Chapter 5

The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting up the staircase brought me down the steps in record time.  I smiled with delight.  I was already reaping the benefits of having Nora as a housemate.  I would have never thought to program the automatic coffeemaker so that the coffee was ready and waiting upon arising.

I’d just taken my first sip when the doorbell rang.

It was eight o’clock on a Sunday morning.  Who could possibly be visiting at such an hour?

“Is that the doorbell?” Nora asked from the top of the stairs.

“I’ll get it,” I bellowed as I adjusted the tie around the waist of my thick terry robe to make sure that I was properly covered.

“I’ll come down in a sec,” she assured me.

“It’s probably a neighbor needing to borrow something,” I said.

“We have neighbors?” she said in a sarcastic tone as she headed back into her