Read The Hayloft. A 1950s Mystery for Free Online

parents are a little naïve. Anyway, about a year ago we found out that the descendants of Thomas were still living on the farm. I knew Ralph for a year before I realized that he was my cousin.”
    “I wasn’t at Ralph’s funeral,” I said. “I was sick.”
    “I know. But I got to meet the rest of your family.”
    “Ralph was my first cousin. But you…”
    “My father said that Ralph and I are fourth cousins. That is, we are three more generations removed from our common ancestor than you and Ralph. I assume that means you and I are also fourth cousins.”
    “I’ll take your word for it.” Apparently, Ed had known Ralph quite well. “I’ve been trying to find more out about how…Ralph died. All I know is what my dad has told me, which isn’t much. I did see the obituaries in the Buffalo Express and the Carter Press, but they weren’t exactly fountains of information, either.”
    Ed looked solemn. “Poor Ralph. That was a tragedy. Because there were no witnesses, nobody knows exactly what happened. But I have a theory.”
    “I’m ready to listen to anything.”
    “On the fatal afternoon, there was an assembly. The whole student body gathered in the auditorium for a talk by somebody forgettable, and when it ended, we were supposed to return to class. Ralph cut his class. He obviously went back into the auditorium or, perhaps, he never left.”
    “So he couldn’t have been drinking or something like that.”
    “Of course not. It was right in the middle of the school day. Okay, so Ralph was on the football team, and football players have been known to hoist a pint, but nothing like that happens during school hours. No, I believe Ralph was despondent because he and Ruthie—she was his girlfriend—were breaking up.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “Because she told me. We’re friends.”
    “Are you saying that Ralph jumped off the balcony?”
    “Nothing that deliberate. I shouldn’t tell you this, but you’re his cousin, and you have a right to know. But promise you won’t breathe a word to anyone else.”
    “All right. If you promise you won’t tell anybody that I was kicked out of Atherton. Or that I’m Ralph’s cousin.”
    Ed raised his eyebrows. “If that’s the way you want it. Ralph liked to show off. I was with him in the auditorium one time on a lark, and he stood on his hands on the barrier in front of the balcony seats.”
    “He stood on his hands?” My stomach felt queasy just thinking about it.
    “He was very strong. And he was coordinated. He put his weight on his hands and then he slowly raised his legs and arched his back. Although I almost vomited when I saw him do it, he was in such complete control of his body that it wasn’t all that dangerous.”
    “But you’re saying he might have done it when he was in an agitated state?”
    “He could have. And because he was agitated, maybe he wasn’t as careful as he should have been.”
    “So if he fell, he would have landed on his head.”
    “Well, actually, he landed on his back. Which makes sense because of the way he would have rotated. But I think the base of his skull hit the back of a seat and that’s what killed him. It broke his neck.”
    Ralph had been a daredevil. The times I had played with him, he had done some crazy things, such as climbing trees to much greater heights than I would. Our house in Atherton had a garage attached to it with a flat roof. Why a flat roof in snow country I’ll never know, but from the time I was old enough, whenever it snowed, I was elected to go onto the roof and shovel the white stuff off, so that the roof wouldn’t cave in. The roof had a low wooden fence around it, with a flat, wooden top. Ralph had walked around the roof on the fence. That had been scary enough. At least he hadn’t walked on his hands.
    “Have you told Ralph’s parents this?” I asked.
    “I haven’t told anybody, except you. And you’re sworn to secrecy. The poor guy’s dead. Does it matter exactly