Free Poisoned (The Alex Harris Mystery Series) by Elaine Macko Page A

Bradley and had subconsciously decided to dislike them all on the spot.
    “If you’ll excuse me,” Mrs. Brissart said, breaking into my thoughts, “I need to talk with my son about some arrangements. Why don’t you finish your tea and then we can start shortly.”
    Almost as soon as Mrs. Brissart vacated her place on the sofa, Kendra came over and took a seat next to me. “Mind if I join you? Sometimes being with the family gets to me. Roberta told me you’re the owner of Always Prepared.”
    “Yes, along with my sister. Do you know our agency?”
    “Yes. I work at Yale, in the administration department, and I’m taking a few acting classes as well. I know a few of the students have gone to you for temp work during the summer.”
    “The students have been a great asset to our agency. During the summer, with so many people on vacation it can be difficult to find good people. But students need to earn funds during the summer and it’s been a good relationship on both sides.”
    Kendra nodded her agreement.
    I took a quick look around the room and, not seeing John, thought now a good time to start my own investigation. With so many potential suspects in one space, I just might be able to find a killer. “Kendra, first, I wanted to say how sorry I am about Bradley. I only met him once, but he seemed like a wonderful man. I’m sorry for your loss.”
    “Thank you. That’s very kind. We had plans to marry, you know.”
    “Yes. Mrs. Brissart mentioned that.” I waited while Kendra blew her nose. “If you don’t mind my asking, what happened here Monday evening? Mrs. Brissart told the police but I just wonder in her grief if she could have left something out.”
    A look of sadness passed over Kendra’s face but then she straightened her shoulders and looked at me. “You mean in terms of the family badgering Roberta about the land?” I nodded. “The usual. They all came over trying to convince her it would be a wonderful thing to sell the land and that they planned to put in a park in the new development for children. As if that would change anything,” Kendra huffed. “The same spiel they’ve been giving her since they hooked up with Mr. Smit. If I had known they planned another assault for Monday I wouldn’t have come over.”
    I lowered my voice, almost to a whisper hoping the others wouldn’t catch on to what I was doing. “Did you stay the entire evening?”
    “Actually, I arrived a bit late. I had a class, but I stayed with Bradley after they left.” She wiped at her eyes with a well-used tissue. I reached into my purse and handed Kendra a clean one.
    “You didn’t spend the night here with Bradley?”
    “No. I wish I had. Maybe he would still be alive. No!” She shook her blonde hair and bit her lower lip. “I can’t let myself think like that. Bradley always spent the night on Monday and I think he wanted to speak with his grandmother about something in the morning. I don’t have any clean things here and I had to be at work early the next day, so I went home.”
    “Did you and Bradley spend a lot of time here?”
    “Yes, we do. Did. We both love Roberta. She’s like the grandmother I never had. Bradley has a key to the house, though it’s never locked anyway, and we just come over whenever we want. Both of us live in small apartments so coming here makes for a nice change.” Kendra stopped abruptly. “Listen to me. I’m talking as if he’s still alive.” She used the tissue to wipe two tears from her cheek.
    “It takes time,” I said, consoling the young woman.
    “I’m not sure I’ll ever get over this. I know we weren’t married yet, but Bradley was my soul mate, my best friend. Do you understand?”
    I thought of John and what we had become to each other in just under a year. If something happened to him, I might not recover either. “Yes, I do understand.”
    After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Kendra looked up at me and smiled. “Thanks.”
    “Kendra, can I