Silver Anniversary Murder

1 "Is this Christine Bennett Brooks?" The voice in my ear was female, no-nonsense, and of indeterminate age. "Yes," I acknowledged. "Who's this?" "Are you the one who solved the murder of that man in Oakwood last year?" "Yes, I am." "You've looked into several murders in the last years, haven't you?" "Yes." If I sounded tentative, it was because I didn't know where this was going and I was somewhat intimidated both by the voice and by the direction of the words. "Well, here's another one for you. A body will be found later today. I want you to be the first to know. I think you may enjoy looking into this death." "Are you telling me someone has died?" "I don't believe I said that." My heart did something crazy. "Ma'am, is someone about to die?" "I don't think I said that either." "You--you aren't doing anything to harm yourself, are you?" I was trying to figure out how I could alert the police while keeping this woman on the line when I had only one telephone in my home. "Let me repeat what I said, Mrs. Brooks: A body will be found later today. I'm not saying where it will be found or whose body it will be--whose body it is," she corrected herself. "Who is this, please?" "Mrs. Brooks, you are wasting your time and mine. I have things to do. I simply wanted to give you a heads-up, and you're making it very difficult for me. Today is my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. I remember how happy--and beautiful--I was as a bride. I remember how handsome and strong and loving my fiance was--my husband by the end of the day. Sadly, all things end." "Please," I said, feeling panicky. "Don't do anything you'll regret. Don't--" "I assure you I have no regrets. I just wanted to say thank you for listening to me and to tell you--" She stopped. "Yes?" I said anxiously. "And to tell you--Just a moment." I thought I heard another voice and then the sound was muffled. "Hello?" I said. "Are you still there?" There was a sound, loud and explosive. "Hello?" I said again. The phone on the other end clattered to the floor or onto a table, and a few seconds later, as I shouted frantically into my phone, a dial tone pierced the silence. A chill passed through my body. Reverting to my oldest instincts, I crossed myself. Then, without hanging up, I put the phone down on the kitchen counter, grabbed my bag and keys, and ran out to the car. "Just try to stay calm, Mrs. Brooks," the police officer said. I had made for the Oakwood police station as fast as I dared. They knew me because Jack, my husband, is an NYPD detective lieutenant, and he has pals among the Oakwood police. I appreciated the uniformed officer trying to calm me, but it did no good. I was nearly in tears, less coherent than my usual fairly calm demeanor, and certain that I had witnessed a shooting over the phone. "I'm fine. Please listen to me. Something terrible has just happened. Can you trace a call if the caller has hung up?" "Possibly, but it depends on the circumstances. Would you start from the beginning and tell me what happened?" I told him about the phone call, the female voice, as much of the conversation as I could recall. "And then there was another voice." "On the phone?" "No," I said with irritation. "There was another person on the woman's end of the call." "Man or woman?" "I think a man. I didn't hear anything clearly. But she stopped talking to me and started talking to him." "And then?" "And then,"Harris, Lee is the author of 'Silver Anniversary Murder ', published 2005 under ISBN 9780449007303 and ISBN 0449007308.