Suspicion of Innocence Read Online Free PDF

returned to virginal innocence with paint and glue. Blonde hair laid in perfect curls on a satin pillow; lips set into a sad little smile. They might have expected to look at the bouquet of lilies and find that it didn't quite hide the black sutures on her wrists.
    No one had asked Gail why the casket was closed. Maybe they knew.
    Now she busied herself straightening a box of Kleenex on a table. Her watch seemed to have stopped at six-thirty. She wondered if she ought to call again to check on Karen. They had left her at Irene's with a neighbor's teenage daughter.
    Gail glanced up at a movement at the door. Ben Strickland, Irene's favorite cousin, was coming in. He smoothed his white hair, looking around as if lost. When Gail crossed the room he held out his arms. "Hey, honey. You okay?"
    "Fine. I suppose." Gail let herself lean against him for a moment. She rested her forehead on his shoulder, then pulled away. "Ben, would you do me a favor?"
    "Sure. Anything."
    "I'd like you to handle Renee's estate." Ben had retired early from the circuit court bench six months ago, joining a small law firm on Flagler Street.
    "You want me to be the attorney? Gail, honey, I wasn't in the probate division. I figured Irene would ask you."
    "We haven't discussed it. And I don't do probate either, you know."
    "That's true. But you've got people in your law firm who could guide you through it." He saw her shake her head. "What's the matter? You don't want to?"
    Gail looked across the room at Irene. "You know how she and I were about Renee. We agreed a long time ago that we'd be better off not talking about her."
    "Damn shame you girls didn't get along."
    "Well. Too late now. I'd feel strange getting involved, and I don't think Mother would really want me to."
    Ben thought about it. "I'd have to get one of the other attorneys in my office to write up the paperwork." His gaze moved to the casket. "My god, my god," he said softly. As Gail watched, his lips trembled. Then he laughed a little, embarrassed, and took a breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't think I was going to get this way. Lord have mercy. All right, I'll talk to her about it, if you want."
    She squeezed his hand. "Thanks, Ben."
    Irene was walking a friend away from the casket, their arms linked. Her sister Patsy laughed at something, and Irene gave half a smile. Irene was still pretty, a petite redhead with clear blue eyes. Today her eyes were swollen. Today she moved as though something inside her was broken.
    When she saw Ben she put her arms around him. They stood silently for a while, her head under his chin. Her words were muffled against his shoulder. "Oh, Ben. Why did she do this? Would somebody just tell me why?"
    He awkwardly patted her back. "Shhh. I don't know. I don't know." He turned her toward the first row of chairs. "Come on. Sit down for a while."
    Her lips pressed tightly together, Gail glared at the casket. Renee could have had the decency to leave a note. Dear Mom, Life is just too hard. Besides, I'm pregnant and I don't know who the father is. Forgive me. It isn't your fault.
    Gail had been the one to identify the body at the morgue—what was left of it. The one to hear the M.E. say that Renee was nearly two months pregnant. Not that this would have bothered Renee unduly. She was hardly a blushing Catholic schoolgirl. Even so, Gail didn't intend to tell her mother about the baby.
    She grabbed a water pitcher from a nearby table and shook it. Empty. When she peered into the funeral director's office, his young assistant came out, hands clasped in front of him. Owen Finney wore a dark suit and a striped tie five years out of fashion.
    "Yes, ma'am?"
    She gave him the pitcher. "I wonder if we could get some more ice water."
    "Certainly," he said quietly, as if she had handed him a dead kitten. "I'll take care of it. And more paper cups?"
    "Thank you."
    "No problem."
    On her way back through the lobby Gail spotted Dave in an armchair in the corner, his eyes focused on the