Read Online Dark Corners READY FOR PRC by Liz Schulte - Free Book Online Page B

and ask Susan?” he asked, as if it were all really that simple.
    “She already thinks I’m crazy.”
    “Then you have nothing to lose.” He shrugged.  He was such a guy.
    “I can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    “You were right. I don’t have many people who care about me. I would prefer those who do to not think I am completely insane—well, not any more than they already do.”
    Detective Troy looked at me for a few moments. “Am I one of your friends?”
    “I don’t know.”
    He sighed. “That bottle isn’t proof of anything except you—or someone else— drank a bottle of wine and put it back on the shelf. You could have gotten drunk last night and came down here and drank a bottle of wine then had a dream that Susan came to visit. Stranger things have happened.”
    “Well, thanks for bursting my bubble.  That was helpful. I may still have some childhood hopes and dreams left, would you care to take a crack at those as well?”
    “I have an idea. What's Susan’s number?”I rattled off her number and we went back to the kitchen.  Detective Troy dialed the number.
    “Mrs. Daniels? This is Detective Troy with the Montgomery Police Department.  I need to verify your whereabouts last night. … Were you in the company of one Ella Reynolds? . . . That is a matter of police business . . . I see . . . Is that right? . . . Well, thank you for your time and input. You have a nice day.”
    "So what did she say?”
    “I can’t tell you. Police business,” he said, his eyes twinkling slightly.
    “What? This isn’t police business.  It's my business—”
    “Does her answer really matter?”
    “Of course.”
    “How?”
    “If I can’t distinguish my dreams, writing, or imagination from reality then I'm crazy and can’t trust anything that I think happened. That's sort of a big deal, given I’ve been operating under the notion that I’m right and everyone else is wrong.”
    He studied my face, then confessed.  “You dodged the bullet this time. She was here last night.”
    “She was?” I breathed a sigh of relief and reflexively hugged Detective Troy. “That’s the best news I’ve had in a long time.”
    The hug seemed to catch Detective Troy off guard almost as much as it did me.   Then a slight smile touched his serious mouth. “She also said that our police department is full of small minded assholes, and we should leave you alone because you’ve been through enough.”
    I smiled. “That's sort of sweet.”
    “Depends which end you fall on,” he muttered. “But let’s not call this solved so fast—I have questions. Who was in your house? Why would they do something so strange?”
    “I don’t know. I'm just glad someone actually did it.”
    “Ella. Can I call you Ella?”
    I nodded not caring what he called me. I wasn't crazy.
    "Be serious. It's much worse that someone was in your home. It could be the same person who killed your husband. You need to start locking your doors.”
    “Why would it steal food?” I wondered aloud not really listening to him.
    Detective Troy was silent for a second. “Maybe someone’s trying to make you think you're insane, and trying to convince other people of it too. Isolating you.”
    “They're doing a damn good job.”
    Detective Troy looked at his watch and started for the door. “I'll do some digging, see if there are any incidents involving the house, see if anyone leaps out at me as possibly having a motive to try to get you to leave. Do you have any enemies? Crazed fans?”
    “Haven't we been through all of this before?” I snapped, then reminded myself that he was helping me and I should try to be nicer. “Not really. No enemies or stalkers that I know about—oh, hey, before I forget. . . . Do you call my house and hang up often?”
    “What?”
    “Like this morning.”
    “No. That was the first time—and I didn’t hang up.  My call was disconnected.”
    “Okay.”  Before I could retreat again, I pushed on. “Thank you … for