ActiveUSCitizen’s Reviews > A Stranger in the House > Status Update

Funny, he thinks now, three beers in, it hasn’t occurred to him until this moment to remember what a hard time he had getting her to say yes. Of course it all makes sense now. She was already married.

“What is it?” Tom asks her, his eyes wild. Before she can find the words to tell him, he rushes past her into the bathroom. She comes up behind him. “What? What is it?” he asks. He can’t see what’s scaring her so badly, but he’s infected by her panic.

“The body’s intact.” Dr. Perriera begins cheerfully. “Caucasian male, late thirties, good health. The first shot went into the chest, the second into the cheek, but it was the third shot, which went right into the brain, that killed him. Death was fairly quick. He was shot at close range—from about six to eight feet away—with a thirty-eight-caliber handgun.”

“You can see her now,” the doctor says, “just you, for now, but not for too long. We’ve moved her to the fourth floor.” “I’ll wait here,” Dan says. At the thought of seeing Karen, Tom feels a new prickle of anxiety.

“Yeah, well, lots of housewives have a secret drug habit that hubbie knows nothing about,” Kirton says. “Maybe that’s why she was in that part of town—then she got high and freaked out in the car.”