Read Online Murder on Sagebrush Lane by Patricia Smith Wood - Free Book Online Page B

look rumpled, like it’s been slept in. And look at the glass of wine on the bedside table. It’s full.”
    “Yeah, I saw that. And there’s an opened book on top of the blanket. It looks for all the world like Mr. Rinaldi was sitting up in bed, reading and sipping a glass of wine.”
    “Yes,” Harrie said with growing excitement, “then he heard a noise and put the book down. Look how it’s lying, face down, to mark his place. He must have gotten up to investigate the noise.”
    Ginger considered that explanation. “Maybe the doorbell rang, or he decided to go downstairs for a snack.”
    Harrie had her back to Ginger. She peered at the bedside table. “Come here a minute, and look at this.”
    Ginger joined her and saw the open drawer.
    Harrie pointed to an empty holster. “Tell me this,” she said, “if Michael Rinaldi went downstairs to get a snack, why do you suppose he felt it necessary to take along his pistol?”

20
     
    Officer Harley, standing guard at the Rinaldi home, granted DJ entrance to the murder scene when he presented his FBI credentials. Once inside, DJ looked around the foyer, trying to decide where to begin his search. To his right was the living room, cordoned off with crime scene tape. To the left was a large dining room complete with a banquet-sized table and numerous chairs. On the dining room wall to the right, he saw a door, which presumably led to the kitchen, but it was closed. Down the hall in front of him, he caught sight of what appeared to be a large den. Then he heard Harrie’s voice and looked up in time to see her coming down the stairs, talking non-stop to Ginger.
    “I thought the plan was for us to come here together,” DJ said, his voice tight with emotion.
    Harrie hadn’t noticed him standing there. She drew in her breath when she saw the distressed look on his face. “Oh, Honey, I’m sorry.” She hurried down the last few steps and ran to him. “I didn’t intend to worry you. I thought you and Swannie were still talking to that awful woman.”
    He hugged her to him, relieved to see her smiling face. “We finished with her a while ago. Swannie took her down to headquarters, and Mom and I discussed our next move with Katie.”
    Harrie looked up at him and pulled away. “What are you talking about? What next move?”
    He took her by the arm. “We need to talk. Let’s see if the den back there is empty.” He turned to Ginger who still stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Come on,” he said. “You need to hear this, too.”
    The den was spacious and furnished with plump, oversized couches and reclining chairs. A huge coffee table sat in front of the two couches, and a game table stood in the corner, close to a big, stone fireplace. A giant flat-screen television set hung on the wall above the mantel.
    Harrie and Ginger sat on one of the sofas and waited while DJ paced the floor. He told them in great detail about the interview with Bonnie Bellows.
    “I’m so disappointed Katie’s aunt is such an unpleasant person,” Harrie said. “That just proves you can’t assume that a relative would necessarily be a good caretaker for a child.”
    DJ continued and watched their faces as he described her personality and odd behavior. When he got to the part about Katie’s birth, he almost ended the story there. But he knew eventually he had to tell Harrie this latest news. As he expected, she did not receive it well.
    “I don’t care who she is or whether she was a baby incubator for nine months. She has no rights to that child, and I will not stand by and let her take Katie away.” She paced the room as DJ had done minutes earlier. Her face was rigid with anger, and she clutched her upper arms with a death grip.
    DJ moved toward his wife, but Ginger headed him off. She went to Harrie and put an arm around her.
    “Sweetie, let’s don’t focus on this particular aspect of the situation. We have a plan, so let’s stick to it. You and DJ will take care of Katie