DEATH COMES TO AN OPEN HOUSE Read Free

happily dancing dollar signs. Theresa would nail the listing. “But I need to learn to do this.”
    Jean couldn’t afford to split the listing commission. Anyway, she had decided, it was time to find out if she could make it in this business or not. Seven months of earning only what she had made from assisting Theresa didn’t foretell a bright future in this job.
    The line of Theresa’s mouth became a little thinner. Her gift had been refused. The slightest of nods acknowledged Jean’s decision.
    “If you get those listings, you ought to hold them open Sunday. You want contact with buyers and even perhaps a chance to sell them yourselves while the listings are fresh.” Theresa leaned her head over and looked at the two younger women from the tops of her eyes. “In-house sale means double commission, ladies. We need to know by Thursday morning to get the ads in The Post. ”
    Jean and Marian nodded obediently.
    “Now. I have several articles here of interest.”
    Theresa was an avid reader of anything related to real estate and used these rare opportunities when Ed was absent to “teach” the staff what she had learned by reading selections. Jean tried to listen, but soon retreated into a daydream in which she was the agent for the relocations of a large company’s employees.
    A horn tooted outside.
    “Yes,” Theresa said. “There was a strange car in our parking lot.”
    There was never enough space in Bethesda for the buildings, the people, their possessions and especially their cars. Usually, the office didn’t care if their notice indicating possession of the small parking lot was ignored. Only on Tuesday mornings did their vehicles fill both the lot and the driveway, occasionally trapping someone who wanted breakfast at McDonald’s without the challenge of Wisconsin Avenue traffic.
    Stan got up.
    “We don’t move our cars during meetings,” Theresa ordered.
    Ed Brumm had made the ruling when Marian had been hit backing out to accommodate an intruder.
    “I know. I know. I’m just going to close the door.”
    Stan finished his walk across the room and shut the staff room door just as the loud knocking started that always followed the sound of a captive’s car horn.
    “Thank you, Stanley.”
    The words were encased in ice. Theresa didn’t like being interrupted. She also didn’t like Stan, who consistently failed to demonstrate the appropriate reverence for her age and accomplishments.
    “You’re welcome, Theresa.”
    Stan’s voice echoed Theresa’s sarcasm.
    Theresa finished her last article and then announced Ed’s return on Thursday.
    “Until then, call me if you need assistance. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?”
    There was no response.
    “Fine. We’ll take a quick look at my new listings then.”
    On the way out, they filed past a man in a soggy brown suit sitting on the front stoop, elbows on knees, head in his hands. The rain had stopped, but not soon enough.
    Theresa was her most gracious self.
    “Dear me. I am sorry. You must have parked in our lot. We really don’t hear a thing in the back when all the doors are closed. I’m sorry you didn’t notice our sign.”
    She handed him her business card.
    “If we can ever be of any help …”
     
     

 Chapter 3
    It was five o’clock and the Brumm agents were once more arranged around the sales room desks. By this time of day, the whining air conditioner that blocked one window couldn’t cope with nine people. Perhaps because Ed had been the one to call them in, even Kevin had responded in jeans and a Redskins tee shirt and was now slouching over the side of Theresa’s desk. Stan had come from a summer school class looking Marine neat in a tight green polo shirt and khaki shorts. Those still in business dress had hung their jackets over the backs of chairs except for Theresa. She showed no sign of the heat. She never did. Rita said it was because she had ice in her veins. In this heat, without his jacket,