Read Death By High Heels (The Kim Murphy PI Series Book 1) for Free Online

say.” With that, Sara Lewis turned and walked away.
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Lewis.”
    “So what does a private investigator want to talk to me about?” she asked.
    “I’m looking into your son’s murder and I had a few questions I was hoping you could answer.”
    “Well, then, come on inside. There’s no sense you standing out there in the heat.”
    “Thanks. I promise not to take too much of your time.”
    I followed her through the house, past a dining room barely big enough for the table and six chairs. We ended up in a family room that felt just as hot as it had outside. Mrs. Lewis sat on the couch and gestured for me to have a seat across from her. Sara came in and stood next to the couch without saying a word.
    “So, go ahead, ask your questions.”
    “Aren’t you gonna ask her why she’s doin’ this? She ain’t a cop,” Sara said.
    “Hush, Sara. Please excuse my daughter. This has been hard on us. Brian was such a good boy.”
    “Yeah, good at getting caught,” Sara muttered.
    Feeling like I owed Mrs. Lewis and even Sara some sort of explanation, I admitted to finding the body.
    Mrs. Lewis gasped. “You found him? How? Where?”
    Since either one of them could turn on the news and get most of this information I saw no reason to lie. “I found him inside a neighbor’s apartment. The police arrived and took over.”
    “That detective told me Brian died real quick,” she said, staring at me.
    God bless him. Grant may make my eye twitch, along with a few other body parts, but I was so glad he’d spared her any additional grief. So, I looked her in the eye and lied without an ounce of guilt. No way in hell was I going to enlighten a grieving mother about the last few excruciating minutes of her son’s life. Determined not to drag this out, I started firing away with questions. “Had Brian had an argument with anyone recently? Did he have any enemies?”
    “No. Everyone liked Brian. He was such a good boy. He helped Mrs. Stephens with her trash cans every week.”
    “What about an angry girlfriend?”
    “He hadn’t dated anyone regular for a while.”
    “Yeah, that’s ’cause they didn’t stick around after they figured out he was broke and had moved back in with his mom,” Sara said.
    “Stop talkin’ about your brother like that.”
    “What about his friends? Any of them have a reason to hurt your son?”
    “No way, those boys grew up together.”
    “I don’t know why you’re askin’ about those guys. None of them guys would’ve cut Brian up like that,” Sara said.
    “According to his file, he did time with a few of them.”
    “The boys got mixed up with a couple of creeps at that bar on County Line 32.”
    There was only one bar on that stretch of road, The Spitting Parrot. It was only slightly better than a rundown hellhole. Bar fights were viewed as nightly entertainment.
    Mrs. Lewis’s hand trembled as she pulled a tissue from her pocket. I glanced at Sara and was rewarded with a glare before she turned back to her mother.
    “I guess that’s all I need for now,” I said, standing up.
    “Miss Murphy, please find out who did this to my son,” she said as tears streamed down her face.
    “I’ll do what I can.” I stood up and handed her a business card before making my way to the front door, Sara following close behind.
    “Don’t come back here again!”
    “I’m sorry. I’m only trying to help,” I said just as the door was slammed in my face.
    “That didn’t go well. Did it?”
    “Wow, my favorite reporter. What are you doing here?”
    “Same as you, I suppose, visiting the victim’s family. I can do that later if you have a few minutes so we could talk.”
    “Gee, let me think about that. Uh, no.”
    “You can’t ignore me forever. Besides, the public has a right to know the truth. Wouldn’t you like to be the one to tell them?”
    “I don’t owe you or the public a damn thing.” With that I brushed past him and got in my car without looking