Justification for Murder by Elin Barnes Read Free Book Online Page A

to her. Sofia grabbed it and placed it carefully next to the
C
.
    After going through a couple more handfuls of letters, they finally found the
T
and moved back to table. A few minutes later, Sofia asked for help again, this time to spell the word “food.”
    An extra letter made it back to the table later. The
S
. Saffron’s heart got warm when she saw Sofia was actually using the possessive correctly.
    “What do you think?” The girl asked once the last coat of paint was done.
    “I love it.” It was surprising that a six-year-old could make something so cute. “And what do you think of my mug?”
    “I think you should give it to me for my birthday.” That snooty smile framed her face again.
    “But your birthday was a few months ago and you already got a lot of presents.”
    “No. For my next birthday.”
    “You think? I bet you’ll forget all about this present when you turn seven next year.”
    “No, I won’t!”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Absolutely,” she said, mimicking Saffron from earlier.
    “Okay, then. But you should know that I’m going to remind you if you forget.”
    Sofia took one of the few clean paper towels left on the table and, with a brush still full of pink paint, wrote, “Birthday present.” After she inspected it to make sure all the words were spelled correctly, she handed the reminder to Saffron.
    Two weeks later they went back to pick up the baked pieces. The pink bowl had turned out perky and girlie. Perfect for Cat. The mug was bright blue and covered with orange sea creatures. Chocolate milk would probably look pretty gross in it, but Sofia seemed happily pleased.
    The noise of Cat scratching the sofa brought Saffron back to the present. “Hey, Cat, stop that,” she said.
    Her entire body hurt as if she had done three hours of cross-training. The adrenaline from the car crash the night before was starting to take a toll.
    She grabbed her jacket and purse and locked her front door on the way out. She headed back to the hospital, hoping Ranjan’s uncle wouldn’t be there, so she could spend some time alone with her boyfriend.
    The afternoon rush hour hadn’t started yet, so the drive was fast. When she walked into the hospital she noticed that her jaw hurt. She realized that it had nothing to do with the adrenaline. She’d been clenching her teeth during the entire drive in anticipation of running into Dr. Balasubramanian again. Saffron wondered how Ranjan could still be so close to a man so strict and narrow-minded when he was so open and interesting. But maybe it was the blood tie. “Who knows?” she asked out loud when she opened the door to Room 305.
    What she saw when she walked in made her wished she’d never come.

CHAPTER 13
    S orensen turned up the volume on the radio, masking the engine’s roar. “I love this song,” he said when the raspy twang of Carrie Underwood came up. He started singing, completely out of tune.
    Sorensen saw Jon trying to hide a smile by looking out the window. He still looked a little green from his first crime scene.
    “What’s so funny?” Sorensen tried to fluster the intern.
    “I just find it funny that a Viking like you likes country music.” Jon said, crossing his arms and not meeting Sorensen’s eyes.
    “Nothing wrong with that. I bet you like some hip-hop crap talking about beating the shit out of somebody’s mother.” He slammed on the brakes, launching both of their bodies against the seat belts. “Asshole!” he yelled at the car that had just cut them off. “I should give him a ticket for reckless driving.”
    “Can you do that?” Jon asked.
    “I can do anything. I’m Erik the Viking Sorensen.” He pounded his chest twice with a closed fist. “What do you make of these suicides?” he asked, changing the subject.
    “What’s the saying: ‘Once is chance, twice is coincidence, third time is a pattern’?”
    Sorensen nodded. “It’s really strange that the three deaths occurred in pretty much the same exact