Read But He Was Already Dead When I Got There for Free Online

Dorrie?”
    Lionel stood up abruptly. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to this!”
    â€œThat’s right,” Uncle Vincent said blandly. “You can leave any time. If you hurry, you might be able to find a third wife before you’re too old to play the game.”
    â€œ Third wife?” Malcolm asked.
    â€œOh yes—Gretchen is number two. Didn’t you know?”
    Gretchen said, “Uncle Vincent, what is all this? You and I both knew Lionel had been married before.”
    â€œAh, but did you know his first wife put up the cash for his half of the ill-fated venture into the floral business? And then as soon as he ran through her savings, he divorced her.” The old man snorted. “Flowers! What kind of business is that for a man to be in?”
    â€œIt wasn’t her savings, it was our savings,” Lionel said bitterly. “And she divorced me .”
    Uncle Vincent cackled. “A fine recommendation to a second wife! Gretchen, don’t you see the pattern?” He picked up the alabaster Hermes and pointed it at Lionel. “He marries one woman for her money and talks another woman into putting her money into whatever scheme he wants to try next. He did it before and he’s doing it again. Right now he’s got you and Dorrie financing him, you through me.”
    â€œOh, shit!” Lionel yelled. “Bullshit!”
    Dorrie looked confused. “But … but I put very little money into Ellandy’s. Lionel came up with the cash we needed.”
    â€œThat’s true,” Malcolm nodded. “Dorrie made a token investment, but her real contribution to the partnership was to be her creative talent. Lionel supplied the working capital.”
    â€œSo there !” Gretchen cried, as if she’d just won some debating point.
    Uncle Vincent sighed. “Gretchen, my dear, hasn’t it dawned on you yet where that working capital came from? Lionel could never have gotten a bank loan to start the business without my co-signature. And the million and a half I let him have—that was your money, Gretchen. It would have come to you after my death, instead of going down the Ellandy drain.”
    Gretchen turned her head and looked at her husband strangely.
    â€œNothing has gone down the drain,” Lionel said tiredly. “You’re exaggerating, Uncle Vincent. You’re making things out to be worse than they are.”
    â€œAm I? I don’t think so. I do know you’re using Gretchen’s money to pay for your little indulgences.”
    â€œ Indulgences ? What indulgences?”
    â€œWell, here’s one,” Uncle Vincent said smugly, and took an eight-by-ten glossy photo out of the folder. He handed it silently to his niece.
    Gretchen let out a cry; as one, the others left their seats and crowded around her to look at the photograph. What they saw was a picture of Lionel Knox and Nicole Lattimer coming out of a motel, obviously on friendly terms. Very friendly terms.
    â€œWhoops,” said Nicole.
    â€œHere’s more,” Uncle Vincent smiled, handing over five or six other compromising photographs, fully aware of his niece’s discomfort. “Your husband, Gretchen dear, is a cheat. He’s cheating you out of your money, and he’s cheating on your marriage.”
    There was no denying the evidence of the photographs. “Gretchen, what can I say?” Lionel said worriedly. “I made a mistake. It was over almost before it started.” Gretchen just stared at him, open-mouthed. “It happened well over a year ago,” Lionel went on—and suddenly realized what that meant. “Uncle Vincent, just exactly how long have you been having me watched?”
    Uncle Vincent smiled enigmatically.
    Dorrie held one of the photographs, a concerned look on her face. “Did you know about this?” she asked her brother. Tight-lipped, Malcolm nodded.
    Uncle Vincent wheeled his