Read Online The Stone of Sadness (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 3) by J A Whiting - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: J A Whiting
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woman with snow white hair was sitting in an ivory straight-backed chair sipping tea from a china cup. She was dressed in a linen skirt and pale blue blouse. She turned to Olivia and Angela as they entered the room.
“Hello, Olivia. I’m Isabel Bradford. Please excuse me for not rising to greet you. My arthritis is kicking up.” She indicated a white sofa positioned directly across from her, a glass coffee table in between. “Please sit. Angela, would you pour our guest some tea?” There was a heavy, blue and white vase in the center of the table and on either side of it was a three-tiered plate holder laden with various squares and miniature cookies. “Help yourself to some treats, Olivia.”
Angela and Olivia sat side by side on the white sofa.
“Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Bradford.”
“I’m glad to help if I can. What can I tell you?”
“Well, I’m interested in finding out about the murders of my cousins. I’m talking with people who lived in town at the time.”
“Your cousin was a lovely woman. An active member of our church.” She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “It is still unimaginable, even after all these years. The brutality of it. Killing a mother and child. It shook our community to its core.” She spoke of it as if the very words were foul-tasting.
“Are you sure it’s not too troubling for you to recall?” Olivia asked.
“It’s terribly troubling. However, I do wish to assist you if I can. I’m an old woman, Olivia. There are exceedingly limited ways for me to be useful. What can I tell you that might be helpful?”
“I appreciate it,” Olivia told her. “I wonder about the suspects. And, of course, why no one was brought to justice. I understand that you knew Kenny Overman.”
“I knew him.” Her words dripped with disgust. “I cringed every time he set foot in this house. Which my late husband and I tried to keep to a minimum. I gather you’ve spoken to Emily?”
Olivia nodded. “I met with her at a coffee shop in Brookline.”
“How nice. She probably said more to you in your short visit than she has to me in the past few years.”
“Mother…” Angela started.
“Never mind.” Isabel raised her hand. “I’m sure Emily informed you that we are estranged.”
“You’re not estranged,” Angela said.
“Angela,” Isabel said sharply. “I do not need to be corrected. Call it what you will. Emily and I have very little to do with one another. We don’t get along. It’s been like this since my husband and I asked her to leave the house a few months after the murders. We withdrew financial support shortly after that.”
“Was that because of her relationship with Kenny?”
“It was due to her behavior and attitude towards us. But our family issues aren’t what you’re interested in. It’s Kenny you want to know about. Yes?”
Olivia nodded.
“There isn’t much to say about him. If I may be blunt, he was not of our social status. Emily should not have been dating him. He was uneducated. No prospects. He had a drinking problem, inherited from that louse of a father. He was ill-mannered, rough. Emily defied our wishes. It was constant fighting. It was like living in hell with the tension and stress that girl caused us. Thankfully, Angela was married and living in her own place and didn’t have to suffer what we went through.”
“It sounds very difficult,” Olivia said. “Mrs. Bradford, do you remember if Kenny came to your house on the evening of the murders?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes he did. I would not let him in the house. Emily had to speak to him at the front portico.”
“Did you usually let him in?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“What was the difference this time?”
Mrs. Bradford fiddled with the napkin on her lap.
“Mother…” Angela said.
Mrs. Bradford flashed Angela a warning look.
“Tell Olivia what happened that night,” Angela said. “It’s long in the past. It doesn’t matter
“Hello, Olivia. I’m Isabel Bradford. Please excuse me for not rising to greet you. My arthritis is kicking up.” She indicated a white sofa positioned directly across from her, a glass coffee table in between. “Please sit. Angela, would you pour our guest some tea?” There was a heavy, blue and white vase in the center of the table and on either side of it was a three-tiered plate holder laden with various squares and miniature cookies. “Help yourself to some treats, Olivia.”
Angela and Olivia sat side by side on the white sofa.
“Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Bradford.”
“I’m glad to help if I can. What can I tell you?”
“Well, I’m interested in finding out about the murders of my cousins. I’m talking with people who lived in town at the time.”
“Your cousin was a lovely woman. An active member of our church.” She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “It is still unimaginable, even after all these years. The brutality of it. Killing a mother and child. It shook our community to its core.” She spoke of it as if the very words were foul-tasting.
“Are you sure it’s not too troubling for you to recall?” Olivia asked.
“It’s terribly troubling. However, I do wish to assist you if I can. I’m an old woman, Olivia. There are exceedingly limited ways for me to be useful. What can I tell you that might be helpful?”
“I appreciate it,” Olivia told her. “I wonder about the suspects. And, of course, why no one was brought to justice. I understand that you knew Kenny Overman.”
“I knew him.” Her words dripped with disgust. “I cringed every time he set foot in this house. Which my late husband and I tried to keep to a minimum. I gather you’ve spoken to Emily?”
Olivia nodded. “I met with her at a coffee shop in Brookline.”
“How nice. She probably said more to you in your short visit than she has to me in the past few years.”
“Mother…” Angela started.
“Never mind.” Isabel raised her hand. “I’m sure Emily informed you that we are estranged.”
“You’re not estranged,” Angela said.
“Angela,” Isabel said sharply. “I do not need to be corrected. Call it what you will. Emily and I have very little to do with one another. We don’t get along. It’s been like this since my husband and I asked her to leave the house a few months after the murders. We withdrew financial support shortly after that.”
“Was that because of her relationship with Kenny?”
“It was due to her behavior and attitude towards us. But our family issues aren’t what you’re interested in. It’s Kenny you want to know about. Yes?”
Olivia nodded.
“There isn’t much to say about him. If I may be blunt, he was not of our social status. Emily should not have been dating him. He was uneducated. No prospects. He had a drinking problem, inherited from that louse of a father. He was ill-mannered, rough. Emily defied our wishes. It was constant fighting. It was like living in hell with the tension and stress that girl caused us. Thankfully, Angela was married and living in her own place and didn’t have to suffer what we went through.”
“It sounds very difficult,” Olivia said. “Mrs. Bradford, do you remember if Kenny came to your house on the evening of the murders?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes he did. I would not let him in the house. Emily had to speak to him at the front portico.”
“Did you usually let him in?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“What was the difference this time?”
Mrs. Bradford fiddled with the napkin on her lap.
“Mother…” Angela said.
Mrs. Bradford flashed Angela a warning look.
“Tell Olivia what happened that night,” Angela said. “It’s long in the past. It doesn’t matter
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