Grave Doubts (A Paranormal Mystery Novel) by LYNN BOHART Read Free Book Online Page B

the
coroner load her dead body into a van.” She paused, sucking air in through her
teeth. “I watched it all. And it was awful.”
    Robin got up
and put her arm around Lee’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, Lee. I’m really, really
sorry.”
    Lee realized
she was trembling and clasped her hands into a ball in front of her. Just then,
Alan called from the kitchen.
    “I think we’re
ready. You girls want to help carry this stuff to the table?”
     
        
    Forty-five
minutes later, Alan and Lee sat in front of an imposing stone fireplace that
reached all the way into the beamed ceiling, while Robin prepared dessert. A
blazing fire cast a warm glow across a silk embroidery that covered one full
wall. Although Robin had been born in the United States and barely spoke any
Chinese, her parents had emigrated from Hunan Province when she was very young.
She kept her heritage alive through books and collectibles.
    Everyone had
been polite during dinner and avoided the recent tragedy, focusing instead on
Alan's culinary talents. Now, waiting for dessert, Lee struggled with how to
broach the subject with him.
    “What are you
thinking, Lee? You look like you’re twisted in knots,” Alan interrupted her
thoughts.
    As Lee sat
slouched in a big pillow chair, she felt like a child waiting for Alan to read
a story rather than someone about to suggest something that sounded like it came
from a cheap crime novel. Alan shifted his weight on the stone ledge of the
fireplace, crossing his huge arms on his knees while he waited for her to
respond.
    “Let me guess,”
he decided to answer his own question. “You don't think Diane committed
suicide.”
    Lee looked up
with surprise. “I didn’t know I was that easy to read.”
    “Most people
are when they’re grieving. You’ve probably been stewing about this all weekend.”
He dropped his chin and looked at her under raised eyebrows. “So, what makes
you think she didn’t kill herself?”
    Lee took her
time in answering. She figured she had one chance to make an impression without
sounding stupid.
    “Three things.”
    Alan’s eyebrows
arched. “Three things?  Okay, what are they?”
    “First, Diane
would not, and I repeat NOThave left a suicide note with typographical
errors in it. Second…”
    Alan held up a
hand. “Hold on. What typographical errors?”
    “The police
showed me the suicide note that night. I noticed the mistakes immediately. Diane
had me trained. Someone had left the apostrophe out of the word don’t, and
there was a misspelled word. She didn’t write that note.”
    Alan's eyebrows
curled into a question this time. “An apostrophe?  You've got to be kidding.”
    Lee sat forward
to defend her comment. “I know they sound like small mistakes, Alan, but
believe me, they wouldn't be to Diane. This was a woman who called the phone
company once to report an error on their Government Listings page. She was
habitually correct when it came to grammar. If that was her last note—she would
have read and reread it a hundred times to make sure it was perfect.”
    “Hard to prove,”
he countered, shaking his head.
    “I'm not trying
to prove anything, Alan. I only know what I know about Diane. I'm not
exaggerating. I worked with her for four years. I was her boss. I knew this
woman.”
    He eyed her
carefully. “I don’t doubt that.” He rubbed his hand back across head. “Second?”
    Lee took a
breath. “She wouldn’t have used the kind of syringe they found next to her
body.”
    This time his
eyebrows raised his hairline an inch. “How in the world do you know that?”
    “Diane had a
diabetic cat and had small syringes at her disposal. The one found on the floor
was much bigger than the ones she used for the cat.”
    Robin called in
from the kitchen. “Anyone for ice cream?”
    Alan continued
to watch Lee. After a moment he shifted his attention to Robin. “No, Hon, I
don't think so.”
    “Diane was
never comfortable giving the cat injections,” Lee