Wednesday - Work in Progress (excerpt)

Megan fingered the thin door key and pressed it into the hole in the knob. A couple of fumbling twists and pokes and the mechanism sprang. The sounds of the house seemed amplified in her pounding ears: the hum of the furnace, the drone of the fridge, the radio behind the door that earlier bore Cori’s beating.

She pushed it open and slipped into the bedroom, closed and locked the door behind her. The shades were drawn; the bedside lamp was on, providing plenty of light to snoop around. The closet door was closed. She started there. Four blouses, two pairs of slacks, three dresses, a night gown, a jacket. Not much of a wardrobe. She conjured up an image of Mrs. Kremer in the first dress. Not likely. It was a petite, size 4, and the next one was a woman’s 22. The pants were size 10 and size 16, all the blouses medium. And nothing smelled of the cigarette smoke that Mrs. Kremer’s clothes had.

Megan frowned at the floor of the closet – no shoes.

She checked the dresser. Pillowcases and scarves in the top drawer. Nothing in the second and third. No personal objects anywhere.

The radio shut off. Megan froze. She could hear groans.