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“Why? I wonder?”
“Honestly, I think she despises men for what my father did to her.”
“Understood. Okay. What about friends?”
“I told you, she was an introvert.”
“Even introverts have friends. At least one.”
“If so, I don’t know about hers. She just kind of keeps to herself.”
“Other than the Sunday dinners.”
“Right.”
“What about friends from church?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you think of anyone she interacted with lately? Anyone at all?”
“No, I—wait, yes. You saw the mess in the kitchen. She is—was—having her cabinets redone. Someone, a carpenter, has been here working on them for the last few days.”
“Who?”
“I… I can’t remember. I don’t know the guy, but I think the company… Cohen’s, yes, Cohen’s Carpentry.”
An officer walked in the room. He looked at me, but addressed Detective Stroud.
“Mind if we take Miss Stone up to the bedroom real quick?”
Stroud frowned. He seemed to take a second to consider. That bothered me. Am I not allowed to go up to my mother’s bedroom?
“No,” he said finally. “I don’t mind.”
I followed the officer out of the sitting room, Detective Stroud close on my heels. Quick pops of light flashed from the kitchen where my mother’s dead body was being photographed.
The officer led me upstairs, to my mother’s bedroom, and to her armoire. He motioned to the jewelry box sitting on top, crookedly positioned as if it had been pushed around. The top was standing open.
“Do you notice anything that looks abnormal here?” the officer asked.
“Yes. Half of her jewelry is gone.”
The officer glanced at the detective; the detective looked at me.
“This was almost full of jewelry,” I continued. “Most just costume jewelry, but some expensive pieces that she inherited from her mother. They’re gone.”
The officer shook his head, muttering, “Another one.”
“Another what?” I ask.
“Burglary.”
“What? Really? Around here?”
“Yep. This is the fourth breaking and entering we’ve seen in Thorncrest in the last month. A jewelry thief, breaks into houses, steals rings, watches, a few handbags, and then bam, he’s gone.”
“Why haven’t I heard about this? They kill the homeowners?”
