Free Murder Is Private by Diane Weiner

half-brother entered the house. “Audrey’s in the kitchen.”
    “She invited me to drop by for dinner. Thought it would be nice to spend time together as a family.”
    Oddly enough, Susan found herself resenting George and Audrey’s relationship. Susan hadn’t bonded well enough with George or Audrey yet to think of them as family. She felt like George was an acquaintance at best. He came over and whispered in her ear.
    “Did you find out anything helpful?”
    “Odds and ends. I’m suspicious of Celia’s husband, Derrick. I’m also thinking some criminal deals are taking place in the arboretum. I read about Celia shooting a robber ten years ago during a burglary. I’m thinking maybe the dead burglar’s brother was released and came after her for revenge.”
    “Good, definitely a start. Keep at it.” He patted her back and smiled his chipped tooth grin.
    “I will.” God, he’s strange, she thought .
    “Hey, Evan! Having a nice visit?” said George as Evan wandered into the living room.
    “Sure am. I needed a mental break from school and Florida is doing the trick.”
    “Dinner’s ready!” called Audrey. Susan missed having Mike at the table. Lynette and Annalise came downstairs and with everyone seated around the table, it looked like a big, happy family. Too bad it didn’t yet feel like one.

Chapter 16

    At lunch the next day, Susan pried for more details about the fire. Gabby, the librarian, ate with them as she occasionally did. Schwartz munched on a tuna sandwich, while Alonzo threw a Tupperware container into the microwave and popped open a can of Pepsi. Susan plunged right into her query.
    “I found out last night that Celia and Derrick had a fire in their condo.”
    “Years ago. We were all glad no one got hurt,” said Schwartz. “Freak accident.”
    “I heard Derrick got a pretty nasty burn,” said Susan.
    “Served him right,” said Gabby. “That’s karma for you. Beat your wife, suffer the consequences.”
    “Come on, Gabby. Celia held her own. Remember at the Christmas party? He’s the one who came in with a black eye,” said Alonzo. “No one believed his stupid story about walking into a door.”
    “And I ran into him at Publix once. Nasty gash on his forehead,” said Schwartz.
    “Probably from a bar fight,” said Gabby.
    Alonzo’s cell phone vibrated on the table. “Excuse me. I have to take this outside.” Susan finished her lunch and went back to the chorus room. I have to call Lynette.
    “Lynette, there’s something you have to look into.”
    “Mom, aren’t you working? Can’t it wait?”
    “I just finished lunch with some of Celia’s colleagues. They once saw Derrick with a black eye, and another time with a nasty gash. Can you get Kevin to look at the emergency room records? Maybe he had a history of getting into fights. While he’s at it, he should see if Celia had ever been in the ER. If he was beating her, she probably made more than one visit.”
    “I’m sure Kevin has checked it out.”
    “Just make sure he knows.”
    While still on the phone, Susan heard Lynette say, “Kevin, it’s my Mom with some info she thinks is important.”
    “Lynette, what is Kevin doing there in the middle of the day?”
    “He stopped by to walk Annalise and me over to the canal to feed the ducks. Annalise loves the ducks.”
    “Shouldn’t he be at work?”
    “He is. He’s on his lunch break.”
    “Lynette, I told you…”
    “Go back to work. Bye, Mom. I’ll give him the message.”
    Susan shook her head. Lynette was heading for trouble. Didn’t she see that Kevin was still in love with her? Lynette never told her or Mike why she and Kevin had broken off their engagement. He wants her back. I know it, thought Susan .

Chapter 17

    “Are we practicing for the nursing home concert?” asked Manolito before class. Although he was a violin major, Manolito had a beautiful tenor voice and sang in the chorus.
    “Yes, we’d better. It’s just a few weeks away,”