0425276562 by Carolyn Hart

Author:Carolyn Hart [Hart, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-08-27T21:00:00+00:00

Sam Cobb’s office was familiar, a long, wide room with an old brown leather sofa facing the windows. He sat with his back to the sofa at a battered oak desk littered with files. His wrinkled suit coat hung from a wooden coat tree near the door. Two framed Matisse prints added a spot of color to one dingy beige wall. Between the prints were a bulletin board and an old-fashioned blackboard. A stub of white chalk lay in the tray. A street map of Adelaide hung to the left of the hall door, a map of Pontotoc County to the right.

Sam’s right arm moved as he wrote on a legal pad. His left arm dropped as if without volition, pulled out a side drawer, fished out a sack of M&M’S, his sustenance when thinking. He put down his pen and a stream of gaily colored candies flowed onto a broad palm. He swiveled around to face the windows.

At the blackboard, I eased the chalk into my hand, checked to be sure Sam still faced the windows, squeezed my eyes in remembrance, and began to print:

1. Four authors attending the conference paid Jay Knox to place manuscripts with an agent or editor: Liz Baker, Joseph Burns, Wanda Hamilton, Ellen Ben—

“Want some M&M’S?” Sam’s deep voice was amused.

I swung around.

Sam had turned and was gazing at the blackboard. “You’re still holding the chalk. Looks funny hanging there in the air. Lots of trouble to write everything on the chalkboard. How about we sit on the sofa.” He waggled the M&M sack as he heaved himself to his feet.

I replaced the chalk and walked toward the couch.

“Kind of wonder who’s visiting me today.” He was deadpan except for a slight twitch of his lips. “Officer Judy Hope spoke to Liz Baker and Cliff Granger. She’s a redhead. Cute, they said. Then there’s Officer M. Loy. Redheaded, too. It’s pretty clear Professor Lewis thought she was a knockout. Like the old joke about a younger man’s surprise at an elderly gentleman leaning on a cane as he eyes a good-looking woman. The old codger says he may be old but he isn’t dead yet. Then there’s Detective M. Loy in a blonde wig and a baggy gray dress. She checked out Tom Baker and Harry Toomey.”

He didn’t know about my interesting encounter with Maureen Matthews.

“An officer does what an officer has to do.” My tone was demure.

Sam laughed, turned a thumbs-up. “Your cover is still good. I figured I’d be getting some celestial pointers and I wouldn’t interfere.”

A faraway clack sounded, wheels rolling on rails. A faint scent of coal smoke alerted me, a warning that the Rescue Express was en route for me. “Sam”—my words were rushed—“there’s a hitch.” Wiggins knew more than I. Perhaps my work was done. “Before I talk to you, I need to know something ASAP.”

Sam was a big, heavy man but he thought fast. He heard the change in my tone from ease to tension. His reply was immediate.

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