The Grave Soul by Ellen Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

thinking that he might simply run off and never tell her why he’d come. Once she took her seat behind the desk and he’d chosen one of the chairs opposite her, she said, “What’s up?”
    He ran a hand over the stubble on his face. “I’m planning to ask my girlfriend to marry me on Christmas Eve.”
    â€œThat’s wonderful news.” So why the long face, she wondered. “Who is she? How long have you known her?”
    â€œHer name is Kira Adler. She’s a nursing student at the U, will graduate next year. She’s from a small town in Wisconsin. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s the one for me. I am totally, one hundred percent, head over heels in love.”
    Jane nodded, grinned. “She feel the same way?”
    â€œTotally. I met her family about a month ago at Thanksgiving. We drove to New Dresden and stayed at her grandmother’s house for a couple of nights. I’d known that Kira’s mother had died when she was quite young. She fell from the deck of their house. The thing is—” He paused, tugging nervously at his shirt—“Kira’s had this dream—a nightmare really—for most of her life. Recently it’s been getting worse. Two days before we left for New Dresden, she finally told me what the dream was about.” He paused again, pulled at a small rip in his jeans. “See, in the nightmare, Kira sees her mother being strangled.”
    â€œWow,” said Jane, sitting up straight. “That’s intense. Is there any way it could be true?”
    â€œShe says absolutely not.”
    â€œSo who committed the murder in the dream?”
    â€œIt’s always someone in her family, but the identity of the person changes.”
    â€œHuh. Strange. Nobody ever wondered if it was suicide?”
    â€œSure, they wondered, but since they had no proof one way or the other, they decided to come down on the side of accidental. Kevin, that’s Kira’s dad, got home earlier than usual that day. He was working construction at the time. When he couldn’t find his wife, he went to see if her car was gone. It wasn’t. And her purse was on the kitchen table. I don’t have all the details, but the body was eventually found. The deck Delia fell from overhangs a ravine. That’s where they found her. It was December. Below-zero temps. She had some injuries, but most likely died of exposure.”
    â€œHow old was Kira when this happened?”
    â€œFive. She was in kindergarden. Her older sister, Gracie, was seven.”
    â€œNew Dresden has its own police department?”
    â€œI called, talked to the patrol officer on duty. He said that besides the chief, they’ve always had four full-time officers and two part-time.”
    â€œDid you ask for a copy of the police report on Delia’s death?”
    â€œThe guy looked but couldn’t find anything. Since it was ruled accidental, he said the attending officer might not have filed one. And because it wasn’t a crime scene, he doubted any photos had been taken. The only information I could get my hands on was Delia’s death certificate, which was useless. I read it over and learned nothing. I mean, I already knew the cause of death.”
    â€œBut you think there’s some truth in Kira’s nightmare?”
    â€œI didn’t. But—” Guthrie explained about the late-night conversation he’d overheard between Kevin and Doug. “They were talking about Delia’s death. These were Doug’s exact words: ‘We covered our tracks. End of story.’ Kevin disagreed. He said the story would never end. He also said that Kira was clueless about what happened. And then Hannah walked in—that’s Kira’s aunt. She asked what they were talking about and Kevin said, ‘The usual.’ Am I wrong, Jane? Seems to me those three know a lot more about Delia’s death than they’ve