Chapter Eleven
“Justine!” I called, fumbling for my phone to call Burton. I doubted very much that Pearl would have jumped off the deck herself, so the house was a crime scene. Plus, there was a chance that Pearl was still alive.
Justine snapped from behind me, “Well?”
I turned around in irritation although Justine couldn’t have known what had happened. “Pearl is lying on the ground below.”
Justine became silent and followed me as we hurried down the exterior stairs from the deck to the ground. I gently felt for a pulse, but couldn’t find one. Her skin was cool to the touch. She was lying face-down on the ground and I could see there was some sort of injury on the back of her head. “I think she’s dead,” I said soberly.
I called Burton. Justine walked away from Pearl’s body toward our
