The Gravedigger's Ball: A Coletti Novel by Solomon Jones

Author:Solomon Jones [Jones, Solomon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Police Procedural, Fiction, Suspense, African American, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9780312580810
Google: Eb6nmAEACAAJ
Amazon: B00AKQKU5O
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2011-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

As he drove to the University of Pennsylvania to meet with Professor Workman, Coletti’s mind was filled with Lenore. He tried not to allow those thoughts to consume him, but he was fighting a losing battle.

He thought of the things she’d told him about himself, and of her resolve in the face of danger, and of the zeal with which Clarissa believed in her. Even if nothing else happened, Lenore had already proven that there was something special about her. Coletti hoped that the next few hours would reveal what that something was.

Of course, Coletti knew old-fashioned police work got more results than hope did. When his efforts to contact Lenore’s father continued to fail, he had arranged to interview Workman.

On his way to meet the professor, Coletti realized that he hadn’t eaten all morning. This was one of the small ways in which police work got tough. He turned onto Walnut Street while reaching into his glove compartment for a half-eaten piece of beef jerky. Peeling off the plastic, he bit down hard, bending the tough, dry meat until it broke off in his teeth and filled his mouth with the taste of salt and old gravy.

Coletti knew he should eat better. His cholesterol had been in the two hundreds for years. Still, he’d managed to avoid the doctor’s repeated attempts to medicate him by promising to diet and exercise. At fifty-eight, he’d figured it out: having a doctor was no different from being in a relationship. You lied to keep things intact, because lies were easier to stomach than the truth.

Coletti had chosen to believe the lies with Mary Smithson. He’d ignored the fact that she shouldn’t have wanted him, couldn’t have wanted him, even in his wildest dreams. He told himself that she was different from the women he’d managed to drive away with his caustic style and refusal to commit. But that was all in the past now. At least, that was what he told everyone else. Deep down, he knew that it would be years before the scars would heal, if in fact they ever healed at all.

Still stuck on Walnut Street, Coletti took a look at the heavy downtown traffic in front of him and flipped on his lights to try to move it into a single lane. It didn’t work. Armored cars, UPS trucks, and FedEx vehicles were parked in the inner lanes, delivering money and inventory to the banks and high-end stores near Rittenhouse Square. Slow-moving buses clogged the outer lane.

Coletti figured the traffic would clear up when the street widened from two lanes to three, but while he was waiting, he turned on both the car radio and the police radio. It had taken him years to learn to listen to both at once, but it was particularly easy today, since the topic was the same no matter which station he chose.

KYW Newsradio ran an endless series of recaps and updates from the morning’s events, with periodic reports from the scenes where the bodies had been found.

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.