Death Changes Everything by Linda Crowder Read Free Book Online Page A

out to see what was wrong. Poor thing was just standing in her front yard, wailing like a banshee. Never heard anything like it. Whole neighborhood came out. She just kept screaming, He’s dead! He’s dead! ”
    “Did you hear a gunshot?”
    “We were watching one of those awful movies Ty likes. All gangsters and thugs. There was so much shooting on TV, I wouldn’t have known the difference.”
    “Did you go inside the Hill house?”
    “Gracious, no! Mr. Wilson did, though. He lives next door to them. Came out shaking like a leaf and told me to call the police. The way he practically fell down on the top step, I thought he was gonna faint.”
    “What did you do next?”
    “I told Ty to stay with him, you know, in case he had a stroke or something?” She shook her head and frowned. “Course everyone else was useless. Just stood around gawkin’ at Maddie. I told ‘em to clear out if they weren’t gonna do anything, then I brought her home with me and called the police.”
    “Tyler was back home by the time I got here.”
    “He came home soon as the police got here. Said the whole thing creeped him out.”
    “How long have you known the Hills?”
    “Forever. They were here when we moved in back when Ty was a baby.”
    “Would you say they had a happy marriage?”
    “We didn’t socialize, Detective. We weren’t in the same circles. Really, this may be the first time Maddie’s been in my house.”
    “I’d like to talk to your son.”
    “I wouldn’t want to waste your time.”
    “I’ll risk it.”
    She left the room and returned with Tyler. He had an MP3 player in his hand, with one ear bud hanging loose and the other still in his ear. “Yeah?” His mother poked his arm. “What do you want?”
    “Tyler, did Mr. Wilson say anything to you while you waited for the police?”
    “Nope.”
    “Did you hear any gunshots before Mrs. Hill started screaming?”
    “Nah.”
    “Did you ever hear the Hills argue? Did they seem happy to you?”
    “Dude, they’re old. Like I care.”
    “Tyler! Detective, I’m so sorry.” Connie gave her son a smack on the back of his head. “You mind your manners.”
    Matt excused himself and went back across the street to where Altrez stood in the driveway. “Wilson have anything to say?”
    “Might once he stops throwing up. Had to call an ambulance. Paramedics took him right before you got here.”
    “Can you ask dispatch to see if he’s still there?”
    Altrez nodded and spoke into the radio on his shoulder. The answer came back affirmative. “You heading over there?”
    “May as well. Widow’s too upset to give me anything. Keep me posted if the neighbors have anything worth hearing.”
     
    ***
     
    A cruiser was parked in the hospital’s lone police spot, so Matt tried his luck in the parking garage. The hospital had added another floor of parking as part of a recent expansion, but it was still a challenge to find a spot during visiting hours. He circled up the ramp, floor by floor, finally securing a spot at the very top.
    Trudging down the stairs and across a covered walkway, he stopped at the information desk to see if Wilson was still in the emergency room. “Are you family?” asked the young woman at the desk.
    Matt pulled his badge out of his pocket and showed it to her. “Police. I need to speak with Mr. Wilson.”
    She took the badge and studied it carefully, giving him a look that made Matt think she might harbor unpleasant memories of the police. “I’m not s’posed to tell anybody but family.”
    “Krystal, is it?” asked Matt, reading her employee badge. “I’ve got a dead body in a house not too far from here. Mr. Wilson is a witness and I am going to speak to him. You can tell me if he’s still at the hospital and where I can find him, or I can speak to your supervisor about it.”
    A look came into her eyes that Matt remembered well from his days working a beat. She handed the badge back to him. “Then I guess that’s what