Free BM03 - Crazy Little Thing Called Dead by Kate George Page B

hair dangling. I was tempted to pick the doll up and set her properly on the couch, but I stopped myself. Touch nothing , I told myself. Disturb nothing .
    I crept from room to room. Signs of the family were everywhere: toys in the tub, Matchbox car in the hall. Even in the master bedroom, there was a stuffed bear on the bed and tiny fluffy pink slippers on the floor. The second floor housed a couple of unused rooms, a bathroom and a back bedroom which held only a dresser and mattress on the floor. The drawers in the dresser were empty, but a rumpled sheet and blanket were on the bed, and there was a dent in the pillow. It felt like someone was sleeping there but not inhabiting the room.
    I started down the stairs debating with myself about searching the basement. The image in my head was of a damp dirt floor, fieldstone foundation and creepy-crawlies everywhere. There would be either an ancient furnace or a wood stove for heating the house in the winter. Not my idea of a fun place to hang out.
    Before I was back on the main floor the crunch of gravel alerted me to a car pulling into the drive. I did a decent imitation of a dog on roller skates for about five seconds before bolting down the remaining stairs, into the kitchen and through the only door I hadn’t opened.
    I was lucky. The door really did open onto the basement stairs and not a pantry or broom closet. I stood on the top step with my ear pressed against the door forcing myself to take slow, even breaths. My heart was pounding in my ears and my knees were quivering. Fear of discovery had just ratcheted up the stakes. A bunch.
    A bang signaled the kitchen door being thrown open and I got ready to bolt down the stairs if I needed to. Then it occurred to me that by the time I’d realized I needed to move it would be too late. I inched down the dark stairs trying to keep to the edges so the stairs wouldn’t creak.
    It was black at the foot of the stairs. I could hear cupboards being slammed shut in concert with muffled curses. Then the footsteps hurried out onto the porch and the door slammed. Silence blanketed the house again. I put my hand out, searching for the stair rail.
    I crept back up the stairs and listened at the door. Quiet. I groped for the door handle, but it wouldn’t turn. It was locked from the other side. I thunked my head on the door, but the noise echoed and scared me. Had the door been locked when I came through it? I didn’t suppose it mattered how the door got locked, except if Ronnie had realized someone was in the house and the cops were going to show up. I’d have trouble explaining this one to them.
    I felt around on the wall until I found a light switch and flicked it on. A single bulb over my head cast uneven light over the stairs. I was here, might as well explore the basement. I crept down the stairs, not entirely convinced I wanted to be in an old farmhouse basement. There’d be spiders, for sure, and probably rodents as well.
    I don’t know why I was surprised to find that the basement had been renovated. The old flagstone was gone. The foundation and floors were cemented in. One side was an open area with trikes and skates, and a big table covered in crafts. Small windows ran along the top of the sill. Probably too small for me to squeeze through. No places to hide anything really, unless it fit in a small wooden toy box in the corner of the room. I didn’t want to see anything that could be hidden there. A couple of small pet dishes sat on the floor on the other side of the toy box.
    I reminded myself that the dead body had already been found and trotted over and lifted the lid. I pulled a red velvet cape off the top. Under that was a magician’s hat, a very ratty stuffed bear, and a princess dress. I let out my breath. Nothing nefarious here.
    I walked back past the stairs, over to the other side of the basement. This side had been divided into three rooms. The first was a doorless and scrupulously clean laundry area. The