Don't Touch Me! - 7

 

"One possibility, of course," Brent replied. "And before you get upset, like Milburn, I need to look at all scenarios. If she awoke out of a deep sleep… How did she sleep?"

"You mean her position?"

"Well, that too, but was she a heavy sleeper?"

"Generally. She was on pain medication for her arthritis, which could knock her out when she was tired. She usually slept on her back, with a couple of pillows because they helped her breath better."

"Until someone used one of them to smother her". Brent winced, realizing how callous that must have sounded. "Okay, I probably shouldn't have said that."

Cody almost smiled. "Probably not, but it's the truth."

"I should have a talk with Milburn," Brent said.

"Would he actually tell you anything? Like why he thinks I killed my mother?"

"Not why, but I might at least get a feel for whether you're just imagining he does. Being interrogated is hard on a person—especially right after they've found a dead body. And when it's a family member to boot…"

"It was no piece of cake. That's for sure."

"Did he say anything about how the killer got into the house? I noticed you have an alarm box by the front door. Does the security system cover everything or just the doors? According to what I read about the other murders, the killer got in through a basement window."

"Mother had it installed after Dad died. I hate to say it, but she was cheap. She thought just covering the ground floor would be enough, even though the man from the security company pointed out a crook would try to get in any way he could. She said we should always keep the basement door locked, which we did."

"Did Milburn say a basement window had been breached?"

"Not to me."

"Okay. Another thing to ask him. The story about her death didn't mention it."

"To be honest, I avoided reading about it or watching the news. It's hard enough living through what happened, so I didn't know that."

"It doesn't mean anything. I'm afraid most of the stories focused on the more lurid details, as always—like the fact she was almost an invalid, just like two of the previous victims."

"That I did know," Cody told him. "I mean…about the others. Mother devoured the stories about the killings on TV."

"Was she worried on a personal level?"

"Mother?" Cody snorted. "Not at all. She figured she was safe enough since she almost never left the house except to go to the doctor."

"Meaning no one ever saw her."

"Well, other than when she was in the backyard. She liked to lie in the sun. Said it helped her arthritis. We do have neighbors."