She Tried to Poison Me novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Proud of You

The recording was five minutes long.

The old man's voice was slow, with a catch in it.

"It's a Wednesday night," he said. "I'm in the kitchen, and my hands won't close properly around the pen."

"The doctor says it's age. It isn't age."

"For three weeks the housekeeper has brought my tea herself, from a new tin my wife bought."

"For three weeks my fingers have been going dead."

"Last night I woke up with my hair on the pillow."

Seth made a sound beside me.

I put my hand over his.

"I've said nothing to Fern," the voice went on.

"I'm not sure I could say it to her face. We have been married thirty-two years."

"She wants the land sold to a developer, and I told her no."

"Since I said no, I have felt her watching me."

"If I'm wrong, I'm a foolish old man with a tape recorder."

"If I'm right, somebody will say my son did it."

"Seth is the one who makes my tea on his nights home."

The breath in Seth's chest broke.

"He didn't," the voice said.

"Whoever hears this, please hear me. My son Seth has never hurt anybody."

"He's the best of the three of us."

"He is hard on himself, and he drinks when he's angry."

"He will think he should have seen it. He's not to blame himself."

"Seth, if you hear this, I'm proud of you. I should have said it at the table. I always meant to."

There was a long, rattling pause.

"Nolan watches his mother like a hound waiting to be fed," the old man said, very quietly.

"I'm afraid for him, too."

Then a click, and the hiss, and nothing.

I turned my head.

Seth sat on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees.

Keep reading free with an account. Start She Tried to Poison Me from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.