The Hog Murders by William L. DeAndrea

Author:William L. DeAndrea [DeAndrea, William L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784084134
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd
Published: 2012-10-30T23:20:00+00:00

TWELVE

TUESDAY WAS AN EVENTFUL day. Early that morning the professor, who had not gone to bed, finished the boar hunt painting and started on one that looked to Ron’s bleary sleep-starved eyes like a map of New York State. When he asked the professor and found out that was indeed what it was, he asked why.

“Because,” the old man said, “I have traveled to every continent but one, and I have dealt with evil in the most exotic lands on earth; yet nothing I have ever seen can match the cases this state and this city have produced for my enlightenment.”

Enlightenment, Ron knew, was Benedetti’s highest praise for criminal cleverness. “You think this is going to be a classic, then?”

“Yes, I do, even if Hog does turn out to be merely a lunatic who should be put out of his misery, but, of course won’t be. The case of the severed head in the bathroom bowl was child’s play by comparison.”

Ron removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes. “It’s always a pleasure to be in on history, Maestro,” he said. “What do you want for breakfast?”

The old man looked up from the canvas. “If, as I think you are, you are offering me a choice of abominable cereal products to be eaten with cold milk, I shall skip breakfast and continue to paint.”

“Good,” Ron said. “I’ll see you later at my office.”

Downtown, Ron found Mrs. Goralsky in a happy mood, humming to herself as she answered some correspondence. Ron wondered about it until she started asking him coy questions about what time the professor was coming into the office. Ron mumbled something, and retreated to his private sanctuary.

He returned a couple of calls, one from Janet Higgins, who was more than a little miffed at not being invited out to the motel last night, but who would still be going around with Ron and the professor today; and one from a friend in Albany, who informed Ron that a Mr. Harold Atler had filed a charge of unethical conduct against him with the State License Bureau.

Ron looked at his watch. It was going to be a long day.

Diedre Chester wouldn’t have agreed. The morning was flying by; she was positively radiant. She turned up a gorgeous turkey at a little poultry shop she had never seen before, and she had turned up vegetables so fresh, it was as though it wasn’t even winter. Her party tomorrow night would dazzle, especially with the new murder to talk about—oops, she thought, Buell wouldn’t like that kind of thinking. And of course he was right. How would she feel if Buell or Ricky were to have something happen to them?

The morning mail brought a letter from Ricky, from his father’s house in Monrovia. They’d gone hiking. Diedre thought it was wonderful that Ricky would have a background in two kinds of cultures; maybe he could be a diplomat or something when he grew up.

Diedre put the letter back in the envelope. She remembered to make a mental note to ask everyone at the party if they collected stamps.

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