Out of Context

Two weeks nonstop and counting

Christmas Can Be Murder
Jacob Lee and Liz Dodwell

“I hear tell she was just living in one of her daddy’s rent houses, and supposed to be writing a book, but all I seen was her livin’ off her daddy’s money again.”

Norma tsk’ed. “Now, she wasn’t that bad, and none of us ought speak ill of the dead. Since she had that little boy, Colton, she’s actually settled herself down a lot. She was going to church now and then over in Harrison, I heard someone say, and I was glad of it. A child that little needs a grounding in the Gospel, you know.”

Letha nodded. “That’s true, since Colton was born, she turned over a whole new leaf. She took good care of that child, I can say that for sure.”

I nodded with them, and leaned forward. “Yeah, and he’s an adorable kid. Seems a shame, him not having a daddy who could come and take him. Do you think anyone around here knows who the father is?”

All three of them looked at one another, but they all seemed genuinely unaware of the father’s identity. It was Letha who spoke up first.

“I don’t think anyone knows for sure,” she said, “but it’s no secret that she was quite friendly for some time with her next-door neighbor. I can’t think of his name at the moment, but I know he’s a single man who runs an accounting business from his home.”

“So, he’s an accountant, then?” I asked.