A Lethal Time (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 4) by Peggy A. Edelheit Read Free Book Online Page A

had done extensive renovations on an old New England clapboard home they intended for their retirement. They came from, you guessed it, Boston, and had been making improvements for a few years.
    Sally, who made a point of knowing all her neighbors, asked them if they could help her out by giving me some information regarding the area and anything else they might know about the old Robinson property, rumors included.
    I looked around after Crystal dropped me off from her Harley at the Fielding’s raked, gravel drive. They had a spectacular view, looking across the road past Jackson’s fields to the mountain ranges in the far distance. A new large picture window in the front of their house faced that view directly. I could see why they chose that parcel in the first place. Between the secluded dirt road, the views, and the surrounding woods, they had made a good investment.
    I heard a door squeak open and turned. There stood a gray-haired gentleman, I guessed in his early sixties, casually dressed in jeans and polo shirt, smiling at me. Right behind him was a woman around the same age as him, wearing jeans and a sweater, and whose gray hair was held back with a clip.
    “Hi,” I greeted, as I approached their side door entrance.
    The man extended his hand, giving me a mischievous, broad grin. “Why you’re prettier than I expected. You must be Samantha Jamison.”
    Smooth . I liked him instantly and smiled right back.
    “Yes, and you both must be Mr. and Mrs. Fielding.”
    The fragile-looking woman reached out a petite hand and shook mine firmly and escorted me inside. “Please call me Millicent, and this is my husband, Major.”
    I tried not to chuckle at how amusing his name sounded as I followed them inside. Major. How some of these people were ever given such strange monikers was a mystery. But then who was I to speak with the name, Sam?
    Once we were all seated and tea served, I got right to exactly what I was interested in without giving anything away. “I’m sure you both are aware about what happened at Robinson’s house the other day with that raccoon.”
    “Oh my, yes!” Millicent exclaimed. “How dreadful!”
    Major agreed, patting his wife’s hand. “Why, that could have happened to us if it weren’t for Millicent’s insistence on keeping the doors firmly closed and all possible entry into the house carefully repaired and sealed.”
    Millicent sipped her tea. “I heard that raccoon snuck in through some loose boards near the basement entrance.”
    I knew in a small town of under three thousand residents word would spread swiftly.
    “I heard that, too,” I said. Sally had passed on the information earlier that morning when she had called Crystal. Clay and I must have missed those loose boards because of all the overgrowth and weeds.
    “Did you know Robinson before he went to the home?”
    Major nodded, then said, “He kept mostly to himself, but once in a while when we were out walking, he would stop and talk if he was outside when we passed by his house. He was pleasant enough, I guess.”
    Millicent agreed. “But he got strange toward the end.”
    “What do you mean, strange?”
    Mrs. Fielding lowered her voice, as though someone might overhear her. “He started to mumble odd things like, ‘Who would believe me now?’ ‘Why should I trust him?’ ‘What if they found out?’ I found it extremely unsettling.”
    Major laughed. “My wife sometimes sees intrigue where there is none. She has probably read too many whodunits.”
    Millicent gave him a sharp look. “I know what I heard.”
    I looked at Major. “Did you hear him say such things?”
    He shrugged. “Sure, but they were probably nothing more than the ramblings of a man who was ill.”
    His wife shook her head. “Maybe, but after that he was gone and placed in a home.”
    “…Because,” added Major, “he fell after slipping on his stairs and lay there for two days. A nursing home was then suggested by his relatives for his