Don't Believe a Word Read Online Free

You might want something,’ said Gerri, disappearing down the hall toward the kitchen.
    Hugh sat down on Eden’s right in his well-worn leather club chair, and reached out his hand to her. Eden put her hand in his. They had hardly spoken on the way home, but the understanding between them was, as always, comforting.
    ‘Thanks for coming to get me, Dad,’ said Eden, wiping her eyes again with a soggy Kleenex. ‘I don’t know what I would have done.’
    ‘You never have to worry about that,’ said Hugh. ‘You know you can always count on me.’
    ‘I know,’ said Eden, nodding.
    They were silent again for a few moments. Then Eden looked at her father. ‘They said on the news that it was a murder/suicide, but I can’t believe that. She couldn’t have done that to Jeremy on purpose,’ she insisted.
    ‘I understand that life with Jeremy was … very difficult.’
    Eden knew what he was saying. The terrible effects of Katz-Ellison syndrome meant that Jeremy couldn’t speak, or walk on his own. His life expectancy was uncertain, but most Katz-Ellison sufferers didn’t live past the teenage years. He was prone to angry, inchoate outbursts, lashing out at anyone who tried to soothe him. ‘I know. But still,’ said Eden.
    Gerri’s footsteps could be heard on the hardwood floor of the hallway, and then she came in carrying a tray of food. ‘Here,’ she said, setting it down on the coffee table. ‘Have something.’
    ‘Thanks,’ Eden whispered, but she looked at the tray as if the sight of it made her feel slightly ill. ‘I just keep thinking,’ she said, ‘that people die all the time of carbon monoxide poisoning. Why would they think that it was deliberate …?’
    ‘I don’t know all the details,’ said Hugh gently.
    ‘But why are they even considering this as a possibility?’ Eden cried.
    Hugh was calm, but definite. ‘I spoke to a police detective this morning. I’m afraid they are quite sure this was not an accident. The detective I spoke to said that your mother closed the house up tight and left the car running in the attached garage. The door connected to the house was left wide open.’
    ‘Maybe she forgot,’ Gerri suggested stoutly. ‘Sometimes when you come in with a load of groceries, and a kid who’s giving you a hard time …’
    Hugh shook his head. ‘Apparently, the carbon monoxide detector had been disabled. The windows in the house were taped shut, and the other doors in the house had towels wedged beneath them to keep the gas from escaping. Barbiturates were found at the scene.’
    Eden was silent for a moment, picturing it. Her stomach was churning. ‘Did she … was there a note?’ she asked.
    ‘There was,’ said her father.
    ‘What did it say?’ she demanded.
    ‘They wouldn’t tell me that.’
    Eden looked helplessly at her father. ‘Surely we have a right to know these things.’
    Hugh frowned. ‘As the detective put it to me, this is a criminal investigation. Maybe when it is over …’
    ‘She wouldn’t do this,’ Eden said stubbornly. Then she faltered. ‘I just don’t think she would …’
    There was a silence during which Hugh refrained from pointing out that, all the same, she did, indeed, do this. Eden drew in a breath. ‘Where was he?’
    ‘Who?’ her father asked patiently.
    ‘Flynn Darby.’
    ‘Apparently he was away somewhere. He found them when he came home this morning.’
    Eden glared at him. ‘But if she was suicidal, he must have known that. Why didn’t he try to get her help? Why wasn’t he with them that night? Where was he? Out on the town?’
    ‘I don’t know the answer to that, darling,’ said Hugh. ‘Your mother probably planned this for a night when she knew he would be away. She must have wanted to spare his life.’
    Eden stared down at her hands, feeling numb. She could still remember, as if it were yesterday, sitting in the front seat of the car with her mother while Tara tried to explain to her why she was going to