The Last Grudge by Max Seeck

Author:Max Seeck [Seeck, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

52

NINA ENDS THE call as she strides toward the front door, where a woman in white protective gear is studying the lock.

The news about his father’s death had already reached Hans Raulo, but the man at the other end of the line didn’t sound particularly upset. As a matter of fact, the rumors of the boozy brunch-time meeting seem accurate, because Raulo sounded drunk on the phone. Nina arranged to see him downtown in a couple hours’ time, but based on the brief call, she is relatively convinced the shocking news will not prompt Raulo to stopper the bottle. Just the opposite.

“We’re going to head out,” Nina says, trying to establish eye contact with the investigator fussing over the lock.

“Sounds good. It looks like this is going to take a while,” the investigator replies. She has thick eyebrows and cauliflower ears, like a boxer.

“Is there anything worth mentioning at this point?” Nina asks.

“Well, as you guessed, the door hasn’t been touched. The perp must have entered through an open door.”

Nina glances at her watch. “What else?”

“There’s one tiny detail that immediately caught my eye.”

The investigator waves Nina in, and they step into the entryway, where Erik Raulo is still lying on the floor under a sheet.

“Do you see those elephants?” the investigator says.

Nina looks at the windowsill that the other woman is indicating. There are a dozen porcelain elephants there arranged in order of size, the littlest the size of a fingertip, the largest the size of a fist.

“This sounds pretty random, but an elephant is missing from the middle.”

“So it seems.” Nina walks over to the chain of tchotchkes. “But there could be a thousand explanations. . . .”

“Sure. It just caught my eye,” the investigator says.

Nina uses her phone to snap a photo of the incomplete arrangement. “Let us know if you find anything similar in the house. If anything else seems to be missing.”

“Of course.”

Nina raises a hand in farewell and, after she steps out the door, hears her phone ring. She feels her senses heighten.

It’s Tom. The Tinder date that finally led to something. Nina isn’t sure what, but she’s ready to find out. She sees Yusuf leaning against his car over on the street and tries to wipe the stupid grin from her face.

“Hey there.”

“I saw the news yesterday. You guys must have your hands full,” Tom says.

“We do,” Nina says. “Thanks for yesterday. And sorry I had to head out so fast.”

“Work is work. I was late myself.”

“It was a pretty efficient thirty minutes, I have to say.” Nina can no longer keep the smile from scurrying back onto her face.

“You have time to meet today?” Tom says.

A low bark echoes down the line.

Hush.

Nina laughs. “Where are you?”

“At home.”

“There’s a dog there?”

“Yeah. My ex’s. I watch it now and again.”

Nina feels a pang of jealousy. “OK, I didn’t know that.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, which is why we should meet up today and pick up where we left off.”

Nina lets out a weird laugh and shoots another glance at Yusuf, who has lit a cigarette while he’s been waiting.

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.