The Fink Needed Killing by Fitts Bill

Author:Fitts, Bill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gibbons-Fitts Ink
Published: 2023-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

We made our good-byes to Claire and Gary with compliments about the food and service while promising to return “real soon.”

I glanced back at the cargo area as I opened the door for Bobby. “Whiteboard’s still there. Which means your bag is too. No passing thief could have seen it under the board.”

“That’s a relief. I’d hate to show up at work tomorrow in what I wore today.”

“No reason to have worried. After all, we’re talking about virtually crime-free downtown Archibald.”

“Virtually. And, don’t forget, Ross was on some silly task force that Snoddy had put him on. How was he going to prevent crime when he was stuck guarding Alves Hall from the likes of Grant Patton?”

“Sergeant Howard is not the only crime deterrent Chief Snoddy has at his disposal, I assure you.” I closed the car door and walked around to the driver’s side. “And the Jemison County Homicide Task Force isn’t silly. I should know. I’m a member.”

“Since when?”

“This morning. Ross decided I needed to be on the task force so he could brief me on what the Shelbyville police know about the murder. I’m the university’s representative.”

Bobby patted me on the shoulder. “Congratulations on the—promotion? If that’s what it was. What did Ross have to tell you?”

“Not that much. They still don’t know what the murder weapon was—other than a blunt instrument. The corpse got moved. They don’t know why. Not even sure they know where she was struck down. Forensics has got their work cut out for them this time.”

Bobby leaned back in her seat and nodded. “They certainly do if they have to go through all the different art exhibits looking for the murder weapon. Outsider art appears to be made up of a lot of potential blunt instruments. At least the ones in this exhibit did. You might not remember. Rusty scraps of metal all over the place. “

“Isn’t that typical? What did the book have to say?” I didn’t have a clear memory of just what the different exhibits had looked like—only that there were a lot of odd-shaped items stuck together in even odder ways.

“I’m trying to remember if the author discussed that. I’ve edited several books since then.”

“I understand: ‘one thing drives another out.’”

“Tolkien knew what he was talking about. If I walked through the exhibition hall today the sight of all that art might jar some memories loose. The book would do it better but there’s no sign of it so far, is there?”

Bobby sounded hopeful and I hated to disappoint her.

“Nope. Nobody’s seen or heard of it as far as I can tell. Knowles had the reputation of getting other people to do her work for her. Evidently she got Conway-Smith to review some other art books for her but, according to Conway-Smith, Natalie wouldn’t have asked her about folk art. That was Dr. Knowles’s specialty. There wasn’t anybody on the faculty to ask. She made sure of it.”

“What about Grant Patton?”

“Didn’t think to ask him. Now I can’t find him.

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.