Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter Read Free Book Online Page B

from a few years back? Sibyl moved here, what, about six years ago?"
    "That's right," Lena said, her voice hostile again. "She took a job at the college so she could be near me."
    "Was she living with someone?"
    "What does that mean?"
    Jeffrey dropped the handkerchief. "It means what it means, Lena. She was blind. I'm assuming she needed help getting around. Was she living with someone?"
    Lena pursed her lips, as if debating whether or not to answer. "She was sharing a house on Cooper with Nan Thomas."
    "The librarian?" This would explain why Sara had seen her at the library.
    Lena mumbled, "I guess I have to tell Nan about this, too."
    Jeffrey assumed Nan Thomas already knew. Secrets did not stay kept for very long in Grant. Still, he offered, "I can tell her."
    "No," she said, giving him a scathing look. "I think it would be better coming from someone who knows her."
    The implication was clear to Jeffrey, but he chose not to confront her. Lena was looking for another fight, that much was obvious. "I'm sure she's probably already heard something. She won't know the details."
    "She won't know about the rape, you mean?" Lena's leg bobbed up and down in a nervous twitch. "I guess I shouldn't tell her about the cross?"
    "Probably not," he answered. "We need to keep some of the details close in case somebody confesses."
    "I'd like to handle a false confession," Lena mumbled, her leg still shaking.
    "You shouldn't be alone tonight," he told her. "You want me to call your uncle?" He reached for the phone, but she stopped him with a no.
    "I'm fine," she said, standing. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
    Jeffrey stood, too, glad to conclude this. "I'll call you as soon as we have something."
    She gave him a funny look. "What time's the briefing?"
    He saw where she was going with this. "I'm not going to let you work on this case, Lena. You have to know that."
    "You don't understand," she said. "If you don't let me work on this, then you're going to have another stiff for your girlfriend down at the morgue."

Chapter Six
    LENA banged her fist on the front door of her sister's house. She was about to go back to her car and get her spare set of keys when Nan Thomas opened the door.
    Nan was shorter than Lena and about ten pounds heavier. Her short mousy brown hair and thick glasses made her resemble the prototypical librarian that she was.
    Nan 's eyes were swollen and puffy, fresh tears still streaking down her cheeks. She held a balled-up piece of tissue in her hand.
    Lena said, "I guess you heard."
    Nan turned, walking back into the house, leaving the door open for Lena. The two women had never gotten along. Except for the fact that Nan Thomas was Sibyl's lover, Lena would not have said two words to her.
    The house was a bungalow built in the 1920s. Much of the original architecture had been left in place, from the hardwood floors to the simple molding lining the doorways. The front door opened into a large living room with a fireplace at one end and the dining room at the other. Off this was the kitchen. Two small bedrooms and a bath finished the simple plan.
    Lena walked purposefully down the hallway. She opened the first door on the right, entering the bedroom that had been turned into Sibyl's study. The room was neat and orderly, mostly by necessity. Sibyl was blind, things had to be put in their place or she would not be able to find them. Braille books were stacked neatly on the shelves. Magazines, also in Braille, were lined up on the coffee table in front of an old futon. A computer sat on the desk lining the far wall. Lena was turning it on when Nan walked into the room.
    "What do you think you're doing?"
    "I need to go through her things."
    "Why?" Nan asked, going over to the desk. She put her hand over the keyboard, as if she could stop Lena.
    "I need to see if anything was strange, if anyone was following her."
    "You think you'll find it in here?" Nan demanded, picking up the keyboard. "She only used this for school. You