Free GG01 - Sudden Anger by Jack Parker Page A

anyone who can verify what time you got home this afternoon?"
    Jennifer looked indignant. "Of
course
there is!" she exclaimed rather heatedly. "I called the police as soon as I got here, and then I called Cindy because I couldn't, like, deal with it all by myself. Oh, I called Charles too; only I got his voice mail and left a message. You can check my phone records!"
    In a calm voice Cindy said, "Jen, Dear, you told me you'd gone through the house before you called the police."
    "Oh, yeah," she said. "Yes, I'm sorry, I'm just
so
upset. Yes, I walked through the whole house, in a kind of, like, shock first. Then I came straight downstairs and called the police, and then Cindy and Charles."
    Ken was inclined to let that little detail go. It was natural enough that a person would want to see the extent of the invasion - and clearly this one was quite concerned about her jewelry. He wondered how much it was worth, probably quite a lot in this neighborhood. And what else was missing?
    "She called me just before 3:00," Cindy said. "I was running a little late for work or I'd have been gone already. We'd been shopping all morning and she'd dropped me off around 2:30." Cindy's manner was factual without sounding cold.
    Cindy smiled a little ironically. "But I'm afraid you just have our word, Lieutenant. Unless maybe some of the neighbors saw us. Jen
did
buy a dress, I'm sure she's got the receipt in her purse; but we found it first thing out so it doesn't prove much. We were having fun so we just kept on shopping."
    Ken said, "It'll be easy enough to check with the officer that investigated the burglary, but I can't see how you could possibly have a better alibi than talking to the cops at the time of the murder!" He made a pained face, having realized how bad that sounded. "I apologize, ladies. That was out of line."
    "It was an Officer Broccoli," Jennifer said eagerly.
    Ken automatically looked at Cindy for confirmation. He'd already figured out that Jennifer was either very distressed (quite possibly the explanation under the circumstances), or not very good with names.
    Cindy smiled kindly. "Officer Barclay," she said. "But I'm afraid I don't remember his first name."
    "I'll find him," Ken said. "Did you and your husband live here alone?"
    "No," Jennifer said in a slightly irritated voice. "Justin lives here, too. Um, he's Charles' son, like, from his first marriage. He's, um, eighteen, he's still in high school."
    "No love lost there!"
Ken thought to himself. "Where is Justin now?" he asked.
    "Oh, um, he and his friend went out somewhere." Jennifer's voice was much nicer now, she didn't want to give the cop the idea that she didn't like Justin - even if she didn't! "They came home earlier and I told 'em about the break-in, and they left again. I think they were just, you know, trying to avoid having to do any
work
." She smiled as if to say 'you know how boys are.'
    Ken did, he had two boys of his own. He asked, "Did your husband have any other children? You mentioned an ex-wife…"
    "Yeah, um, two other kids," Jennifer replied, looking like she'd had trouble doing the math. "Clarke is twenty-one, he's away at college. Gracie is sixteen, she lives with her mother, Clarissa, you know, his first wife. And, um, he's got a sister, too."
    Ken said, "You'll want to give them the bad news. And I need to check into the robbery, there might be a connection." He thought for a minute and then said, "I'd really like to talk to the family tonight. Could you possibly ask them to come over this evening, say in an hour or so?"
    Jennifer looked like the task was beyond her capabilities, but Cindy immediately said, "Of course, Lieutenant." She looked at the clock and back to the policeman. "How about 6:30? They'll all be here."
    "That'll be fine, Ms. Stone," Ken said and got up to leave. "Mrs. Greene, I am truly sorry for your loss." Even though he meant it, it sounded stilted to his ears.
    Jennifer muttered her thanks but made no effort to stand.