Homicide Hamlet: A College Town Cozy Mystery by Peyton Pierson

Author:Peyton Pierson [Pierson, Peyton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Despite the short notice that I gave him, Vance was willing to meet with me later that night.

He showed up at my suite around 7:00 pm, and his arrival was announced by Brenna, who shouted: “Amy, your brother’s here! You want me to tell him you’re sick?”

I poked my head out of my room. I could hear Vance’s muffled shouting from the hall. “I can hear you through the door, you know. Amy! Tell her you invited me over!”

Brenna’s voice dampened to a harsh whisper. “I can fake a fever in less than five minutes, Amy. Just give me the word.”

Laughing a bit, I said, “No, it’s okay. You can let him in.”

“Okay.” Brenna relented, opening the door, and allowing Vance in. She gave him a scrutinizing look. “Are you a vegetarian?” she asked.

“No,” Vance said, carefully removing his shoes.

“Good. Because I’m making chili for dinner.” With that, Brenna made a dramatic exit toward the kitchen.

Vance blinked, sufficiently baffled by my roommate’s demeanor. He inspected our apartment, eyes roving over our furniture and decorations.

“I like your suite. It’s very Wabi Sabi,” Vance said.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a tenet of Japanese interior design. It’s about the artistry of imperfection. Embracing the unsophisticated.”

I’m sure Vance meant this as a compliment, but it felt like a passive aggressive dig, nonetheless.

I rolled my eyes. “Then you’re going to love how Wabi Sabi my unsophisticated room is.”

I led Vance back to my room, shutting the door to provide us with some privacy. Vance wordlessly pulled out my desk chair and sat down in it. I occupied a spot across from him on my bed.

“So, what’s this all about?” Vance asked. “Is everything okay?”

I shook my head. “I talked to Dr. Maguire today. I don’t know if you know her, but she’s a colleague of Dominic’s.”

Vance nodded. “I’m vaguely familiar.”

“She said that I should ask you about why Dominic was fired from the Fallston Police Department,” I said. At Vance’s hesitant expression, I continued, “I know you wanted to wait until I wasn’t working for him anymore, but the semester’s almost over, and Lina said that it was important for me to know.”

Vance sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t exactly an easy conversation for me to have,” he said. “I wish you had let me know beforehand that this is what you wanted to talk about.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Vance balanced his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. “Did Dominic talk to you about this already? If so, what did he say?”

“He told me that he disobeyed his boss’s orders trying to catch a suspect, and was let go,” I said. “And that he convinced you to go along with him.”

“It wasn’t just that.” Vance sighed, his shoulders slumping forward. The overhead light in my room cast a harsh shadow over Vance’s brow, making him look more exhausted than he probably was. Or maybe it made him look exactly as exhausted as he was. I had assumed that Vance had simply blown off Will’s case—but perhaps he was working harder on it than I had given him credit for.

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