Patrick Thorne sullenly walked over to Jim Thorne and gave him a hard, "accidental" shove. Jim staggered and nearly fell face-first into the mud. Fortunately, he was agile and managed to steady himself, though his clothes got splattered with muddy water.
"Patrick!"
Jim Thorne yelled in a fury. What was the big idea, shoving him? Patrick Thorne just gave him a sinister look, and Jim flinched. He reluctantly surrendered the most promising patch of mud to his older brother.
Ellie Ashton's train of thought hit a snag. 'Just because she was found face down doesn't mean she was pushed.'
"Did this Phoenix Golding have any enemies in the village? The kind who would want her dead?" Ellie Ashton asked.
"Yes, my mom."
Jim Thorne answered loudly, adding with a proud look, "My mom wanted to chop that vixen to death. Who told her to go seducing my dad? And she ate our family's meat! My mom cursed her to fall into a manure pit every day. God must have been listening."
