The Spencer Quinn Box Set #1 by Spencer Quinn

Author:Spencer Quinn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books

Not long after, we were sitting in the office—Adelina Borghese in one of the client chairs, Bernie behind the desk, me beside it. Bernie was dressed now—khakis, tucked-in shirt, loafers—and looked much better. He’d also brewed coffee; loved the smell of coffee, but the taste didn’t do much for me. Water was my drink, although once, out in the desert with some bikers, I’d had a fun evening with beer. But no time to go into that now. Bernie was a great interviewer. His interviewing skills and my nose: if you want my opinion, that’s what raised the Little Detective Agency above the rest. I settled in to watch Bernie work.

“Cream? Sugar?” he said, pouring coffee.

“Black,” said Adelina Borghese.

“Me, too,” said Bernie. “We have something in common.”

See what I mean? Brilliant. Although maybe this woman was going to be a tough customer, because from where I was, her lips seemed to purse in a way that said, “Dream on.”

Bernie sipped his coffee, his hand not quite steady. “Ah,” he said. “Hits the spot.”

Adelina Borghese sipped hers, said nothing, and didn’t touch it again.

“I take it you’re the owner of Queenie,” Bernie said.

Now Adelina Borghese’s mouth looked like she’d just tasted something bad. “Queenie?” she said.

“Uh,” said Bernie, “wasn’t that the name of the ri—” He stopped himself. “What am I saying? Princess, of course. I take it you’re the owner of Princess.”

“Correct,” said Adelina Borghese. “Although I don’t really think of the relationship in that owner-slash-possession way.”

“More like a team?” Bernie said.

There was a pause, and when Adelina spoke again, her voice wasn’t so icy. “You might say that,” she said. “Princess is very special. She’s a great competitor.”

“At what?” said Bernie.

“Dog shows,” Adelina said, her voice refreezing fast. “What kind of briefing did that policeman give you?”

“A good one,” Bernie said. “The competition angle didn’t come up, that’s all.”

“What other angle is there?” said Adelina. “Dog shows are about competition and Princess is like . . . like Michael Jordan.”

Bernie loved hoops, had lots of old tapes, so I knew about Michael Jordan, but was Adelina expecting us to believe that the little fluffball in the photo could dunk? A basketball was a very difficult kind of ball for me and my kind, as I’d learned, maybe more than once.

“What kind of prize money’s involved?” Bernie said.

“Prize money?” said Adelina.

“If Princess wins.”

“She gets a blue ribbon.”

“No money?”

“What could be better than a blue ribbon? She loves them.”

Bernie smiled, a little smile there and gone very fast. He took another sip of coffee, his hand now steady, I was glad to see. “I look forward to meeting her,” he said. “But I have to warn you, Chet and I don’t do much bodyguard work and we’ve never guarded a dog before.”

“Chet?” said Adelina.

“We’re a team, too,” said Bernie.

Adelina bent forward, stared down at me. “Can he be trusted?”

Now Bernie’s voice got a bit icy, too. “What do you mean?”

“Around small dogs,” she said. “He looks big. I don’t recognize the breed.

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.