Read Online Ethics of a Thief by Mary Gale Hinrichsen - Free Book Online Page B

Bible. They were written by King David.”
    Matt gave her a silent glare.
    Later, Abigail sat on the sofa and glanced over at Matt. He seemed mentally preoccupied. “Is something wrong? Did my laughing offend you that much?”
    “No. That’s not it. Just racking my brain to figure out who murdered the Kilgores. Who do you think did it?” Matt walked over and sat on the couch next to her.
    It surprised her he wanted her opinion, “I don’t know. Perhaps your friend Jack?”
    “No. He didn’t do it. I’m certain of that. We go way back to childhood. He isn’t the type to go around killing people. Plus, he has absolutely no motive; he is here only because I forced him to come.”
    “He seems pretty scary to me.”
    Matt glared at her.
    Abigail turned her attention to observe Danny reading a book, and Lisa lying on the floor asleep.
    “Why don’t you like Jack?”
    “I just don’t trust him. That’s all.”
    “Think what you want, but he’s my best friend. I know his character.”
    “Why are you defending him?”
    “We’ve been friends since junior high. We met on the baseball team. He was the catcher and, I, the pitcher. We work well together. Jack gave excellent signals; he knew exactly where the ball was moving. We spent hours practicing together.”
    “What does baseball have to do with him not being a murderer?”
    “Nothing, I guess. Maybe I’m thinking out loud. The kids at school found him intimidating, too. With his deep voice and large size, he scared the other kids. But, he never scared me, and he knew it. That’s why we hit it off. But, I noticed, even when we were kids, Jack kept to himself, he was almost shy.”
    “Nothing about him seems friendly; he’s a cold man.”
    “Jack has never been the warm, friendly type, but he always had incredible instincts. He always knew when things weren’t right.”
    “Like what?”
    “Once, at the park, Jack needed to take a leak. Sorry. Use the restroom. When he returned, his face was as white as a ghost. He seemed terrified. He said, ‘Some pervert looked at me funny and gave me the creeps. The guy tried to take a peek.’ His eyes darted back and forth in genuine fear. ‘Don’t go in there alone,’ Jack said, and made me promise. I told him, ‘Don’t worry, I get the point. The last thing I want is some pervert checking me out.’ Well, the next day, we heard that some kid was killed. His body was found the same day in the same restroom. We were too terrified to tell anyone, afraid he might come kill us, too, if we told.”
    “Do you regret not telling your parents, or the police?”
    “Later on, as adults, sure, we both wished we spoke up.”
    “That experience must have made an impact on two young boys.”
    “It wasn’t as dreadful as another occasion.”
    “What?”
    “We were hiking up a hill, near our homes. When we reached the top, we saw a parked car. Jack said, ‘Hey. Something’s wrong. Cars shouldn’t be up here.’”
    “We heard noises coming from under the car. We both were trying to get a better look, so we laid flat on the ground to get a better look. It was then that we saw two naked bodies going at it. Neither of us had even seen a Playboy, so, what a shock! At first, we were concerned the woman was being hurt.” Matt went silent.
    “So, what did you do?”
    Matt stood up, visibly upset. “I never told anyone about those incidents before. Thinking about them gives me the creeps.” So he quickly returned to searching.
    Matt’s mind raced -- he didn’t want to tell her the rest of the story.
    The woman under the car started weeping. When they were about to go for help, the man said, “Now, Sally, don’t go and do something foolish and tell your husband. You know, he’ll kill me if he finds out.”
    “If he doesn’t kill me first,” the woman said, between sobs. “What have I done? What on earth was I thinking? If he finds out, he’ll kick me out. I will never see my kids again.”
    “Pull yourself