My City May 2023

MYHISTORY

Flint Crime Files: THE MURDER OF MARGARETTE EBY DEATH IN THE GATEHOUSE BY PETER HINTERMAN All was quiet as Margarette Eby approached the entrance to Applewood Estate. She stopped her

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her home for a few hours before officially retiring for the night, readying herself for another full day at the University. She turned off the car and stepped once again into the cold night. The sky was overcast, obscuring all moonlight and threatening to cover the ground in the year’s first blanket of snow. She fumbled with her keys, straining her eyes in the darkness to find the right one as she approached the front door but found, again, that a key wasn’t needed. The door opened with a simple click. Did she leave it unlocked when she left earlier? She stepped inside, switched on the light, then closed and locked the door securing her inside. She removed her jacket, hung it up and moved into the kitchen. As she opened the cabinet to get a cup for tea, she heard a thump from the next room and then another. She froze, afraid to turn and look. She heard footsteps and then, a shadow moved into the corner of her eyesight. Margarette Eby wasn’t alone …

vehicle but left the engine running as she got out to open the gate leading to the gatehouse where she lived for a blissful and indus trious five years in Flint working as provost and music professor at the University of Michigan-Flint. She shivered as she opened her car door and stepped out. The day had become increasingly cold as it waned and the temperature at that time of night hovered just above freezing. The light jacket that provided more than enough warmth during a day spent with friends downtown was no longer adequate. She quickly felt in her pocket for the key but realized she needn’t have bothered; the gate was standing ajar. She opened it fully, stepped back into her car and continued up the drive. It was a long day but a good one and after enjoying dinner with friends, she wanted nothing more than to relax in the warmth of

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