MULTIPLE MOTIVES (The Kate Huntington mystery series Book 1) Read Free Page A

Dockers and a golf shirt were Rob’s idea of casual wear.
    He chuckled, then said, “Seriously, between the traffic and pollution and the Type A crazies, Towson just isn’t what it used to be.”
    “It’s certainly a lot more crowded,” she conceded. “Hey, how about bringing the girls by the house later for a quick visit, after you’ve been to the hospital? I haven’t seen Shelley in eons.”
    “Yeah, once the brats morph into teenagers, they don’t want to hang out with their old fogey parents and their friends anymore.”
    “Hey, Bub, watch who you’re calling an old fogey.” Kate punched him lightly on the arm. “You may be one, but your friends are still in their prime.”
    ~~~~~~~~
    The next afternoon, Kate was between her last two sessions when Pauline waved her over to the reception desk and handed her a message slip. A business card was stapled to it. “This guy came in a little after three.” The receptionist dropped her voice so the clients in the waiting area couldn’t hear her. “Had a heck of a time convincing him that one does not interrupt a therapy session. I told him unless he was here to report that the building was on fire, he’d just have to wait. He opted to leave a message instead.”
    Kate read the message. Call Detective Phillips, Baltimore Co. Police . Anxiety fluttered in her chest. Had something happened to one of her clients? She asked her next client to wait a few minutes and hurried into her office to make the call.
    “Thank you for calling, Mrs. Huntington. I’m investigating Elizabeth Franklin’s hit-and-run. I understand you’re good friends with the Franklins. Could you tell me if Mrs. Franklin has any enemies?”
    “Not that I know of. Why do you ask?”
    “From some of the eyewitness accounts, it’s possible the driver hit her intentionally,” Detective Phillips replied. “We’re investigating the incident as a possible assault. What about Mr. Franklin? Do you know if perhaps he’s, as they say, engaged in some indiscretion? Maybe there’s a jealous girlfriend out there.”
    Kate’s temper flared. She reined it in. “No, Rob and Liz are madly in love and neither has engaged in any indiscretions.”
    “Oh, come on, Mrs. Huntington, they’ve been married a long time. Nobody’s still madly in love after a couple decades of staring at each other over the breakfast table. If there’s any sour note in their relationship, I need to know about it. Sometimes spouses decide that a little accident would be cheaper than divorce.”
    Self-control suddenly seemed over-rated. “That’s a despicable thing to say. Rob would never harm his wife.”
    “Well, maybe you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”
    Kate gritted her teeth. “De-tec-tive,” she enunciated each syllable, “Rob Franklin is my closest friend and I know he is not having an affair. I have a client waiting, so goodbye, sir!” She punched the end button on her phone and longed for the days when you could slam a receiver down in the cradle and give the obnoxious person on the other end a headache.
    Kate took several deep breaths to calm herself. She needed to get to her waiting client.
    An hour later, she ushered her client out the door, then called Eddie at his office. She was so pissed she could hardly get the words out as she told him about her conversation with the police detective.
    “Not good,” he said, when she finally wound down. “You need to tell Rob about this.”
    “You’re right.” Kate looked at her watch. Quarter after five. “I’ll track him down. Love you. See you tonight.”
    She punched in Rob’s office number and drummed fingers on her desk as the phone rang in her ear.
    His administrative assistant picked up. “Mr. Franklin’s office.”
    “Hi, Fran. Is he there, or is he over at the hospital?”
    “He just got back here a few minutes ago. He has a deposition we weren’t able to reschedule, at five-thirty.”
    “I need to talk to him. I’ll be right