Read Online Murder Can Rain on Your Shower by Selma Eichler - Free Book Online Page A

(Unless, of course, they were hunger pains.) ‘‘What became of husband number
    three?’’
    ‘‘Geoffrey Morton had a heart attack six months
    ago and made Bobbie Jean a widow for the second
    time,’’ Allison informed me tersely.
    ‘‘How many years had they been married?’’
    ‘‘Close to three. They separated three or four
    months before he died, though—a ‘trial separation,’
    they called it.’’
    ‘‘So they might have gotten together again.’’
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    Selma Eichler
    ‘‘There was that possibility.’’
    ‘‘You sound skeptical.’’
    ‘‘I was hoping they could work things out. I even
    thought that a stable relationship might put an end to
    my sister-in-law’s destructive behavior. But I can’t
    really say that I was overly optimistic about a
    reconciliation.’’
    At this juncture Allison very purposefully picked up
    her handbag. But before she was able to make her
    escape, I managed to squeeze in a few other questions.
    ‘‘Why is that?’’
    ‘‘Because there was so much friction in the
    marriage.’’
    ‘‘Friction?’’ I repeated, keeping my fingers crossed
    that she’d expand on this.
    ‘‘Geoffrey was British,’’ she added then, ‘‘and at
    first Bobbie Jean attributed all their difficulties to liv
    ing in England. She didn’t care for it there.’’
    ‘‘But there was more to it than that?’’
    ‘‘Apparently.’’ I wasn’t at all sure Allison would say
    anything further. However—and you could tell this
    was almost against her will—she went on. ‘‘Bobbie
    Jean convinced Geoffrey to ask for a transfer to his company’s New York office. And two years before his
    death they pulled up stakes and moved to Long Island.
    Unfortunately, though, the move wasn’t the cure-all
    she’d been counting on.’’
    At last a determined-looking Allison got to her feet.
    ‘‘I appreciate all the time you’ve given me,’’ I said sheepishly. ‘‘It wasn’t my intention to keep you here this long, honestly.’’
    ‘‘Well, at any rate, now you have an idea of what
    transpired between Bobbie Jean and those friends of
    mine.’’ She screwed up her mouth. ‘‘Although some
    friend I turned out to be, right?’’
    I didn’t think a response was expected, and anyhow,
    I didn’t know what to say to this. ‘‘Umm, I’m going to need the telephone numbers of those women from
    you,’’ I brought up instead. ‘‘I’ll be contacting them to schedule appointments. And, Allison? It would be
    MURDER CAN RAIN ON YOUR SHOWER
    55
    really helpful if you’d phone them and request that
    they agree to see me. Uh, and if you could do it as soon as possible . . . ?’’
    ‘‘I’ll make the calls in the morning.’’
    Minutes later we were standing at the half-open
    door.
    Allison looked so forlorn that, for her sake, I forced
    myself to voice what I’d been refusing to allow myself
    to so much as think about since Sunday.
    I broached the subject with, ‘‘It might be worthwhile
    if you tried coming up with the names of other people
    who have had problems with your sister-in-law. I’m
    referring to people who didn’t attend the shower.’’
    ‘‘I don’t understand.’’
    ‘‘Well, we’ll probably know more when the autopsy
    report comes in, but there’s always the chance that a slow-acting poison had been administered to Bobbie
    Jean days or even weeks earlier.’’
    In a case like that, of course, the list of suspects could be practically endless. And this was particularly true when you had a victim like Bobbie Jean Morton.
    But Allison brightened. ‘‘I’ll do that,’’ she said,
    sounding upbeat for the first time that evening.
    I, on the other hand, was—for obvious reasons—
    not at all happy with this theory.
    In fact, I was feeling pretty damn queasy as I closed
    the door behind her.
    Chapter 9
    I had to give Allison time to contact those four sus
    pects and pave the way for me. So somehow I man
    aged to keep my itchy