question: Who is competent and determined and wanted Ashley dead? Because that person seems to have succeeded in killing her.”
SEVEN
KATHLEEN AND SUSAN WERE SITTING QUIETLY AT THE kitchen table when Chrissy and Stephen, dressed in running clothes and followed by their dogs, burst into the room.
“Mom! What are you doing here?” Chrissy cried out before remembering her manners and greeting Kathleen.
“Didn’t your father tell you we’d come back early?” Susan asked.
“He was in the hallway upstairs just a while ago, wasn’t he?” Stephen turned to his wife. “I told you I heard someone!”
“Drib . . . Rock and Roll made all that noise and you didn’t get up to see who—or what—it was?” Susan asked.
“Mother, if we got up every time Rock or Roll barked, we’d never get any sleep,” Chrissy protested. “They’re very sensitive, you know.”
Everyone looked down at the sensitive pair now collapsed on the floor. They were licking each other’s hind parts. Clue watched jealously.
“Why are you here, anyway? I thought you and Dad were spending the night at the inn.”
Susan paused. “Well, I suppose you’ll hear on the evening news. Ashley Marks was killed.”
“So?”
“She . . . Her body was found in our room at the inn.”
“Mother! You’re kidding! Why does this type of thing always happen to you?”
Susan opened her mouth to protest any part in this event, but Stephen got there first. “It isn’t your mother’s fault if this Ashley Marks was killed in her room. After all, she didn’t do it. . . . You didn’t, did you, Mother?” he ruined his defense of her by asking.
“Of course not!” And she had always thought her daughter had married an incredibly sensible young man.
“And there isn’t anything to connect you to this Ashley Marks, is there?”
“Well, she was our next-door neighbor. . . .”
“See,” Chrissy cried. “There’s something about her. She attracts dead bodies!”
Susan couldn’t let this go by without protesting. “I certainly do not! Dan and Martha lived in that house for over thirty years and nothing happened to either of them. It’s not my fault that the people who moved in would turn out to be the type of people who seemed to get poisoned for some reason or another.”
“Who else was killed?” Stephen always got to the point.
“No one. But as you’ve probably heard, Doug Marks was poisoned. He didn’t die, but Ashley was arrested for attempted murder, and then acquitted yesterday.”
“And now someone has murdered Mrs. Marks,” Stephen said, nodding his head. “That’s very interesting.”
Chrissy looked at her husband, a shocked expression on her face. “Stephen, just for a minute there, you sounded like my mother when she begins to investigate a crime.”
“You have to admit, it’s a fascinating puzzle.”
“I don’t have to admit anything. In fact, I don’t find it interesting at all!” Chrissy had had her blond hair cut short since she got married, and she ran her hands through it, causing it to stand up in the air. “Besides, I thought we were getting up early because we wanted to go over to the park and let the dogs run.”
Stephen’s reaction to this was all a mother-in-law could desire. He leapt to his feet and ordered the dogs to do the same. In a few minutes—in the time it took to convince Clue that she really didn’t want to go on another walk— Susan and Kathleen were alone again.
“So, where were we?” Kathleen asked.
“They make a nice couple, don’t they?” Susan said, staring at the door swinging closed behind her daughter and son-in-law.
“Very. Chrissy is looking happy and healthy.”
Susan leaned across the table and grabbed Kathleen’s wrist. “You noticed too, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“Chrissy’s gained weight.”
“Well, maybe a little, but it doesn’t seem to have hurt her looks. She’s positively glowing.” Kathleen’s eyebrows leapt up. “Susan, I know what
SEVEN
KATHLEEN AND SUSAN WERE SITTING QUIETLY AT THE kitchen table when Chrissy and Stephen, dressed in running clothes and followed by their dogs, burst into the room.
“Mom! What are you doing here?” Chrissy cried out before remembering her manners and greeting Kathleen.
“Didn’t your father tell you we’d come back early?” Susan asked.
“He was in the hallway upstairs just a while ago, wasn’t he?” Stephen turned to his wife. “I told you I heard someone!”
“Drib . . . Rock and Roll made all that noise and you didn’t get up to see who—or what—it was?” Susan asked.
“Mother, if we got up every time Rock or Roll barked, we’d never get any sleep,” Chrissy protested. “They’re very sensitive, you know.”
Everyone looked down at the sensitive pair now collapsed on the floor. They were licking each other’s hind parts. Clue watched jealously.
“Why are you here, anyway? I thought you and Dad were spending the night at the inn.”
Susan paused. “Well, I suppose you’ll hear on the evening news. Ashley Marks was killed.”
“So?”
“She . . . Her body was found in our room at the inn.”
“Mother! You’re kidding! Why does this type of thing always happen to you?”
Susan opened her mouth to protest any part in this event, but Stephen got there first. “It isn’t your mother’s fault if this Ashley Marks was killed in her room. After all, she didn’t do it. . . . You didn’t, did you, Mother?” he ruined his defense of her by asking.
“Of course not!” And she had always thought her daughter had married an incredibly sensible young man.
“And there isn’t anything to connect you to this Ashley Marks, is there?”
“Well, she was our next-door neighbor. . . .”
“See,” Chrissy cried. “There’s something about her. She attracts dead bodies!”
Susan couldn’t let this go by without protesting. “I certainly do not! Dan and Martha lived in that house for over thirty years and nothing happened to either of them. It’s not my fault that the people who moved in would turn out to be the type of people who seemed to get poisoned for some reason or another.”
“Who else was killed?” Stephen always got to the point.
“No one. But as you’ve probably heard, Doug Marks was poisoned. He didn’t die, but Ashley was arrested for attempted murder, and then acquitted yesterday.”
“And now someone has murdered Mrs. Marks,” Stephen said, nodding his head. “That’s very interesting.”
Chrissy looked at her husband, a shocked expression on her face. “Stephen, just for a minute there, you sounded like my mother when she begins to investigate a crime.”
“You have to admit, it’s a fascinating puzzle.”
“I don’t have to admit anything. In fact, I don’t find it interesting at all!” Chrissy had had her blond hair cut short since she got married, and she ran her hands through it, causing it to stand up in the air. “Besides, I thought we were getting up early because we wanted to go over to the park and let the dogs run.”
Stephen’s reaction to this was all a mother-in-law could desire. He leapt to his feet and ordered the dogs to do the same. In a few minutes—in the time it took to convince Clue that she really didn’t want to go on another walk— Susan and Kathleen were alone again.
“So, where were we?” Kathleen asked.
“They make a nice couple, don’t they?” Susan said, staring at the door swinging closed behind her daughter and son-in-law.
“Very. Chrissy is looking happy and healthy.”
Susan leaned across the table and grabbed Kathleen’s wrist. “You noticed too, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“Chrissy’s gained weight.”
“Well, maybe a little, but it doesn’t seem to have hurt her looks. She’s positively glowing.” Kathleen’s eyebrows leapt up. “Susan, I know what
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