Dirty Rotten Tendrils by Kate Collins

Author:Kate Collins [Collins, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Mystery
ISBN: 9780451231529
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

We eluded McKay and the crowds all around the courthouse square by snaking up alleys, and arrived at the police station ten minutes later. On the way, I gave Marco an abbreviated version of the events at the Olive Tree, after which he insisted there was no way we were going to break into Cinnamon’s father’s safe. He did think we might try appealing to him, though.

A policewoman came to escort me into one of their two torture chambers, otherwise known as conference room A, so I squeezed Marco’s hand for reassurance, then took a deep breath and followed her. My anxiety level surprised me. I couldn’t remember feeling this nervous when my own life was on the line. Perhaps I’d been too naive then to appreciate my peril.

The conference room was a windowless rectangular box with yellowed, peeling ceiling tiles, grungy white walls, and a black-and-white asphalt floor that was stained and cracked from wear. In the room was a standard government-issued steel desk, a long metal table with a cheap pecan veneer, eight hard, metal folding chairs, and an old coffeemaker on a stand in the corner, with about an inch of black sludge inside. Beside it were packets of a chemically produced sweetener, some lumpy powdered white stuff that substituted for cream, and flimsy foam cups guaranteed to partially disintegrate when they came in contact with hot liquid. It was all part of the torture.

“Would you like some coffee?” she asked.

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

As I took a seat on a folding chair, the door opened and Detective Al Corbison stepped inside. Corbison was a paunchy, middle-aged, bald man with tobacco-stained teeth and no sense of humor whatsoever, a condition I’d discovered while being investigated in the murder of a law school professor. He was alone, which I took as a good omen. Two detectives made a more formidable foe.

“Miss Knight,” he said in a gravelly voice. “Thanks for coming in.”

Time to take charge of the situation. I sat forward and folded my hands on the table. “Thanks for giving me a chance to talk to you.”

He gave me a quizzical glance as he put his file on the table and sat down. He pulled out a recorder and placed it beside the file. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to tape our interview.”

As if I had a choice. “Good idea, Detective.” I smiled to unnerve him.

He started the machine, then stated his name, the date, and my name for the record, after which he said, “Would you describe your relationship with David Hammond?”

I was determined to make my answers as innocuous as possible. “I clerked for him when I was in law school, as you know.”

“Do you work for him now?”

“Come on, Detective,” I said, as if we were old buddies. “You’re well aware that I own Bloomers Flower Shop.”

“It’s for the record,” he reminded me. “Does David Hammond’s former secretary work at your flower shop?”

“Yes. That would be Grace Bingham.”

“Didn’t David Hammond represent you in the law school murder case?”

“Yes, and he did a great job, too.

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.