The Scarlet Woman

The sprawling new development lay half-finished and deserted in the darkness of a stormy afternoon. In the Show Home, the real estate agent chatted to a friend on her cell phone, hanging up abruptly when she heard footsteps approaching the door. "I'll call you back as soon as they've left," she promised, but never did. For whoever it was had smashed her skull in, leaving her to die in front of the fireplace with its empty grate. Ten years later the murder still remained unsolved.