A Matter of Wife and Death (A Sibyl Potts Cozy Mystery, Book 4) Read Online Free

flattened, and what appeared to be the handle of a switchblade jutted from the rubber. I walked around the car and saw that all four tires had been slashed.
    The most dramatic vandalism was in the form of large, red letters which were scrawled across the side of the car. The dark red, blood-like color filled me with a sense of dread. I squinted to try to understand the word. “What does that even mean?” I asked myself aloud. A single word filled the length of the sedan: HOOW.
    “What does HOOW mean?” I asked Cressida.
    Cressida shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. Mr. Buttons seems to think it’s some sort of acronym or abbreviation or something of the sort.”
    “He thinks each letter represents a separate word?” I thought about it. What could each of the letters mean? H. O. O. W. “Could it be it a typo?” I asked Cressida.
    Cressida chuckled. “People only make typos on computers,” she said.
    “Oh, yes.” I felt silly for saying it, but I was caffeine-deprived.
    I leaned over and peered at the letters, trying to think what the acronym could spell. There were so many possibilities for H alone: Hearts, Honor, Honesty, Hate, Hands.
    “Hands Off Our Wilderness,” a familiar voice said.
    I swung around to see Blake walking up to me. “That’s what HOOW means? So it’s the protesters Greg mentioned?”
    “That’s the likely conclusion, that it has something to do with that environmental protest against the wilderness area being developed. It’s probably their group name.”
    “Do you think this vandalism might be connected to Lisa’s, err, fall?”
    Blake looked grim. “Anything is possible, Sibyl. We’re going to take some photographs of the vehicle, and then have it towed to the impound lot for testing.”
    “Testing? What kind of testing?” I prodded.
    “Fingerprints mainly. If the knife doesn’t have any, the car itself might. We just need a name, anything to jumpstart this investigation.”
    Mr. Buttons walked up, with Greg following at a short distance. “Hello, Blake.”
    Blake greeted him with a nod. “Like I was just telling Sibyl, we’re going to see if we can find some leads, and then we’ll take it from there.”
    “Do you think the same person that did this could have tampered with that balcony railing?” Mr. Buttons asked.
    Blake nodded. “It’s definitely possible, but until we have a suspect in our sights, it’s impossible to know for sure either way. I’ll need to speak to Greg.”
    Blake took Greg aside and the two of them spoke. I stood with Cressida and Mr. Buttons as the three of us watched the conversation from afar. Their words were unintelligible at this distance, but I got the impression that it wasn’t a fun chat. Greg threw his arms around, and a deep frown was on his face. Every now and then, Greg yelled. Blake had his back to me, but I could tell that his shoulders were tense.
    “Look at him,” Cressida said. “I understand Greg’s having a very bad time, but he can’t just go around treating everyone like that, simply because he’s frustrated.” Cressida was clearly beyond annoyed at the situation.
    “I feel sorry for him,” I said. “He’s just trying to cope. Then, on top of everything else, his car gets damaged. I hope they catch whoever did it. This is really starting to make me believe that Lisa’s fall was deliberate.”
    Greg hurried to the house, half walking and half running, and Blake headed back to the three of us.
    “It took a bit, but he’s finally calm,” Blake said. “I explained to him what we’ll be testing the car and knife for, and that we’re trying to rule out any possibility that the property damage and death of his wife are related. I feel for the guy. It must be tough to deal with.”
    “I bet,” I added.
    “Well, I’m going to head back to the station and see what’s up. It should only be a few hours or so until we find out if there are any usable prints.”
    After Blake left, I returned to my cottage to fuel