Plateful of Murder Read Online Free PDF

made a lot of enemies.”
    “Warned her someone would get hurt. Didn’t know it’d be her.”
    “Did she talk about anyone in particular? Like Brody Eagleton?” I hated how hard this was on him, but he’d hired me to find Constance’s killer. “Michael?”
    “She planned to end it with him.”
    “When?”
    He stared past me, toward the wall, looking like he wished he was anywhere but here. “She didn’t say.”
    His dog-in-the-pound look stopped me. I couldn’t drill him anymore tonight. “Come on, Michael. We’ll talk more in the morning. Time for you to try and get some sleep.”
    He shook his head. “Not yet. It’s my turn to apologize.”
    Difficult as it was, I didn’t allow any emotion to show on my face. “For what?” What did he do and how bad was it?
    “For not being totally honest.”
    My heart boomeranged in my chest. “Is it something else about Constance’s list?”
    He looked into his glass and shook his head. Seconds ticked by, but he didn’t move. I’m not good at waiting games, but feared he’d spook if rushed.
    At long last, he picked up his glass, drained it, and coughed. I perched on the edge of my seat, afraid I’d have to do CPR.
    He hung his head and templed his fingers. “Worse.”
    I’d only had a small bit of wine, but even that sloshed around in increasing waves. “Tell me.”
     

 

Chapter Four
     
    H is cheeks flushed and he kept his eyes on the table. “Constance was hurting herself and other people.” He paused again.
    I sat motionless, like a priest waiting for a sinner to confess. “And?”
    His shoulders hunched a bit. “I wrote those threatening letters.” His next words gushed out. “I thought it’d make her do the right thing.”
    My head jerked. “What?” He had to be kidding. “You lied to me from the beginning? But why did you take one of the letters to the cops? What if they had investigated?” I slapped my hands down flat on the table. What else wasn’t true?
    He looked away from me, his face red. “She didn’t take them seriously. Thought they were a prank. All three of them. I thought the police could convince her…” He put his head in his hands. “It was stupid. Guess I wasn’t thinking straight.”
    I cupped my hands over my mouth and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down. When that didn’t work I dropped my hands into my lap and spoke sharply. “Why didn’t you tell me that when you hired me?”
    “I couldn’t. You might not have taken the case. Then when Constance was killed…” He placed both his hands over mine and pleaded. “Don’t think badly of me. I was only trying to keep my sister safe.”
    I slipped my hand from his and sat back, feeling slightly queasy. What if the cops discovered the truth about the letters? Michael might be arrested. Corrigan already believed I was withholding information. I pushed my hair back from my face and realized the necessity of my staying on the case just to have some control. “Okay, Michael, but tell me something. You showed me the first two letters. What happened to the third?”
    He dropped his chin and mumbled into his chest. “She told me she’d ripped it up and tossed it out.”
    I could only hope she’d told him the truth and he wasn’t lying to me. I gathered my things to leave. “Okay, we’ll figure out what to tell the police tomorrow. It’s late. Try to get some sleep.” My chest felt heavy, sort of like when I learned Santa Claus wasn’t real. I should have known Michael, the good guy, wasn’t totally real either.
    ***
    It never fails. I wash my face, brush my teeth, and fall into bed, only to lie awake. My thoughts about Michael falsifying evidence ran wild. Would they arrest him? I worried that scenario to death. Next on the agenda, a good case of regret. Why had I gotten myself involved in this mess? To top it all off, I really didn’t look forward to finding Ed again. He made me uneasy. Like the boys in high school who were constantly in