Murder on the Mainline: another Mike Claymore Mystery Chapter 14 - Sex Stories

Murder on the Mainline: another Mike Claymore Mystery Chapter 14

... to be home." "Of course she's alone. There's only the two of them lives there. I told you I saw him leave this morning." Mike moves back to the steps and speaks directly to the old gentleman. "There's nobody home." "I thought you said she was alone. Make up your mind, young man." Mike hears a sound behind him and swings around. He listens and again hears a distant thump. It's repeated a third time. "Someone is pounding in there. Can you call the police? I'm going to try the door." "I think we should call the police" Mike nods in the affirmative as he goes back to the door. He turns the knob and the door gives a quarter of an inch. He hopes it's not a dead bolt. He puts his shoulder to the door and pushes. Solid. He listens but all is silent. Mike debates whether to wait for the police or try harder. Suddenly he makes up his mind and steps back. He raises his foot and brings it down forcefully against the door just below the key lock. The door flies open taking splinters of the doorjamb with it. He steps inside and surveys the shambles in the kitchen. Dishes are broken all over the floor and amongst them is a heavy cast frying pan with what appears to be dried blood on one edge of it. Mike fears the worst and looks for the phone. He steps into the living room and sees it lying on the floor. He picks it up and notices the dangling cord. No connector on the end of it. It's been ripped out of the wall. The house is quiet with all the blinds drawn. It's mercifully cool in here ...

... but Mike feels that it's chilly. He wishes his cell phone wasn't in the charger, in the car. He starts searching for the occupant. He can't find her on the ground floor so he bounds upstairs. He finds what appear to be two bedrooms and a bathroom. He checks the first room. It's meant to be a bedroom but it's piled with boxes. No one is there. He opens the door to the bathroom next and looks quickly around. His heart sinks. There's blood on the floor and sink. A wet towel is soaked with blood by the sink. He rushes to the last room and tries to open the door. It's stuck or locked. His adrenaline is pumping by now and he doesn't hesitate. He batters the door with his foot by the knob. It flies open. He finds her by the bed on the floor with a heavy lamp in her outstretched hand. The side of her head and face is caked with dried blood and her robe is torn in shreds, some of which are tied around her outstretched wrist. Her other arm is under her but Mike can tell by the awkward position of it that she likely has a fractured collar bone on that side. He checks for a pulse and thinks he detects a weak one. He hears someone walking downstairs and a voice calls, "Anybody here? This is the police." Mike calls out, "Up here. Get an ambulance fast. We've got a girl dying here." "Where are you? Oh, I see." The officer enters the room behind Mike and says, "Who are you?" "Mike Claymore. I'm a private investigator working on the Hanson murder in POCO. I came to get a statement from this ...