Read Online Swan Song (Julie O'Hara Mystery Series) by Lee Hanson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lee Hanson
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with Joe Garrett and Julie O’Hara specifically to see how he would react. No matter what she’d told the police, the truth was that Sabrina couldn’t have known whether or not Mike left and came back, or if he slept like a log beside her the whole night.
Sabrina was an insomniac who took maximum strength sleeping pills.
Her medication was so hypnotic she couldn’t remember getting up to go to the bathroom, much less if Mike was on the other side of a California King-sized bed.
Mike put down his fork and stared at her.
“What did you tell them?”
“I told them I knew you. That was all.”
Do I, Mike?
* * * * *
Chapter 14
O f all people, Julie O’Hara, teaming up with that private eye!
His panic was mounting by the day. How long would it take before she figured it out? Every instinct said run . But he knew better than that. It didn’t make sense to take off. They already questioned him and moved on. He wasn’t a suspect.
He was letting his imagination get the best of him.
Why should I give up everything, my whole life?
The cops already talked to Dianna’s family, her friends and everybody.
Nothing came of it.
No…Julie O’Hara was his only real problem.
* * * * *
Chapter 15
F or the better part of a week, the Wielands’ case had been on the back burner while Julie and Joe handled other business. For Julie, it was hard to stay focused on her clients. More and more real to her, Dianna continued to cry out for help and for justice.
At last Julie was able to clear her schedule. She called Bay Street Realty and on the spur of the moment asked Kate Winslow to lunch. They planned to meet at a restaurant in Dr. Phillips at noon. She called Joe to tell him.
“Thanks a lot for including me,” he said, clearly miffed at the “ladies only” meeting.
His pique was understandable. Julie apologized, explaining that she felt she could get more information, woman-to-woman.
He had come to agree and they planned to meet later. But now he was throwing a stumbling block in her path. He didn’t want her to talk to Kate about the pregnancy.
Julie was exasperated.
“Kate Winslow had to know about it, Joe; two women, friends who also work together? If Dianna knew she was pregnant, she would have told her,” said Julie. “Look, this pregnancy issue is important. Whether or not Dianna knew is a vital piece of information.”
“The Wielands don’t want the pregnancy broadcast, Merlin. I told you they wanted to keep it under wraps. The coroner said it was so early Dianna ‘might not have known’. Frank and Betty prefer to believe that…even if we don’t.”
“Joe, let’s be real here. What I can’t believe is the way everyone’s side-stepping this critical issue! There’s no such thing as slightly pregnant. I have to be able to bring it up with Kate Winslow. Yes, ‘unwanted’ pregnancies can trigger depression and suicide, but in this case it may have set her up for murder! Are we going to get to the bottom of this or not?”
He sighed, “All right. I know you’re right. I didn’t make any specific promises about it. If it helps this investigation, at the end of the day they’ll forgive me.”
“Of course they will. Losing a child to suicide is the ultimate guilt-trip. If we can prove that Dianna’s death wasn’t self-inflicted, it will ease the pain for Frank and Betty. And, Joe, that’s what they really hired you for, isn’t it?”
•
The noontime crowd at Too Jays Deli and Bakery hummed with muted conversation. Black and white photos from an earlier place and time adorned the stucco walls, and strategically placed greenery gave everyone a bit of privacy.
Julie thumbed through the menu tempted by the wafting aromas. She had already ordered a glass of chardonnay. It was her hope that doing so would encourage Kate Winslow to do the same.
As it happened, they knew each other in passing, which was why it had been so easy to set up this lunch. Julie had been a speaker at
Sabrina was an insomniac who took maximum strength sleeping pills.
Her medication was so hypnotic she couldn’t remember getting up to go to the bathroom, much less if Mike was on the other side of a California King-sized bed.
Mike put down his fork and stared at her.
“What did you tell them?”
“I told them I knew you. That was all.”
Do I, Mike?
* * * * *
Chapter 14
O f all people, Julie O’Hara, teaming up with that private eye!
His panic was mounting by the day. How long would it take before she figured it out? Every instinct said run . But he knew better than that. It didn’t make sense to take off. They already questioned him and moved on. He wasn’t a suspect.
He was letting his imagination get the best of him.
Why should I give up everything, my whole life?
The cops already talked to Dianna’s family, her friends and everybody.
Nothing came of it.
No…Julie O’Hara was his only real problem.
* * * * *
Chapter 15
F or the better part of a week, the Wielands’ case had been on the back burner while Julie and Joe handled other business. For Julie, it was hard to stay focused on her clients. More and more real to her, Dianna continued to cry out for help and for justice.
At last Julie was able to clear her schedule. She called Bay Street Realty and on the spur of the moment asked Kate Winslow to lunch. They planned to meet at a restaurant in Dr. Phillips at noon. She called Joe to tell him.
“Thanks a lot for including me,” he said, clearly miffed at the “ladies only” meeting.
His pique was understandable. Julie apologized, explaining that she felt she could get more information, woman-to-woman.
He had come to agree and they planned to meet later. But now he was throwing a stumbling block in her path. He didn’t want her to talk to Kate about the pregnancy.
Julie was exasperated.
“Kate Winslow had to know about it, Joe; two women, friends who also work together? If Dianna knew she was pregnant, she would have told her,” said Julie. “Look, this pregnancy issue is important. Whether or not Dianna knew is a vital piece of information.”
“The Wielands don’t want the pregnancy broadcast, Merlin. I told you they wanted to keep it under wraps. The coroner said it was so early Dianna ‘might not have known’. Frank and Betty prefer to believe that…even if we don’t.”
“Joe, let’s be real here. What I can’t believe is the way everyone’s side-stepping this critical issue! There’s no such thing as slightly pregnant. I have to be able to bring it up with Kate Winslow. Yes, ‘unwanted’ pregnancies can trigger depression and suicide, but in this case it may have set her up for murder! Are we going to get to the bottom of this or not?”
He sighed, “All right. I know you’re right. I didn’t make any specific promises about it. If it helps this investigation, at the end of the day they’ll forgive me.”
“Of course they will. Losing a child to suicide is the ultimate guilt-trip. If we can prove that Dianna’s death wasn’t self-inflicted, it will ease the pain for Frank and Betty. And, Joe, that’s what they really hired you for, isn’t it?”
•
The noontime crowd at Too Jays Deli and Bakery hummed with muted conversation. Black and white photos from an earlier place and time adorned the stucco walls, and strategically placed greenery gave everyone a bit of privacy.
Julie thumbed through the menu tempted by the wafting aromas. She had already ordered a glass of chardonnay. It was her hope that doing so would encourage Kate Winslow to do the same.
As it happened, they knew each other in passing, which was why it had been so easy to set up this lunch. Julie had been a speaker at
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