"What is the problem?" I asked Hayden immediately, and he dropped the phone. 

"That was Ben," he said to me. 

"Okay, what did he say?"

"Agnar's stepmother is dead." 

"Oh wow, let me guess, did someone get tired of hearing her stupid voice and decide to snuff the life out of her?" I asked him. 

"On the contrary, I think she got tired of her own voice and killed herself." 

"Oh, that's a crazy turn of events."

"Tell me about it" I blurted out. 

I have never really pictured Gertrude as someone who will take her own life; it sounded a little far-fetched, but then again, people are unpredictable. I...