Murder Times Four Box Set

Chapter 3-3

I returned home after work, at eleven, just as David and Luke came down the street. They looked worried, so of course I asked, “Did something more happen?”

“Not another murder,” Luke said. “But someone tried to break into our place.”

“And naturally you thought of me.”

“Good lord, no,” David instantly replied. “It’s just…It happened maybe fifteen minutes ago. We saw you drive up, and needed to tell somebody.”

“Did you call the cops?”

Luke sighed. “If I have to talk to one more of them…I know we should, but whoever it was didn’t make it inside and, hell, it might have been our imagination to start with.”

I unlocked the front door and invited them to come in, which they did. I put the box holding my new security system down on the coffee table before asking if they wanted a beer, or coffee. They both opted for beer so I went to get some for them, and myself. When I got back to the living room, David was examining the outside of the box.

“We should buy one of these,” he told Luke.

“Right now, I’m all for it.” Luke shivered. “That or a big dog.”

“How did they try to get in? Or more, where?” I asked them.

“Through one of the windows in the dining room,” David replied. “We were getting ready for bed, and I thought I’d forgotten to turn on the coffee maker. It’s on a timer, so we have hot coffee when we get up in the morning. I didn’t turn on any lights on my way down. There was enough coming through the living room windows from the front porch light. Anyway, I was almost to the kitchen and heard something. A scraping sound, if that makes sense.”

“It does. Like whoever it was, was trying to get some leverage to pry the window open.”

“Yes. I guess. I knew it came from the dining room, so I cracked the door open just enough to peer inside. I thought I saw a shadow of a guy, on the sheers covering the window, and flipped on the light so I could see who it was. Of course that must have scared him off, if there really was someone. It took my eyes a second to adjust to the light and by that time, no one was there.”

“Did you take a look at the window from the outside? To see if there were any marks?”

“No way,” David said. “I wasn’t about to take the chance he was still hanging around and might do something.”

“Dave came dashing upstairs to tell me,” Luke said. “We got dressed and went outside to see if anyone’s lights were on. Misery loves company,” he explained with the barest of smiles. “That’s when we saw you, so here we are.”

“Okay. First things first. Let’s go back to your place and check the window. If there are marks saying someone tried to get in, you will call the police.”

Luke nodded. “I was stupid not to do it in the first place.”

I got my flashlight from a cabinet in the kitchen, and we walked down to their house. By the time we got there, I was as tense as David and Luke, wondering if the murderer had returned with the idea of killing one or both of them.

When we got to the window, I turned on the flashlight to examine the frame. David hadn’t been imagining things. There were pry marks between the frame and the windowsill. I aimed the light at the top of the double-hung window. The sash-lock was closed, which said to me that the man couldn’t have gotten the window open, no matter what.

When I pointed that out to them, Luke frowned. “Then why did he try?”

“Maybe he didn’t check,” I said. “Or maybe he didn’t want to get in. He might have been trying to frighten you. Where’s your bedroom, compared to here?”

“Right above.” Luke pointed.

“Let’s go in, and you call the police. I’ll keep you company until they arrive.”

Not too surprisingly, considering there had been two murders on the Lane in a little over a week, the cops arrived within five minutes of Luke’s call. They examined the window, agreed with me that culprit couldn’t have gotten it open without doing a lot more than trying to pry it up. Maybe I have a future as a police officer. As if. Not on my bucket list, thank you very much.

They got all the pertinent information from David and Luke, then said they would let Detective Jarrett know what had happened. “Because it’s possible this is related to the two murders,” one of the officers told us.

“Possible?” Luke muttered after they left. “I’d say it’s a given. I just wish we knew who, and why.”

“I don’t care why,” David said. “I want them stopped before someone else dies.”

I agree with him on that. The problem is, will that happen?