Short Story Sunday #61

            “We got an e-mail from a man named Joshua. He said he needed help because he felt as though he was being watched and there was possibly a stranger in his house… this house.” Lilah pointed to the ground. “Do you know anything about this?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders. “I did not know he sent an e-mail. However, that man on the ground… his name is Joshua.”

“Great…” Lilah sighed.

George squatted down beside the man lying on the ground and pressed two fingers to the side of his neck. He then groaned standing up.

“Well,” he said, “there’s no pulse, but the body is still quite warm.”

“And you wanted to dilly-dally outside the house.” Lilah glared at him.

“Can we ask you some questions?” George ignored Lilah’s comment and turned his attention to the girl, who refused to step foot inside the living room.

“Fine,” she shrugged.

“First, tell us about yourself. What’s your name, do you live here, how do you know this man?” George rattled off basic questions taking out a small notepad and pen from his pocket.

“My name is Abigail,” she looked up at the ceiling thinking, “this is my house, and I do know Joshua. He’s my uncle.”

Lilah eyed the body and stared at it. Judging by the bit of blood staining the rug under him, it was clear he was wounded from the front. There were no other marks on his body, which led Lilah to believe there was no struggle. The room wasn’t in disarray, either. In fact, the inside of the house was just as clean as the outside.

“Does Joshua live here, too? Or was he visiting you?” George questioned.

“He lives here, too. I’m only 13, so I need an adult to stay with me.” Abigail explained. “Both my parents are away on business trips.”

“I see,” George nodded writing some more information.

“Abigail, do you have any idea what happened? Supposedly Joshua thought there was someone else in the house. Did you get the feeling there was someone else in the house?” Lilah wondered walking away from the body.

“No,” Abigail shook her head.

“Did you at least see what happened?” George continued.

“No,”

“Well, did you at least hear anything out of the ordinary?” Lilah added.

“Yes,” Abigail nodded.

There was silence. Lilah and George stared at Abigail expecting an explanation. She stared back at the two of them with no emotion and clearly no intention of speaking further.

“What did you hear?” Lilah finally asked in a grunt.

“Joshua was talking. There was a man talking back to him. I don’t know who the man was and I don’t know what they were saying to each other. I was upstairs in my bedroom.” Abigail stated.

“You didn’t leave your room to find out?” George wondered.

“No,”

Lilah took a deep breath trying not to get frustrated. Abigail was young and her uncle was dead with both of her parents out of town. Lilah felt for the girl, but she wished they were able to get more information out of her.

“Abigail, did you hear anything else? Like… a gunshot, perhaps?” George questioned.

“Nope,” Abigail shook her head and linked her fingers together in front of her.

Lilah looked down at Joshua. She couldn’t tell what kind of wound he had since he was lying on it. She certainly couldn’t touch the body until forensics arrived. She lifted her head and thought about that for a moment.

“Abigail…” Lilah began, “when did you discover your uncle dead? He clearly died not too long ago.”

“I found him not too long before you guys came knocking on my door.” Abigail replied in a sassy tone.

Lilah was taken aback by her tone, but shook it off.

“Did you call the police?” George stared at Abigail suspiciously.

“Nope,”

“Why not?”

“They would think I did it. Just like how you guys think I did it.” Abigail glared at George.

Lilah swallowed a lump in her throat and stared at George, who stared back nervously. Then he turned his attention back to Abigail clearing his throat.

“We need to call the police. They can help us handle this. Then do you mind if we take a look around?” George asked.

Abigail nodded her head and then turned the other way.

George took out his cell phone and dialed the police. “In the meantime,” he said to Abigail as he listened to the phone ring, “you can stay right here with us.”

Lilah walked around to the side of the body and tried to see if anything looked out of the ordinary, but nothing jumped out at her. Everything was so neat and tidy that it was hard to believe someone was murdered.

George hung up the phone and looked at Lilah. “They’re on their way.”

Lilah nodded and poked her head into the next room. It was the kitchen. There were no dirty dishes in the sink, the countertops were spotless, and the kitchen table was cleared. She turned back around and shrugged her shoulders to George, who scratched the top of his head in response.

Abigail stood in the doorway of the living room watching their every move. Her face was expressionless and it made Lilah uncomfortable. She stared closely at Abigail when she noticed Abigail was focused on George. Abigail stood still as a statue, her hands still clasped together in front of her body. She took deep breaths through her nose and wouldn’t open her mouth or even blink.

Lilah shivered. Supposedly there was a second man in the house and he was the possible suspect, but she wasn’t about to let the 13-year-old get off that easily.