Once again, everyone in the living room was quiet again. The music continued to play on the television, but nobody paid much attention to it.540Please respect copyright.PENANAlOeJPdXwd5
Elliott, who had been sitting alone in the kitchen, had so much on his mind. He was now almost regretting having started the party. Of course, had he known this was going to happen, he would have had not had it. But he did, and now one of his best friends was dead, and his other best friend was locked in his basement. 540Please respect copyright.PENANApfTAucZRnl
Elliott was also thinking about the guests who refused to leave the house. They now had turned on each other. If only they would go home. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAi6PTzFt2Az
Elliott walked out of the kitchen into the living room. He just could not leave the guests in the room alone. The last thing he needed was for something else that he didn’t want to happen to happen. 540Please respect copyright.PENANA4GP1wpdEgw
“There are still a few pistachios left,” Elliott said. “If anybody wants any.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAZYoh4aK41w
Nobody even looked at him. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAnQ58AYXhrn
Elliott sat down in a chair and put his head in his hands. He now had a severe headache. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAxP6zWkBp6x
Kathleen had not said a word to anybody after she made her accusation. She continued to sit on the couch, staring blankly. Katy and Mary sat next to her. Katy still held her two children, who were wide awake and clinging to her. 540Please respect copyright.PENANA5wQfWJFELd
Frances walked over to the couch that Kathleen was sitting on. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAySWRxNDU9m
“Kathleen?” Frances asked, quietly. 540Please respect copyright.PENANA8Rhkxhl8N5
Kathleen looked at her. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAvGbk2a7bF7
“Yes?” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAbwJI5gKbfr
“I think it was him, too.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAFO3hs1U8O4
Kathleen stared at her for a minute. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAV8m9SXXF2F
“You think it was Anderson who killed Freeman?” she asked, quietly. 540Please respect copyright.PENANA6OhO7nkKUH
Frances nodded. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAGBj1dLHjti
“As much as I am friends with Nadia, I never understood why she married Anderson. Everyone knows that he would love Freeman to be dead. And now he is.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAi09eYExCmA
“I know why she is married to him. It’s just because he is rich. She doesn’t really love him.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANA2xA9Gg09Si
“Anderson has no qualities that can be loved.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAAxXjNEDDGE
“I agree, entirely.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAlLemNxR2Kt
Frances looked around the room, trying to make sure that nobody had heard them. Then, she turned back to Kathleen. 540Please respect copyright.PENANApwVxp49vOk
“Please don’t tell Nadia that I said that,” she said. 540Please respect copyright.PENANADoAGmQxdbV
“I won’t,” Kathleen promised. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAtz1Wqw4Env
Frances smiled and walked over to his husband, who looked liked like he had been in a train wreck. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAmNNvOnjfBF
On the other side of the living room, Nadia sat on a chair while Victor Jenkins and Lucille sat on a couch next to her. Lucille held Billy in her lap and Victor held Dominique in his. Both twins were fast asleep. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAmlT5QDCbUi
Nadia still denied that her husband was the culprit. She consistently glared at Kathleen, who would not look back at her. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAIkzCmXzBq6
“Don’t worry, Nadia,” Lucille said to her. “Your husband is not a murderer. I am almost sure that it was Stewart.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANA2fLv83V3rk
“I am not worrying,” Nadia said, flatly. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAlzwCJtOAI5
“I don’t think it was Stewart,” Victor said. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAcW9kVg8hPf
Lucille looked at him. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAxCOXgEl3B3
“Then who do you think it was?” she asked. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAGH9VAPcgwh
“I’m thinking it was Sullivan,” Victor said, patting Dominique’s back. 540Please respect copyright.PENANA3FPFczeFRm
“Why do you think he did it?” 540Please respect copyright.PENANALc06KMJQld
“Didn’t Sullivan work with Freeman? I am pretty sure that with his severe addiction, Freeman was not a great person to work with. My best guess is that Sullivan hated working with Freeman so much that he decided to get rid of him for good. That, to me, makes much more sense than Stewart angry about boat payments.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAXx5mkF9xlV
Unfortunately for Victor, Katy heard what he had said. She had stood up and was staring at him, wide-eyed. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAlK2Je1CQqZ
“Are you pointing the fingers at my husband?!” Katy shrieked. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAUNBMQYTq3n
Victor turned red. He had now fallen into a hole that he shouldn’t have dug. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAQgzSZVwYYi
“Can you not be so loud?” Victor said. “My kids are sleeping.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANA16cN7kVJf3
“Don’t say Jason is a killer!” Katy yelled. “He would never do such a thing! Never!!” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAItnW6HZKA2
She plopped back down on the couch. Kathleen could see tears in her eyes. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAV5NRkgpTNV
Fortunately, Billy and Dominique were heavy sleepers, so Katy’s screaming did not wake them. Victor was regretting having said anything. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAOJG8Kszaa5
Kathleen had regrets as well. Her accusation had created a large amount of tensions between the guests. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAXZ0kujXpD5
“Mommy?” Ava asked. “Daddy didn’t kill anybody. Did he?” 540Please respect copyright.PENANAbPZv1Q4P2j
“No, Sweetie,” Katy said, stroking Ava’s black hair. “Daddy would never kill anybody. He never would.” 540Please respect copyright.PENANA4hdXE3K6xN
Ava squeezed her brother’s hand. 540Please respect copyright.PENANAZXdGim0l09
Kathleen now wished she would have kept her thoughts to herself. If she had, the only person that anybody would have been talking about was Alan Freeman.540Please respect copyright.PENANA3SOGOnOam0