A Will To Murder Read Online Free Page A

 Heydrick was the family gardener. “He’s been crazy for years, and Father did hire him out of that halfway house, remember.”   
    Her sister only gnawed a strand of lank hair and said, “We shouldn’t discuss this in front of Briarly.”  Rose teared up.
    “Oh for God’s sake, you’re not really upset that Dad’s gone, are you?  Don’t be such a hypocrite.”
    “Yes, I am upset!  He was my father, and yours too, if you don’t remember.”
    “He terrorized Aunt Katherine and Armagnac, and joined Grandad in disowning Aunt Sophia.  He used to threaten to disinherit us every other week and finally did that to you when you married Bert.  He was a pig.”
    “How can you say that?” Rose wailed.  “You were his favorite.”
    “I was not!  He had no favorites because he wasn’t capable of normal human affection!  Rosey!  Stop crying.  Look, we’re almost home.  My God,” Jac shrieked, “what did he do to the house?”
    “It’s black,” Rose marveled.
    “He would!  He always wanted to embarrass the family as much as possible!  I’m driving around to the carriage house.  I refuse to pull up in front.”
     
     
    Arthur stepped out of the Camry onto the circular driveway and stared at the black house.  His three companions were also goggling.  Elegant flowerbeds surrounded the mansion, and roses were just beginning to open.  Enormous pink peonies reigned over the beds at the moment.  The house looked like a black eye rimmed with pink eyeshadow.  Beyond was a carefully trimmed lawn that stretched for acres, dotted with huge conifers.
    “House looks manic-depressive,” Cummings said.  A few white marble steps led up to large mahogany doors, and someone had tied black crepe bows around the brass doorknobs.  Thoughtfully, Richie hefted a rock, studying the stained glass fanlight above the door.
    “At least he liked flowers,” Bert commented.
    “Those are Katherine’s,” said Salisbury, tossing away his cigarette.  “I think the old man would have preferred planting land mines and barbed wire.”
    At that moment they heard footsteps on the maroon gravel.  The circular driveway branched off to the right and went back to the carriage house, ending at a small parking area.  On the left side of Rollingwood was a disused arch covered with vines, showing that the driveway had once lead in that direction before being repositioned.  The women were approaching from the parking area.  
    “Now, who is this handsome young man?” said Jac.  “You must be my nephew, Arthur.  Why didn’t you come out to greet me at the restaurant?” she teased.  Arthur blushed, and wondered how this nice lady could have such a putrid son.
    Just then an old man appeared around the side of the house.  He was wearing a sagging hat with a frayed brim, and his skin was so leathery it did not have wrinkles, but cracks and crevices instead.  His black eyes stared unwelcomingly at the newcomers, almost demented in their intensity.  When the old man looked at Arthur, the boy remembered he was holding Frederick and tried to hide the rabbit behind his back.  The watcher bared his teeth in amusement.  They were tinted green.  The boy gulped.
    “There’s Heydrick,” Jac said in disgust to Rose.  “My God, he’s a notch below pushing a shopping cart.  Why didn’t Father get rid of him?”
    Then Heydrick moved.  The gardener knocked the stone out of Richie’s hand with a punch to the boy’s arm and thumped Richie’s ear.  The boy screamed.
    Everyone turned.  Heydrick was bending over, feeling for something on the ground.
    “What are you doing?” Phil snapped.
    “He hit me!” Richie bawled.
    “Good,” murmured Bert.
    “Hey, you--,” said Phil, stabbing a finger at the gardener.
    Heydrick straightened.  He was holding Phil’s discarded cigarette, plucked out of the roses.  The old man looked from the cigarette to Salisbury, and his lip rose lopsidedly, baring a green fang.
    Salisbury