06 Suspects and Surprises by Cindy Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

order to look over the side,” Mary said with a slight nod. “So, whoever did this, was still trying to coax him out to the edge of the balcony even if they weren't on the balcony waiting for him.”
    “And because they weren't on the balcony, there is no evidence left behind,” Suzie said with a deep sigh. “There's not going to be any physical evidence of the killer up here, because he might not have ever been up here.”
    “He let the balcony do his work for him,” Mary said. She cringed. “Which also gives the killer a clear cover for the murder, because it sure does look like the only possibility is an accident due to a weak railing.”
    “Who in the world would go to this much trouble?” Suzie asked with disbelief. “We still don't know how the killer lured Warren out here, or why.”
    “No, we don't,” Mary agreed. “But we do suspect that he was lured. So, someone likely waited until he thought we would all be asleep. He wanted this done at a time that no one could possibly stop it, or catch him.”
    “If I wasn't awake, it might have taken me even longer to get out there,” Suzie said grimly.
    “What about our other guest?” Mary asked. “Do you think we should check on him?”
    “I think if he slept through the sirens and the commotion then he deserves a good night’s sleep,” Suzie said with a sigh. “I'll explain everything to him in the morning.”
    “It is the morning,” Mary pointed out as she looked out over the water. The colors of the sunrise were spilling out across the calm slate of the water. It seemed as if the waves had hushed in reverence to the transition from night into day.
    “It's beautiful,” Suzie said solemnly as Mary came to stand beside her. Even though something horrible had happened just a little while before, the view from Dune House was still too stunning for words.
    “Maybe we should try to get a little rest,” Mary suggested.
    “Not yet,” Suzie said. “I want to make sure that I've scoured every inch of this balcony first.”
    “Okay,” Mary nodded and swept her gaze over the balcony. “There isn't much to see though.”
    “We must be missing something,” Suzie said under her breath.
    Suzie crouched down and studied the floorboards of the balcony. She could see where there was some scuffing from shoes, but there was no actual damage to the wood. She knew that the balcony was in very good shape. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. She was hoping that there might be some hint of what happened carved into the wood. As she neared the edge of the balcony the only thing she noticed were some pistachio shells. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of them.
    “Well, that's a little odd,” Suzie said to herself.
    “What is?” Mary asked when she overheard her comment.
    “There are pistachio shells over here,” Suzie explained and picked one up. It looked fresh enough to have been tossed in the last few days, but Warren was the only one she had rented that room to, and that was only because of the antiques that she had decorated the room with.
    “So, he was snacking?” Mary asked with a frown. “Maybe he had them earlier, but if he had them just before he fell off the balcony I guess that throws a wrench in our theory about him being frightened.”
    “It doesn't make sense,” Suzie agreed and dropped the pistachio shell. “I don't know, Mary, maybe we're thinking about this all wrong. What if he knew that there would be someone outside?”
    “Like a meeting he had planned with someone?” Mary suggested.
    “Sure. Maybe he had set an alarm to wake up at a certain time. He didn't turn the light on, because he didn't want to alert any of us that he was awake. Then he went out on the balcony to wait, with his pistachios,” she shrugged.
    “I don't know, if he had a meeting, why would he be on the balcony?” Mary pointed out. “Why wouldn't he have met them downstairs where he could have spoken to them more directly?”
    “Who knows,” Suzie