06 Suspects and Surprises by Cindy Bell Read Free Book Online

that he was awake.”
    “What could he hear from outside that would cause him to be frightened though?” Mary asked with a frown. “Remember, it couldn't have been too loud, or we would have heard it, too.”
    Suzie and Mary stood in silence for a few minutes. Suzie kept thinking about what would cause her to be startled and even frightened if she woke up to the sound of it. Suddenly her heart dropped.
    “Knocking,” she said in a whisper. “He must have heard knocking, on the sliding glass doors.”
    “Oh yes!” Mary nodded. “That would have made him jump up out of bed. He would have been afraid to turn the light on, and he would have crept outside to see what the noise was.”
    “Okay, so he decides he's going to look outside, which means that whatever was causing the sound was not something that he could see through the doors. He opens the door,” she said as she slid the glass door open. She gazed out at the dangling railing where there was more tape that the police had put there to warn people that it was unsafe. “He steps outside.”
    “Be careful, Suzie!” Mary said as Suzie stepped out onto the balcony.
    “I am,” Suzie promised her. “He's outside and, then what?” Suzie asked, puzzled.
    “If there was someone knocking then they might have been waiting for him on the balcony,” Mary suggested. “Maybe when he stepped out, the person shoved him hard enough to break the railing.”
    Suzie frowned. “That makes sense, but it can't be true,” she said.
    “Why not?” Mary asked with confusion.
    “Jason said there was no damage to the railing, no sign of it being broken. Instead it looks like it just came loose,” she shook her head. “But you and I both know that there is no way the balcony came loose.”
    “Okay,” Mary murmured thoughtfully.
    “Besides, even if the murderer was up here with Warren, where did he go?” Suzie asked. “Not to be morbid, but how long do you think it could have taken for Warren to fall from the balcony to the ground?”
    “Not long,” Mary grimaced.
    “About as long as the scream we heard,” Suzie pointed out. “You went upstairs, I went outside. How could the killer have had time to escape if we were covering both ways to exit?”
    “Good point,” Mary nodded as she glanced around the balcony. “Even if he had a rope attached to the balcony, we would have found the rope.”
    “It's too far to jump,” Suzie pointed out.
    “Unbelievable,” Mary sighed. “It's no wonder Jason thought this was an accident. It's nearly impossible to prove otherwise.”
    “But it wasn't an accident,” Suzie reminded her sternly. She just hoped that she was right. “So, there must be something here that we're overlooking. So, what is it?” Suzie mused as she stood in the middle of the balcony. It seemed very sturdy despite the railing being broken. It was still anchored to the side of the house. It was designed not to collapse even in the highest winds. Suzie felt secure standing on it. “If the killer was not on the balcony, what did Warren see when he stepped out here?” she frowned.
    “From the way he landed I think it’s very likely that he was leaning on the railing,” Mary pointed out as she stepped out onto the balcony as well.
    “So, he was too frightened to turn the light on,” Suzie said as she looked back into the dark room. “But something prompted him to step all the way out onto the balcony, and lean on the railing.”
    Suzie walked towards the edge of the balcony where the railing and wooden slats swung free from the base of the balcony.
    “Suzie, be careful!” Mary said gravely. “That is a long way down.”
    “I know it is,” Suzie agreed and stopped about a foot away from the edge of the balcony. “So, Warren walked over to the railing after seeing that no one was on the balcony. Maybe he continued to hear something. Maybe he could tell that now it was coming from below him.”
    “That would make him lean against the railing in