First excerpt of MBTA

Murder by the Acre

Chapter One
"Murder in a hobbit house"
       Later Lisa told Bernard it was no wonder that Mrs. DeMatt screamed, "You killed him!" After all, Lisa was kneeling over a dead man with blood on her hands.
      Until that moment, the afternoon had gone pleasantly enough. Millie Sader, the day aide at the Ryton Memorial Library, returned from lunch on time for once so Bernard M. Worthington was ready to go when Mrs. DeMatt showed up. Lisa Trent pulled into the library parking lot a few minutes later. Mrs. DeMatt had driven the couple around the small city of Ryton looking at various homes on the market. They reached the earth-sheltered home around three. It was located at the edge of Ryton city limits on Watts Ridge Road. The closest home to it was nearly a mile away.
      "It's almost like being in the country, but you still have the convenience of city water and sewer," Mrs. DeMatt said, flipping through the real estate listings until she found the one for the house. "Let's see. It was built in the seventies during the energy crisis. As you might guess, it has very low heating and cooling bills. The savings are considerable."
      "I like the idea of saving money, that's for sure," Bernard said.
      "That would be nice," Lisa said. "But isn't it dark inside?" Built back into a small hill, the house reminded her of a hobbit hole. Wonder if Bilbo is home, she thought.
      "Oh, no, not at all," Mrs. DeMatt said, leading them up the walk from the driveway. "It has these windows in the front. And it has skylights in each of the bedrooms and the master bathroom. I think that you'll be surprised at how airy and bright it is. It has such a spacious feeling." The real estate agent reached up and tried to unlock a small box fastened near the top of the door. "This doesn't ... seem to want ... to turn," she said. "Mr. Worthington, if you could?"
      "Sure," Bernard said, taking the key from her and starting to fiddle with the box.
      "I don't know why they fasten the lock-boxes so high," Mrs. DeMatt said. "I know I could turn it if it was lower."
      "Maybe it keeps kids from messing with them," Bernard said. "Here it is." The lock box opened, and Bernard extracted a key from it. He handed it to the real estate agent who used it to open the door.
      "There are a few things left in the house that go with it," Mrs. DeMatt said. "When Mr. Fitzpatrick was transferred up north, he wasn't able to take everything. It's mostly living room furniture and, I think, a few things in the master bedroom."
      She led the way down the short entryway and turned to the left. "This is the living room."
      "Wow," Bernard said.
      Lisa echoed the sentiment. The living room was huge. It stretched half the length of the house. Tall windows let in light from the warm May sun. A couch, covered with a gray drop cloth, sat in the center of the room. Two small tables, also covered, nestled against it -- rather like tiny puppies pressing against their mother, Lisa thought.
      "Didn't I say it was spacious," Mrs. DeMatt said.
      "It's certainly that," Lisa said, moving out into the room. "What could they possibly have had in here?"
      “A grand piano would be about right," Bernard said dryly. "Or maybe Rodin's Thinker."
      With a quick glance at Bernard, Mrs. DeMatt said firmly, "I know it seems a little daunting, but a room this size really is not meant to be a large space in itself. What I'm saying is that you can easily create conversation niches by careful arrangement of furniture and accessories. I could see one by the windows and then, of course, another toward the center of the room."
      Lisa nodded doubtfully, thinking that it would take a lot of furniture and several plants -- maybe even a tree or two -- to make the room livable.
      A shrill beeping sounded. Mrs. DeMatt fumbled in her purse, brought out a pager, and turned it off. "I need to call my office. I've been expecting a call from my daughter. Do you mind? You could look at the rest of the house. I'll just be a moment. I left my cell in my car." Not waiting for an answer, she bustled out the door.
      Bernard and Lisa looked at each other.
      "I think this is where we're supposed to wander around the house and fall in love with it," Bernard said.
      "Let's do our part," Lisa said.
      Bernard looked around the room. Two entrances led further into the house. "I'll take the right. It's the kitchen. Maybe they left food."
      "Ah, my hunter-gatherer," Lisa said. Bernard smiled, sketched a mock salute and marched out the door. Lisa watched him go, enjoying that warm feeling which she seemed to be experiencing often. She headed for the left opening which turned out to be a hall that had four doors off it. She looked around, found the hall light switch and flipped it on, then started trying the doors. The first opened into a bathroom and the second and third to empty bedrooms. The average size of all three rooms surprised Lisa somewhat; after the living room she had expected more. Both rooms had frosted skylights which gave the rooms a brighter feel than Lisa had imagined. Maybe that's just the way hobbits build things, she thought.
      She opened the fourth door. It belonged to the master bedroom, which was larger than the other bedrooms, not on the scale of the living room, but larger. A king-size bed divided the room in half and lay beneath a large frosted skylight. Lisa was surprised to see a red satin bedspread pulled back on the bed, revealing red satin sheets and red satin pillows. Yuck, she thought. It looks like something from the Playboy school of decorating. She heard the front door open.
      Lisa stuck her head around the corner and yelled back up the hallway. "I'm back here, Mrs. DeMatt. Bernard's in the kitchen." She waited for a moment, but the real estate agent didn't appear. Lisa shrugged and walked back into the room.
      Beyond the bed, an open door revealed the master bath. Lisa walked toward it. Something crunched under her shoe. She stepped back and looked down at the squashed body of a bee. It was still moving a little so she stepped on it again.
      "I sure hope there's not any more of your friends around," she said. Bernard had told her once that bees wouldn't bother her if she didn't bother them, but she pointed out that would be fine if the bees weren't the ones who got to make the decision about what bothered them.
      Looking to see if any bees were flying around the room, she headed for the bathroom again. Her foot caught on something. She stumbled, tried to direct her fall on the bed but missed. She fell beside the bed on something lumpy and wet. She raised her head and realized that she had fell on … a man. She gasped and scrambled back.
      The man didn't move. Lisa's eyes traveled up his bare legs to the black satin shorts and then to the blood pooled on his bare back.
      "Oh no oh no, not again," she said. "Bernard! Bernard! Come here!"
      She carefully crawled over the man and gingerly reached out, intending to see if he was breathing.
      "You killed him!" Mrs. DeMatt screamed from the doorway. "You killed him!"

Copyright 2007 by Stephen B. Bagley. All rights reserved. No downloading or copying in any form allowed.

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