See No Evil Read Online Free PDF Page B

mildly curious. He looked at Gray.
    â€œI’m the contractor on Freedom’s Chase,” Gray said. “Grayson Edwards.”
    â€œThe downtown guy?”
    â€œThe downtown guy. I was getting ready to go home around seven-thirty, eight, when I realized that Anna was still here, working in the model house. Since we’ve had some thefts recently—”
    Poole went on alert. “What kind of thefts? Have you reported them?”
    â€œJust lumber, nails, stuff like that. And no, I haven’t reported them. They weren’t significant enough to involve you, just bothersome, not even enough for an insurance claim. Anyway, I wanted to be certain everyone was gone before I left. I went to the model house to see how much longer she’d be.”
    â€œAnd what were you doing there so late?” Poole looked at me.
    â€œI was hanging window treatments,” I said. “The model opens on Saturday, and I’ve got to get everything finished before then.”
    The sergeant nodded. “Did either of you see the victim arrive?”
    I shook my head, as did Gray.
    â€œWhat happened to bring you from the model to this house?” The sergeant’s pen was poised to take down our answer. “By the way, I’ll want you to come in tomorrow to give a more complete statement.”
    â€œOkay,” I said, and told Sergeant Poole about standing on the ladder and watching the man with the gun.
    â€œYou saw him clearly?” Poole asked, his craggy face intent.
    I nodded. “And he saw me. He shot at me. That’s when I hit Gray in the nose and made him bleed.”
    Poole stared. “He shot at you.”
    â€œBut that was after he took off the stocking mask and the gloves.”
    â€œWe called it in,” Gray said. “911.”
    â€œSo even though a man with a gun shot at you, a man who had been wearing a mask and gloves, you came over here where you’d seen him and just happened to find the victim.”
    It was hard to see Sergeant Poole’s face because of the way he stood, but I was pretty sure that if I could, I’d see disbelief. And put the way he put it, our actions did sound the height of folly. Well, we weren’t cops. We were just regular people who didn’t have much experience with gunmen. At least I didn’t, and I doubted Gray did. So we’d taken what probably looked like a foolish risk, like someone who came home to find his house robbed and went from room to room before the police arrived, just to be certain the burglar was gone.
    â€œWe heard him drive away,” Gray explained. “We figured it was safe.”
    â€œAnd it took us a few minutes to mop Gray up,” I added.
    Gray slid his hands into his jeans pockets. “There was no way I could leave Freedom’s Chase until I was certain everything was all right over here.”
    â€œI came along because I wasn’t going to stay in the house alone, not with that bullet hole in the window.” I shivered at the memory.
    Sergeant Poole grunted. “Point out the window.”
    I looked toward the model house. “You can’t see it from here. You have to be out back.”
    The sergeant started for the backyard, and we followed. When we rounded the corner of the house, I pointed.
    â€œSee? Right up there.”
    Poole studied the window, the top third of it visible. “So you were standing on a ladder, hanging curtains—”
    â€œWindow treatments,” I corrected.
    â€œâ€”when you saw this man twice. Then you decided tocome over here to be certain he hadn’t done anything to damage the property.”
    Gray nodded. “That’s when we found Dorothy.”
    â€œSo you recognized the victim?”
    Gray rubbed a hand over his face, wincing when he hit his nose. I winced with him. “Dorothy Ryder,” he said softly.
    â€œAnd you knew her because?” Poole asked.
    â€œTwo reasons. Dorothy was a partner in