Vanished by Kate Watterson

Author:Kate Watterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2015-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

David Lambrusco lived in what used to be a single-family residence on a tree-lined street in an older, but very nice part of the city.

Or he had lived there anyway.

It had a wide wraparound porch and Victorian architecture and, from the row of mailboxes, had been divided into four apartments. His was on the ground floor on the right-hand side, and it had a tall door that was obviously original. Jason knocked with purpose, and then put his hand back in the pocket of his coat because that breeze really held a chill edge.

No answer.

He tried again.

Still no answer, so he called the landlord, who lived in one of the upstairs units. The man was aware they were coming and hurried down, key in hand. He was surprisingly young, maybe thirty, stocky and dark-haired, built like a rugby player. He was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and slippers and said apologetically, “I work nights, so I was asleep. I’m Steve, by the way.”

Ellie showed him her identification and the search warrant. “We just want to look around for anything that can help us.”

“Is David really dead?”

Jason’s attention sharpened. “Were you friends?”

The landlord shrugged, and it turned into a shiver as the breeze brushed past again. “The guy lived here for two years, so I knew him. We’ve been out for a beer a couple of times. I don’t know as I’d say best buddies, but yeah, friends.”

“He have any girlfriends?”

“Can we discuss this inside?” Steve produced a key and unlocked the door. “It looked sunny out but that wind is cold, man.”

Inside, the apartment was typical of college bachelor living quarters, with a couch that had seen better days and some mismatched chairs. There was a big flat-screen TV, a few posters on the walls, and a coffee table where, from the smudges and worn spots, they obviously rested their feet. However, it was basically picked up, and from a distance, anyway, the bathroom looked pretty clean.

“I can’t say for sure which bedroom is his.” The young man looked apologetic as he pointed to two closed doors.

“We’re detectives, we’ll figure it out,” Jason said dryly. “Again, girlfriends?”

“Lots of them. He’s a good-looking guy and smart, so there always seemed to be some girl coming or going. I think he was kind of a hound, if you know what I mean.”

Ellie said, “I think we get the picture. Ever see him with this girl?”

She still had the picture of Nicole her parents had given them. She took it from her pocket and held it out.

Steve squinted at it and took a moment. “I do think I saw her. Well, I noticed her car anyway, so I noticed her. She’s pretty, but damn, that’s a very nice ride.”

The first provable lie from Nicole. Jason asked, “How long ago?”

A shrug. “A few weeks maybe. If this helps, the car was still here when I got home from work the next morning.”

So Nicole had spent the night? And they weren’t that serious? Hmm, if

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.