An Uninvited Ghost by E.J. Copperman

Author:E.J. Copperman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group, Inc.
Published: 2011-04-04T21:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

I left the house before Detective Anita McElone could arrive. I knew it was the wrong thing to do, and it was cowardly, but the scene in the trailer was as much as I could handle, and another grilling from the lieutenant was more than I was willing to bear.

Instead, I went to the office of Thomas Donovan, attorney-at-law. And even in the polished-oak environment there, I was admitted without question once the receptionist in the main office let her boss know Ms. Kerby was present. Because it was a Saturday, I’d called ahead and discovered Arlice Crosby’s lawyer working in his office, even on the weekend. If the receptionist was annoyed about being there, I certainly couldn’t tell through her “welcome to Walt Disney World” smile. Within seconds, I was sitting in a very comfortable, overstuffed chair in front of Mr. Donovan’s desk, which was roughly the size of a coffin and just as shiny.

“I’m so glad you’ve decided to take on the investigation,” Donovan said when I informed him of my decision. He didn’t know I was taking it for two reasons: First, he was paying me a very fair amount of money, and second, it was a way to avoid taking Trent Avalon’s offer to investigate Tiffney’s disappearance, which was looking much kinkier and more involved than poor Arlice’s dose of insulin.

In short, I didn’t know who killed Arlice, but I knew for a fact that I was afraid of H-Bomb. Never was a girl more aptly nicknamed.

“I just want to be very clear,” I answered him. “I’m a new investigator, and I’ve never taken on a homicide case before.” (Not professionally, anyway.) “I still recommend that you rely on the police to discover what happened to Mrs. Crosby, and why.”

Donovan nodded. “I appreciate your candor,” he said. “But Arlice believed in you, and that means I believe in you. According to the police, someone murdered her, and I don’t think she would want us to sit on our hands and wait for someone else to discover what happened.”

“All right, then,” I said. “Let’s not.”

He blinked. “Let’s not what?”

“Sit on our hands. Let’s go to the Ocean Wharf Hotel, and you can walk me through what happened on the day you went there with Mrs. Crosby.”

Tom Donovan did the last thing I would have expected to do. He stood up and headed for his office door.

“Yes,” he said. “Let’s.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.