Trespass Read Online Free

worked out perfectly. My intention for the future was to do some freelance work at home and also start my own business designing book covers for independent authors.
    The doorbell interrupted my thoughts. When I looked out the peephole, I saw a tall man in his late twenties standing on the stoop, a dark four-door sedan in the driveway behind him. He held up a police badge when I cracked open the door as far as the safety chain allowed. He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbows and a tie loosened in response to the heat. Although overcast, today was another ninety-plus scorcher. He held up a Wauwatosa Police Department detective’s badge and credentials.
    He strode into the house when I opened the door. He introduced himself as Detective Brian Haymaker, took a seat on the floral couch in the living room, and took me up on my offer of a diet soda. When I returned with the drink, he quickly drained half of it.
    There had been a lot of activity across the street today. The area was roped off, and the hole where the house had stood still smoldered, reminding me of the horror of 9/11. The air reeked of smoke and I kept the windows tightly closed with the AC running nonstop. I expected an arson investigator to show up this morning but gave up on waiting for him when I left for Pewaukee to talk to Lisa Rayburn.
    I said, “You must be here about Norman.”
    Apparently not a man of many words, he said, “Yes.”
    “Did they find his body?”
    “Remains of a body were found, but they haven’t been identified yet.”
    Fighting tears, I attempted to keep my emotions from him and managed to squeak out, “It couldn’t have been an accident.”
    “Why would you say that?”
    “Because Norman was a fanatic about his house. He did all the maintenance himself because he didn’t trust anyone else to do it properly. He had his heating system and air-conditioning checked every year in May. I know because he was always preaching to everyone else to do the same.”
    Detective Haymaker fished in his pocket, surprising me when he handed me a perfectly ironed white handkerchief. I mopped up a tear that had traveled down my face.
    “Ms. Rosenthal, when was the last time you saw Mr. Teschler?”
    “I saw him out in his yard yesterday, raking the lawn.”
    “Did you talk to him?”
    “No. I hadn’t talked to him for a few days. I think Tuesday was the last time. He had me over for dinner.”
    He looked up from his iPad. “Is that something you did frequently?”
    “Now and then.” Did he think we were lovers? I felt no obligation to explain our friendship to this detective.
    “When you talked to him on Tuesday, what was his demeanor?”
    “He was himself. I didn’t notice anything different or anything bothering him, if that’s what you’re asking.” I asked, “Do you agree the explosion wasn’t an accident?”
    “We’re just starting to investigate, Ms. Rosenthal. You’ll also be hearing from an arson investigator and a representative from the ATF.”
    “ATF?” Although I believed Norman’s house did not explode by accident, I couldn’t imagine a need for the ATF. As far as I knew, Norman didn’t even own a gun.
    “It’s just procedure in a case like this. Anytime there’s an explosion, they investigate alongside us to rule out anything like drug activities, gun dealing, or terrorism. Those kinds of things.”
    “When will you know if the fire was caused by an arsonist?”
    “It’s hard to say. If it does turn out to be arson, then we’ll have to investigate whether someone did it for a thrill, or had a motive to kill your friend.”
    I started to protest once more that the explosion had to be intentional, when we were interrupted by voices from outside, voices loud enough to be heard over the hum of the air conditioning. Detective Haymaker stood to look out the window. I moved to the door and opened it. A silver-haired man in an expensive suit was arguing with a policeman manning the