and some of the dresses glittered, while the closet’s floor held dozens of shoes.
    There were no posters on the wall, but several photos of Tiffany Grace with other young people were taped to the wall beside the vanity, and Parker saw Tiffany Grace as she was