Read Online Pink Balloons and Other Deadly Things (Mystery Series - Book One) by Nancy Tesler - Free Book Online Page A

out over the water, focusing on the line of rush-hour cars crawling like an army of ants over the Tappan Zee bridge, willing myself to feel nothing. “Yes.”
    “Did Ms. Vogel leave her chair at any time? Did she go inside at all?”
    “No.”
    He jotted something down in his notebook. “Could you give me an accurate description of the necklace she was wearing?”
    “I thought my husband did that.”
    “Men tend not to notice detail.”
    Involuntarily, my hand crept to my throat as if to finger the familiar links. “It was a gold watch fob chain-—old, maybe late eighteen hundreds. The links were rectangular, about half an inch long each, with little pieces of chain holding them together.”
    His pencil paused mid-page. “You seem to have a rare eye for detail, considering you said you never got close to her.”
    “The necklace had been mine.” I kept my face expressionless. “Rich will be entitled to half my jewelry when we’re divorced. Erica wanted that piece, so he made off with it a little ahead of time.”
    He began writing again. “I wasn’t aware that personal possessions are part of equitable distribution in New Jersey.”
    “Jewelry is. Most men don't take advantage of it.”
    I felt his eyes on me. I kept mine on a sea gull that was shoving a smaller gull off its perch on a stanchion. Nature’s way. Survival of the toughest.
    “Rough seeing something you valued on another woman,” he said. “Especially something so personal.”
    I didn’t miss the implication. I shifted my gaze and looked him straight in the eye. “Hardly worth killing over.”
    He looked back down at his notes. “Anything else you can tell me about the necklace?”
    “The clasp was an addition. I guess Erica thought the original was too plain. Or maybe she found it hard to fasten. Whatever, he replaced it with a cluster of diamonds and rubies. It didn't go with the chain.”
    He studied me for a minute. “How did you happen to know that?”
    “What?”
    “That the clasp had been replaced.”
    I grimaced. “She wore it to Allie’s Sunday school graduation last week. She made sure I saw it.”
    “Did you notice anyone in the area when you drove there on Saturday? Anyone who didn't seem to belong in the neighborhood, anything unusual at all?”
    I thought hard, trying to dredge up something. “There may’ve been,” I said finally, “but I didn’t notice anything.”
    “You know all the neighbors’ cars?”
    “Pretty much. It's not a long street.”
    “Was there an unfamiliar car parked anywhere? Most people park in their own driveways or garages. Was there a car or truck parked on the street?”
    I tried to imagine how the street had looked, but all that came back to me was the indelible image of a half-naked Erica wearing my necklace, lounging on my outdoor furniture. I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember.”
    “Too bad.”
    “How about fingerprints?” I asked hopefully. “You must’ve found fingerprints.”
    “We did,” he replied succinctly. “Yours.”
    In my youth I used to break out in a rash whenever I got nervous. At Brodsky’s words I was sure hives were popping out all over. “ Mine? Where?”
    “There was a clear thumbprint on a plastic boomerang we found near a willow tree.”
    My fantasy sprang to mind. “What do you think I did? Boomeranged Erica to death with a child’s toy?”
    “I didn’t say it was the murder weapon.”
    “I picked it up. I told you I’d been in the yard.”
    “Good you did. Because there was detritus on the floor mats of your car that matched the kind found on the grounds. There was also blood,” he said, as an afterthought.
    I could barely get the word out. “Blood?”
    “Not Ms. Vogel’s. You must’ve cut yourself on the brambles. Probably weren't even aware of it.”
    I recalled the sharp edge of the boomerang. “How could you know...?” And then I remembered. When I had applied to teach a night course at Tenafly high school several