Old Bones: a Hetty Fox Cozy Mystery (Hetty Fox Cozy Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free

was now tied to a suspicious death as a result of this silly decision.
    “It only means they’re related, though,” Megan hastened to explain. “The police aren’t saying he killed her.”
    Not yet, I thought. But I offered up a hearty, “That’s good, then.”
    Megan shot me a pleading glance. “Please, let’s go into the living room. I hate leaving Damon to face  those two detectives on his own.”
    “Is he okay with my being here?”
    He had over the years of their marriage indicated he cared for me about as much as I cared for him.
    Megan nodded. “He asked me to call you.”
    I sighed and followed her to the living room. If he was willing to ask for my help, maybe Damon wasn’t quite as full of himself as he had seemed.
    The two detectives glanced up as we entered the room. “Hetty,” Oberton said by way of greeting. Blake sat by his side. From what I had seen in the last case, he was the detective who played second chair in all the investigations.
    I acknowledged the men with a worried nod. I had never doubted Oberton’s competence. But even competent policemen made mistakes.
    “Damon,” I said, casting a glance his way. My son-in-law sat on the couch. His back was straight, his slender face grim.
    I pulled my gaze back to Oberton. “So what is this all about?”
    “It’s about police business. Now, I can see those wheels of yours turning inside your head. Stay out of it, Hetty. We’ve got this one covered.”
    “How official is this?” I asked.
    “Mother!” Megan looked at me with a horrified expression playing across her beautiful face.
    I understood her objection. I didn’t want to rush Oberton or push him into an unwelcome decision, either. But questions had to be asked.
    Oberton waved Megan’s protest off. “I’m not accusing your son-in-law of doing anything criminal. I’m merely asking him what he knows about his aunt.”
    I sat on the edge of a small chair and hissed at my son-in-law. “You never mentioned having a missing aunt.”
    “It’s not quite that straight forward,” he answered.
    “Well, enlighten me.”
    “She was my aunt, but I saw her only rarely. Detective Oberton wanted to know the last time I had. I told him it was at my parents’ funeral. He said that’s about when they think Eva died.”
    His parents, David and Gloria Langdon, had been killed in a boating accident when Damon was still in his early teens. “And you didn’t notice that you never saw her again?”
    He sighed. “I was distraught. My parents were dead. My aunt breezed into town, sobbed over their caskets. Then, as far as I knew, she went back to Chicago.”
    “But what about birthdays and Christmases?” I pressed. “You didn’t notice when she didn’t send you a card or a gift?”
    He turned his large, sad eyes on me. “It wasn’t like that. Eva and my parents were never close. She never sent me cards or presents. There was nothing like that to be missed.”
    I sat back in my chair. Put that way, his explanation sounded reasonable enough. “Well?” I asked, turning to Oberton.
    “I’ve talked to a couple of people who remembered Eva from when she was growing up. They support what Damon says. Apparently Eva liked the excitement of cities. They say she left Hendricksville as soon as she could and rarely came back.”
    “Then how did she end up dead in one of our attics?” I asked.
    “Well, it wasn’t by natural causes.”
    I scowled. “Yes, so you’ve told me”
    “The media has the story now, including the ID of the corpse. The news broke on the local radio station about a half hour ago. Doubtless it will be the lead story in tonight’s newspapers and on the TV as well.”
    Megan grimaced. “But you can’t think Damon had anything to do with the murder.  He was so young.”
    “I’m not charging your husband… yet.”
    I rose from my chair.
    “Mom, where are you going?” she asked.
    “Home.”
    “But… but….” She cast her gaze about the room.
    I turned to face