Relative Malice Read Online Free PDF Page A

them to go through the house once more, double-checking any place a small child might hide.
    When Betty returned a minute later, she was carrying two bottles of water and a takeout box. “Are you hungry? I haven’t been able to eat all day, but maybe with some company . . .”
    She opened the box, releasing a scent so inviting, Kendall would have recognized it as a pizza from a ten-foot distance with her eyes closed. But she never ate with witnesses. Or in front of them. “Sorry, I can’t. Thank you, though.”
    “It’ll go to waste if we don’t eat it. Someone ordered it and didn’t pick it up. I just nuked it for us.” She handed Kendall a napkin and a bottle of water.
    Hell with it. Just this once. Kendall reached for a slice of the steaming pizza, thick with cheese and pepperoni. Neither of them spoke as they ate, giving Kendall time to think about what she still had to ask her witness. She’d wolfed down two pieces of the pie before realizing Betty hadn’t finished even one.
    “What can you tell me about their marriage?” Kendall asked. “Were they happy?”
    “As happy as any, I imagine. Chels wasn’t one to complain about her husband like so many women do. I know they loved each other.”
    “So, nothing stands out that was problematic?”
    “I met Chels when my granddaughter was in the pediatric ward at St. Luke’s. She had lymphoma, but she’s in remission now. Evan was there at the same time; he was only about three and had broken both his legs jumping off the roof of the garage. He was a difficult patient because of his autism. Chels never left his side. We spent a lot of time together.
    “The only issue I know about happened before I met them; they lived in the Twin Cities at the time. Mark worked at the VA hospital. He got the notion that he needed to make a difference—he wanted to spend a year in Iraq. Chels opposed the idea, of course. Evan was a difficult child, and she was working full-time. They moved here, and Mark left for Iraq only a few weeks after they got settled. I think her agreeing to let him go to Iraq was a trade-off for his willingness to move the family here.
    “Chels wanted to raise their children away from the Cities. She wanted a simpler life for her kids. Anyway, with Evan in the hospital, and Sienna in grade school, she had a tough time coping with it all. I’m not sure she ever forgave Mark for not being there for them.”
    “Why Eau Claire?” Kendall asked.
    “I’m not really sure. She told me she’d done a lot of research before deciding. I suspected she hoped if they lived here, Mark would mend fences with his brother.”
    “Did she tell you why they were estranged?”
    “She did—in confidence.” Betty paused. “It doesn’t matter anymore, I suppose. I’m sure you’ll be talking to Gray soon if you haven’t already. His name is Graham, but Chels said he prefers Gray. I don’t know the details, but she told me there’d always been a rivalry between the brothers. After their mother gave birth to Graham, she was told she couldn’t have any more children. So when Mark came along barely a year later, he was their miracle child. When Mark entered medical school he achieved sainthood in his parents’ eyes. The real problem between them was because of money. The Glaussons paid a fortune to put Mark through medical school, and then when Graham got out of the Air Force and asked for a loan to start a business, they turned him down.
    “That’s more or less the gist of it.”
    Kendall felt her body aching for sleep as the heavy food hit her stomach. “Do you know if Dr. Glausson kept any drugs in the house?”
    “I know Chelsea told him she didn’t want any around. He kept a medical bag with a few emergency supplies in his car, but that was it as far as I know.”
    “How about money? Do you know if they kept much cash in the house?”
    “I really don’t know about that. Chelsea always used a credit card when I was with her.”
    Kendall closed her