Mr. Cosgrove has reached the point where he cannot tolerate his nagging wife. He takes steps to fix the problem!
Donald Cosgrove considered it a genuine act of mercy – to himself. For longer than he cared to remember, his wife, Amanda Cosgrove, had been an overwhelming force in his life. She needled him, bossed him around; judged him harshly and constantly. In other words, she was a tyrant who made his life a living hell! And so, on that fateful day when Amanda told him – for the thousandth time – to shine his shoes, straighten his tie, and adjust his jacket…Mr. Cosgrove helped his wife down the stairs…with a lusty push! There could be no doubt that he had done an excellent job. Amanda was very, very dead.
The next problem was to dispose of the evidence in such a way that he would be available to enjoy his new-found freedom. The train ticket which he had previously purchased for Amanda’s visit to a mythical cousin was, he thought, good sound thinking. So was the forged exchange of letters announcing that Amanda was fed up and had no intention of returning home. Now there was only the matter of arranging for the final disposition of Amanda herself!
The living room fireplace, he decided, was the most appropriate spot for what he had in mind. Mr. Cosgrove neatly stowed the body of Amanda in the repository he had selected…It was the work of almost the entire day to brick up the front of the fireplace and seal forever the secret. When he finished, Cosgrove stepped back…it was a job well done!
The following morning he turned instinctively for a survey of his previous day’s efforts. A bit of apprehension seized him when he saw that all of the bricks he had so painstakingly tamped into place were unquestionably wobbly! Almost, he thought, with a shudder, as if someone…or something…had kicked them loose from the inside! A momentary wave of panic gave way to grim resolve to learn from his past error. Whistling a sprightly tune, Cosgrove went to work again. He stepped back, test-kicked a few spots and, pleased with the result, went on his way to the office.
Returning home that evening, he checked his morning’s project: the fireplace bricks were as firmly in place as when he had left earlier in the day. With a broad grin and a snap of the fingers, he proceeded to the telephone and, in a surge of excitement, invited several friends to join him that very night.
One half-hour before his guests were scheduled to arrive, Cosgrove decided upon a bold course of action. With a snicker much louder than Amanda would ever have permitted, he went to great lengths to make certain that his shoes would be smudged, his tie crooked and his jacket adjusted in such a way that it closely resembled a gunny sack. Then, with a final snap of his fingers and click of his heels, he went down stairs.
He glanced around the living room to make doubly sure that everything was in a disheveled condition. The ash trays, he noted with pleasure, were piled high with butts, the cushions totally unplumped and – final note of triumph! – his oldest pair of boots rested atop the cocktail table!
He turned to the fireplace…and his gasp was extremely audible. There, as if etched clearly on the bricks of the secret crypt, was the face of Amanda Cosgrove!
Secrets Lurking in Pinecrest is a romantic mystery with a series of puzzling events.
Mike Armstrong, a ruggedly handsome Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer, returns home to Pinecrest to work at the Ranger Station.
Mary Howard is the dil
