Deception at Dark Hall (The Briony Martin Mystery Series) by Stacey Coverstone Page A

voice remained calm. “Not if you didn’t have a motive. Maybe the man committed suicide. Did you see a gun near the body?”
    He thought a minute. “No.”
    “No murder weapon found at the scene means your prints won’t be found on it either,” she reasoned logically. “From what you told us, your fingerprints will only be found on the doorknob and doorbell, and the knocker. That proves nothing except that you were at the house, and you were there by invitation of the owner. When you realized the door was open and you heard a noise inside, you went to investigate, thinking Shelby was injured or sick. The police will have no reason to suspect you of wrongdoing, especially if you have no connection to the victim.”
    “You must have learned a thing or two from your boyfriend,” Paige said. “You’re thinking just like a private eye.”
    “I hear a lot of testimony from cops in my job.” She smiled, proud of the clarity in which she perceived this situation. “Don’t you see, Daniel, you have to tell the police your side of the story? If you don’t and they discover you were there tonight, they’ll definitely think you have something to hide and you may end up a suspect despite the lack of physical evidence. Besides, don’t you want to know if Shelby is all right?”
    “Of course I do.”
    “Then the police need to be notified immediately so they can go search her brownstone for her and for clues.”
    “What if they find her dead, too?”
    An icy feeling slid up her arms. “What if they don’t? To me, that’s the more important question.”
    Daniel’s head tilted. A flash of comprehension lit in his eyes. “Do you think she might have killed the man? Do you think she set me up?”
    “I don’t know the woman,” Mark spoke up, “but if the police find no sign of forced entry, the victim was obviously let in by someone. Being the owner of the brownstone, this Shelby Dark person seems the likeliest suspect in his death.”
    Paige worried her lip between her teeth. “Why did whoever shot the man have to hit Daniel in the head?”
    “The crime had probably just been committed,” Mark stated. “Obviously, the killer was still in the house when Daniel arrived. He or she couldn’t leave behind a witness.” A muscle quivered in his jaw, and he squeezed his brother’s arm. “We’re lucky you have a hard head.” They shared weak smiles. “I agree with Briony,” he continued. “You need to phone the police. Then I’ll drive you to the emergency room.”
    Daniel was a lucky man indeed, Briony thought. Something hinted a malevolent force had been at work tonight. She didn’t believe for a moment that he’d coincidentally walked in on a murder.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Midday the following morning, Mark and Daniel sat at the kitchen table with Briony and Paige rehashing the events as they happened last night. After a visit to the emergency room where Daniel received ten stitches in his scalp, Mark had driven him to Chicago Police Department headquarters to give his statement. There, they learned the next-door neighbor had called the police after hearing a gunshot from inside Shelby’s brownstone.
    A Sergeant Montague informed them that the victim’s name was Andrew Whealdon. “Do you know him?” the sergeant asked.
    Daniel did not.
    “Are you certain? Perhaps you and Mr. Whealdon were both involved with Miss Dark, found yourselves at her apartment at the same time, argued over her, and an argument got out of hand.”
    “I don’t know the victim,” Daniel maintained. “I don’t even know Miss Dark, to be honest. I just met her today for the first time. Miss Martin will attest to that.”
    The sergeant telephoned Briony at the Collier home, and she verified Daniel’s statement. After another forty minutes of questioning, Montague admitted there was no physical evidence linking Daniel to the crime, so he wasn’t placed under arrest. Since he wasn’t entirely cleared of suspicion,