Death by Dragonfly by Jane Tesh

Author:Jane Tesh [Tesh, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781464210532
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, Inc.
Published: 2018-09-13T23:21:53+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Can She Excuse My Wrongs?”

I’d hoped to hear from Lindsey, but neither she nor Isabelle had anything to say that night. Monday, I called Lawrence Stein’s office and feigned ignorance of the accident. A secretary filled me in. She agreed it was an electrical mishap on the boat, a dreadful tragedy. The office was in an upheaval, and no one was interested in hearing about curses or family feuds.

Tamara called to say she needed Camden at the store, so after giving him a ride to Tamara’s Boutique in Friendly Shopping Center, I stopped off at Guardian Electric, located inside Myers, Parkland’s largest department store, a building that took up one whole corner of the shopping center. I wound past racks of jewelry, scarves, and handbags, past riding mowers and air conditioners, past all kinds of power tools and automotive supplies to reach a small office between smaller offices for Premium Insurance and VisionClear Contacts. A thin bored-looking man looked up from his newspaper. If I had to place the security of my home and office in his lackadaisical hands, I’d feel the need for Premium Insurance. His pale blue eyes blinked at me without interest. Maybe he could use some VisionClear contacts.

“Can I help you?”

I offered a hand. “John Fisher. I’m interested in buying a security system for my home.”

The prospect of a sale did not perk him up. With a longing glance at the sports section, he set the newspaper aside and shook my hand. “What did you have in mind, Mr. Fisher?”

“What do you have?”

He was going to have to show me the full line, a serious dent in his reading time. With a noticeable lack of enthusiasm, he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a large folder stamped with a bright green shield with “Guardian Electric” in gold letters. He flipped through the laminated pages.

“Basic locks, padlocks, deadbolts, cross bars, screens, electronic locks, voice- and pressure-sensitive, silent alarms, car alarms, complete home systems—”

I interrupted. “I was thinking along the lines of pressure plates, something a thief might set off and not realize it till it’s too late.”

“Of course. Let me show you our complete home system. It’s our most popular model. We’ll be glad to come to your house and give you an estimate.”

“How complicated are they?”

He flipped through a few more pages and showed me a schematic. “It’s really quite simple. Everything is connected to a master switch, which you can place anywhere. Most people like to have them in a bedroom. You can have lights or alarms or both. By pressing this button here, you can arm or disarm your system.”

“What about a password?”

He gave a snort. “We’re way past that. The system’s keyed to the client’s thumbprint.”

“A friend of mine recommended your company—Leo Pierson.”

Pierson would be hard to forget. “Oh, yeah. Big red-haired guy. Quite a job that was.”

“He was robbed, did you know that?”

Nothing bothered this guy. He shrugged. “It happens.”

“You don’t offer any insurance on your system?”

He gave me a pitying look.

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.