The Question of the Missing Head by E. J. Copperman

Author:E. J. Copperman [Copperman, E. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery
ISBN: 9780738743868
Published: 2014-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU talked me into this,” Ms. Washburn said as she steered her car into the parking lot of the Garden State Cryonics Institute. “My husband is going to kill me.” Before I could react, she held up her right hand and said, “It’s an expression.”

“Was he very upset that you were leaving?” I asked. “It didn’t occur to me that this question would cause difficulty in your marriage.”

She maneuvered the car into a parking space near the front entrance and let out a breath. “No more difficulty than there already was,” she said. “Don’t worry. I could have said no and told you to call a taxi. Ackerman would have paid for it. But the fact is, I want to see this job through, I liked working with you, and my husband is just going to have to understand that. You’re not going to cause my divorce, Samuel.”

“I certainly hope not.”

We got out of the car and walked to the front entrance, where Commander Johnson opened the door and checked us through the security desk. We stayed on the main floor and entered a conference room that bore a number of photographs on the walls, mostly of the facilities we had already seen downstairs, looking considerably warmer and more welcoming than clinical, which was not really the case.

Inside were Ackerman, Detective Lapides, and a woman I had not met before, who introduced herself as Captain Harris of the county prosecutor’s Major Crimes unit. She said she was there to supervise the negotiations with, as she put it, “the perpetrators of the crime or crimes.”

Charlotte Selby was also present, looking strangely satisfied. I could not construct a scenario that required her presence, but I assumed that would be explained. Amelia Johnson, I was told, had gone home, no doubt in a fury over her husband’s mistreatment.

“I assume this means Ms. Washburn and I are rehired,” I said to Ackerman when the introductions had been completed.

Commander Johnson scowled.

“Yes,” Ackerman responded. “The same conditions and the same rate. Your non-disclosure statements are still valid.”

“Has there been a report from the technology expert the police have commissioned to look at your security system?” I asked.

Ackerman looked sour but shook his head. “There’s supposed to be one at any minute. Damned waste of time,” he muttered.

“I think not, but we will see,” I told him.

“I’d have to agree,” Captain Harris said to me. “The report could be very useful in discovering if someone who works here in the institute had a hand in this murder.”

Commander Johnson almost choked on the gum he was chewing. “A hand in the murder!” he said. “I absolutely reject that notion. I have personally checked the background of every employee in this facility, and …”

“And, in the past twenty-four hours, there has been the theft of a person’s remains and the murder of a member of the medical staff,” the captain broke in. “That’s some great background check you did.”

The commander raised his index finger in protest but was unable to come up with a proper rejoinder.

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.