Is There A Dead Man In The House?
an excerpt by
Elizabeth Daniels Squire
Liz: A real house built in 1795 outside of Nashville
is the model for the fictional house. Artifacts my son Worth and others
found in and around that house--a ten-thousand-year-old arrowhead,
hand-hewn chimney-stones, and even a message written with a diamond
on a window pane--became clues in the mystery story. The bones are
an added fictional attraction. Anthony is a greedy stinker who would
like to hurt Alice who cares about the house.
"I guarantee that you'll find human bones somewhere around
this house," Anthony said. "And when I prove whose bones they are,
this place will belong to me!"
His eyes were on Alice. And she looked back, dark eyes
blazing with fury that would dissolve iron.
He smiled.
I thought: He's one of those people who can enjoy being hated--who
can get a sense of power from that.
You can bet I was electrified, amazed, almost unbelieving when
Frank came hurrying from the house--with that sense of drama that
you see in men about to make un-nerving announcements. "You'd better
come quick, and look at what I've found. I think it's human hand bones."
Liz: Folks who read Whose Death Is It Anyway? will
remember that Peaches Dann can read hands. So she studies the skeleton.
And actually gets a clue from the length of the fingers!
