The May Day Murders Read Online Free PDF

herself that she was letting
her imagination get the best of her. She simply had to try and get
her mind off of everything, she resolved. Maybe get into a good
book after Amy left.
    Ann turned around and strode out of the
kitchen. She paused outside the bathroom and opened the door a few
inches. “Save me some hot water, kiddo!” she shouted into the
steamy bathroom.
    “ Okay!” Amy hollered back
from the tub.
    Ann closed the door, went upstairs and
peeked into Amy’s bedroom. It was a mess as usual, but she had
hoped that it would have lasted longer than this. She’d helped Amy
tidy up only yesterday and it already looked like a tornado had
blown through it. With a sigh, she crossed the hall to her own room
and entered.
    As she sat down on the side of the bed
to take off her shoes, Ann looked around the room and felt grateful
that she and Amy had been fortunate enough to rent this house, as
opposed to having to live in an apartment. She had Sam to thank for
that. When she had informed him that she and Amy were moving to
Columbus, he had been predictably shocked and angry with her. He
had fumed that it wasn’t fair of her to move his daughter out of
town, and accused Ann of making an already bad situation even
worse. This had made her feel guilty, but she explained to him that
she couldn’t bear to live in Smithtown any longer, and asserted
that she wanted someday to return to college and get her law
degree. Furthermore, she needed to get Amy and herself settled in
before school started in the fall so Amy could get herself
adjusted.
    Sam had reluctantly given in and wanted
to know where she intended to live. Ann had replied that they would
get an apartment and Sam had immediately objected, insisting that
they at least try and find a house to rent because apartments
weren’t safe. Sam had subsequently made a few calls to some friends
he knew living in Columbus and one of them had tipped him off about
this house in Woodcrest. Sam had even driven up with Ann and Amy to
check it out and had ended up paying the first month’s security
deposit as well.
    The house was perfect, all things
considered. The rent was reasonable and it was roomy for its size.
Ann particularly liked the family room that had been added on to
the rear of the house, complete with a working fireplace and a
bar.
    Sam was a good man, in spite of his
faults, she thought to herself—
    The image of seeing him emerging from
that bitch’s apartment, arm-in-arm, flashed through her mind and
made her teeth clench. She would never be able to forget that look
on Sam’s face when he had spotted her parked across the street,
watching them …
    Sam had supposedly been working late at
the Observer that night. He’d called Ann at around
dinnertime and told her that he was running behind on an article he
was writing, and that he had to finish it up that evening so it
could go to press in the morning. It wouldn’t take more than a
couple of hours, he’d said, and he told Ann to go ahead and eat
dinner without him. She had immediately suspected foul play,
because Sam had rarely stayed late at work in the many years they’d
been married. He had always preferred bringing his work home to
finish because, as Sam put it, he would “rather be at home with his
family than cooped-up in that fuckin’ office.”
    Besides this break from the usual,
Sam’s tone of voice had sounded different that evening, a little
more distant than usual, as if he was already feeling guilty for
what he was scheming to do. Ann’s suspicions mounted when Sam had
called her the second time, at around nine o’clock. He was a little
drunk, Ann suspected, when he told her that the article was taking
longer than he’d anticipated and that he needed another hour or so.
Ann had managed to remain calm though, telling Sam not to worry,
that she fully understood.
    There had been a few rumors going
around town at the time that Sam had taken a sudden interest in a
certain young woman whom the paper