Some Like It Hawk by Donna Andrews

Author:Donna Andrews [Andrews, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781466801936
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2012-07-21T07:21:45+00:00

Chapter 21

“What do you mean ‘why now?’” Randall asked.

I started slightly. I hadn’t realized that I’d said it aloud. They were all looking at me.

“Mr. Throckmorton has been in the basement for over a year,” I said. “And the Evil Lender in possession of the courthouse for the whole of that time. Why wait till now to frame him for murder?”

“Somebody high up got tired of waiting?” Rob suggested.

“Maybe,” I said. “But there have been a lot of other things lately. They hire a new security service. They hire a PI. They bring in a hawk to attack Mr. Throckmorton’s pigeons. They maybe even burgle his house. From what I can see they’ve sent down quite a few more FPF personnel. Colleen Brown hadn’t been here that long, had she?”

“About a month,” Randall said. “And yeah, they do have more suits in town now. You saying you know what they’re up to?”

“No, just that it seems a lot’s going on all of a sudden. I’m not sure we should just assume somebody got fed up. Why now? What happened?”

“Maybe it’s something that’s going to happen,” Randall said. “There’s a big court date coming up that has Festus and his legal team working long hours.”

“Tell me about it,” I said. “They’re up on the third floor, you know. Their lights are already on when I get up, and still on when I stagger off to bed, so I figured something big was coming up. Is it in our suit against the ex-mayor or the ongoing battle with the Evil Lender?”

Randall looked sheepish.

“I’ll ask Festus,” he said.

“It’s a good question, actually,” the chief said. He was leaning back in his chair with his fingers steepled, looking noticeably more awake than a few minutes ago. “All of you, give it some thought. What’s happened recently, and what’s happening soon.”

We all nodded.

“And if you think of anything, don’t try to act on it,” he said. “Come and tell me.”

“Any objection if Meg tries to use her friendly contact with that PI fellow to pick his brains?” Randall asked.

The chief winced, but he shook his head. Suddenly he looked tired again. And then he set his jaw and stood up.

“I’m so beat I can’t think straight,” he said. “Yes, if you run across information that might help me solve this case, I want to know it. I’d be happier if you’d all stick to running the festival and doing legal battle against FPF and leave me to solve the murder, but I’m not hoping for miracles here. Just try not to do anything illegal or anything that’s going to paint a bull’s-eye on your back if the killer notices you doing it.”

He nodded good-bye and strode out of the room.

A few moments of silence followed his departure.

“So, Meg,” Randall said. “You’ll track down the PI and see what he has to say.”

“Assuming Rose Noire can wrangle the festival in my absence,” I said.

“I’ll do some data mining to see if I can come up with any more answers to that ‘why now?’ question,” Ms.

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