The Accident by Linwood Barclay

I needed to get to the bottom of this. I needed to know whether Ann’s response was within reason, or if she’d crossed a line.
    “Okay, let’s not worry about what exactly she said on the phone, but what did she say to you after?”
    “She asked me how long I’d been hiding there, and then she asked me if I heard what she was saying on the phone and I said no, not really, which wasn’t exactly true, and then she said I shouldn’t have done that and she said I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what she was talking about.”
    “Like me,” I said.
    “Not, like, anybody . She said I wasn’t supposed to tell Emily and I wasn’t supposed to tell Mr. Slocum, either.”
    That was interesting. It was one thing, Kelly overhearing something that was Slocum family business, that shouldn’t be discussed outside their home. But now it seemed what my daughter had heard was a little more specific than that. “Did she say why?”
    Kelly fingered her backpack. “Nope. She just said not to tell. She said if I ever told anyone, she wouldn’t let me and Emily be friends anymore.” Her voice wobbled. “I don’t have very many friends and I don’t want Emily not to be my friend.”
    “Of course you don’t,” I said, trying very hard to hide my anger at Ann Slocum’s insensitivity. Kelly had just lost her mother, for crying out loud. “What happened then?”
    “She left.”
    “The bedroom? She left the bedroom?” A nod. “Didn’t you both leave?” A shake. “Wait a minute. She got mad because you were hiding in her bedroom, and then you stayed there? Why would you do such a thing?”
    “She made me. She told me to stay right there, because she had to think about what to do with me. She said it was like a time-out. And she took the talking part of the phone with her.”
    I was feeling prickly all over. What the hell was the woman thinking?
    “That’s when I called you,” Kelly said. “I’d put my phone back into my pocket just before she opened the door and she didn’t know I had it.”
    “Why did you have your phone out?”
    “When Emily opened the door to look for me I was going to shout ‘Surprise!’ and wanted to see her scream on video.”
    I gave my head a small shake. “Okay, so when she left the room and told you to stay there, that’s when you called me.” She nodded. “That was smart. When she left the room, did she lock the door?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t even know if it has a lock on it. But Mrs. Slocum told me not to move and I didn’t want to get in trouble so I stayed there. But she didn’t tell me I couldn’t phone you, so I did. But I thought she might get mad, so that’s why I was whispering. When you got there, Mr. Slocum started yelling for me and that’s when I came out.”
    “Honey, what she did, that was wrong. You shouldn’t have been there, in her closet, but she shouldn’t have done that. I’m gonna have a word with her tomorrow.”
    “Then she’ll know I told you, and Emily won’t be my friend anymore.”
    “I’ll make sure she doesn’t do that.”
    Kelly shook her head forcefully. “She might get mad.”
    “Honey, Emily’s mom’s not going to hurt you or anything.”
    “Maybe she’ll hurt you. ”
    “What? What’s she going to do to me?”
    “She might put a bullet in your brain,” Kelly said. “That’s what she said she was going to do to the person she was talking to.”

NINE
    Once Glen Garber had left with his daughter, Darren Slocum said to Ann, “What the hell was that all about?”
    “I don’t know. She felt sick, she went home. She’s a kid. She probably ate too much junk. Or maybe she misses her mom, I don’t know.” When she turned to walk away from him, he grabbed hold of her elbow.
    “Let go of me,” Ann said.
    “What was she doing in our bedroom? That’s where I found her, you know. When I asked her what she was doing there, she said you told her to stay there. I don’t want some kid nosing around our