Dead Wrong by Lorenz Heller

Author:Lorenz Heller [Heller, Lorenz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller & Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Hard-Boiled
ISBN: 9781951473037
Publisher: Stark House Press
Published: 2020-05-31T12:00:00+00:00

Nine

My truck burned that night and by the time Bivens, the janitor, excitedly woke me up there was nothing to do but stand groggily to one side while the firemen sprayed the smoking, twisted ruin with carbon tetrachloride.

“That was touched off on purpose,” the fire chief told me flatly. “It stinks of kerosene. I’ll have to report it. I supposed you’re insured.”

“Yeah, it’s insured,” I said.

“Well, that’s between you and the insurance company. They’ll get a copy of my report.”

I turned away without answering. I was sick and tired of official suspicion and veiled accusation, and at that point I frankly didn’t care if he did half think I set the fire myself. I was dopey from the pills and nothing mattered very much. I trudged upstairs. It was four-thirty. I made a cup of coffee, sat down at the kitchen table and stared at it without interest. The phone rang at five and I let it ring ten times before I finally roused myself and plodded across the room to answer it. It was Juan Garcia.

“Mr. Malone,” he said, “I have called to apologize for this unspeakable thing that has happened. Your truck. It is inexcusable. I cannot apologize sufficiently. I am desolate.”

“So it was you,” I said. “The cops’ll be glad to hear it.”

“Please, Mr. Malone. I beg you. No one regrets it more than I and restitution will be made, I promise you. Full restitution.”

“Take it up with the insurance company.”

“Ah, you are furious. I do not blame you. I also am furious. It was the work of a few hotheads in the organization and they will be severely reprimanded, I assure you. It is not easy to control such people. The Latin temperament, you understand, is sometimes highly emotional and violent. And unpredictable, Mr. Malone, unpredictable and savage.”

I gripped the phone tightly. “Is this another way of saying I might be the next to get it in the neck? Was the truck just a warning, Mr. Garcia? Is that the idea?”

“No no no, Mr. Malone. You understand this thing was done without approval and the culprits will be punished.”

“Send them over here. I’ll be glad to take care of it for you.”

“Ah, I wish that were possible, Mr. Malone, but this is a purely internal matter. But to digress, have you given any thought to our little conversation of last night? To quote, time is of the essence and—”

“Drop dead,” I said, and hung up.

The phone rang again almost immediately but I plodded back to the sofa and crouched over the coffee until it rang itself out. Much more of Mr. Juan Garcia’s Latin malarkey and I’d turn emotional, violent, unpredictable and savage myself.

After awhile I roused myself, took a shower, dressed, drank a pair of raw eggs in milk flavored with powdered coffee for breakfast, and went downtown to hire a U-Drive truck. I didn’t feel like working but there was a delivery I had to make to a contractor. He was counting on the materials and I couldn’t afford to disappoint him.

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