Chapter 1The funeral for Aunt Mildred was over. Dale Edinger pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the front door of the house that had suddenly become his. The attorney had informed him that Mildred had left him—the house, its contents and the nice sum of six hundred thousand dollars. What more could a Marine lieutenant on terminal leave ask for?
As Dale went inside, he flipped on the foyer light. The first glance told him that the house was even more of a stuffed and cluttered mess than the last time he’d been there more than a year ago. A serious amount of cleaning was in his future, but not tonight. Tonight he just needed some sleep. He walked upstairs toward the bedrooms and instinctively headed for the one he’d slept in as a child when he’d visited his aunt.
In that bedroom,
