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.” Mike rocked back and forth on his heels.“That, and you pretty much accused him of killing Misty himself.”“I didn’t accuse him, exactly,” Garik corrected.“I asked where he was when she was murdered and how he got there so fast after the call came in.”Mike couldn’t contain his sarcasm.“No, that’s not an accusation.Not at all.Garik, Foster’s really not a good guy.He’s always been weird and he’s getting weirder, and he … Well.You know he never liked you.You stick around here, and at the best, you’re going to have more traffic tickets than you can pay.”“Probably.” Garik shrugged back at Mike, but the memory of this afternoon’s scene on the highway made his temper simmer.“You’re not going to back down,” Mike said.“No.”“Look, I’ve studied the case.Everyone in law enforcement has studied the case.” Mike counted off the salient points on his fingers.“Charles Banner was on the scene.He had motivation.He was covered with blood.He was holding the scissors.Hell, his fingerprints were all over the scissors.”“But were they the only fingerprints? I read the reports.I can’t find that Foster bothered to check.” Garik waited a heartbeat.“If only I could see the original evidence…”Mike pointedly ignored that.“Who do you think did this?” He took the flashlight back and pointed it at Misty’s torn throat.“Probably Charles Banner.” Probably.“But as I said, I prefer competent work on behalf of law enforcement.Where is the evidence, do you know?”Reluctantly, Mike said, “Local evidence stays here in the courthouse, in the evidence room.”“Really?” Garik couldn’t believe his luck.“It’s right here?”“You going to break in?” Mike sounded hopeful.“Not me.” Garik lifted his eyebrows, tilted his head, and smiled at Mike.Mike retreated.“No.No way.Not me.I’ve got a wife with an expensive underwear habit to support, and I like it that way.”Garik advanced.“What if Misty’s lover killed her, and he’s still hanging around? That’s someone with a lot of fury simmering.What if he hates blondes? Isn’t your wife blond?”“Sometimes.Depends on what her and her hairdresser are up to this week.” Mike dismissed that with a wave of his hand.“But Garik, that’s the only murder there’s been in this town, so even if it’s not Charles Banner, whoever it is is never going to kill again, or he’s moved on, or he went nuts, or he drove into the ocean.He’s not around anymore.”“Or the discovery of Misty Banner’s body is going to scare him and bring him out of hiding.”“No, I’m not stealing evidence for you.No, no, no!” Mike’s voice got louder with each repetition.Which meant he was tempted.So Garik backed off.“Okay! You don’t have to sound like a reluctant virgin.I’ll do it myself.”“Don’t get caught.”“I won’t if you give me your keys.”“Yeah, that’ll get me off the hook.Anyway, I don’t have the keys for the evidence room.And honest, Garik, I don’t think you ought to break in.I’m telling you…” Mike stopped talking.He put his hands in his pockets again.He shifted from foot to foot, avoided Garik’s gaze.“Men’s room’s up the stairs,” Garik said.“It’s not that.” As if he’d made a decision, Mike set his chin.“You’ve been in on a few autopsies in your time?”“A few.I do everything in my power to avoid them.Afterwards I have nightmares, and the dead are always, like, talking to me.” Garik shuddered.“The dead talk to me, too, if I examine them correctly.” Mike shut the drawer, hiding Misty from sight.He pulled a couple of latex gloves out of a box on his desk and said, “Come and look at this.” He opened another drawer.Garik stared at the body of a shriveled old woman.“Who’s that?”“Foster’s mother.”“His mother?” Garik searched his memory, and remembered an ancient sighting of her driving herself to church.“God, it is her, isn’t it? She looks like hell.”“Dehydrated.After the earthquake, Foster didn’t go home.Finally when he did, and this was last night, he found her crushed under the refrigerator.Took three men to lift it off so I could drag her out.”“She was dead?”“Yes, and a long, painful, unpleasant death it was.Internal bleeding, bruising from being battered with cans, cuts from the broken dishes.”“The day I came into town, she texted him while we were talking.” Garik remembered the way Foster had acted when the call came through.“He never went to check on her?”“It gets better.” Mike flicked on his flashlight and carefully rolled Mrs.Foster to one side.“I couldn’t quite figure out what caused bleeding on her skull, lower right, so I shaved her hair and took a look.”Garik looked at the dent.“What caused that?”“Not a can.”“The shape looks like the butt of a revolver.”“That’s what I thought.”Garik put the clues together.“The old battle-ax wasn’t quite dead when he found her, and he wasn’t taking any chances she might survive [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.” Mike rocked back and forth on his heels.“That, and you pretty much accused him of killing Misty himself.”“I didn’t accuse him, exactly,” Garik corrected.“I asked where he was when she was murdered and how he got there so fast after the call came in.”Mike couldn’t contain his sarcasm.“No, that’s not an accusation.Not at all.Garik, Foster’s really not a good guy.He’s always been weird and he’s getting weirder, and he … Well.You know he never liked you.You stick around here, and at the best, you’re going to have more traffic tickets than you can pay.”“Probably.” Garik shrugged back at Mike, but the memory of this afternoon’s scene on the highway made his temper simmer.“You’re not going to back down,” Mike said.“No.”“Look, I’ve studied the case.Everyone in law enforcement has studied the case.” Mike counted off the salient points on his fingers.“Charles Banner was on the scene.He had motivation.He was covered with blood.He was holding the scissors.Hell, his fingerprints were all over the scissors.”“But were they the only fingerprints? I read the reports.I can’t find that Foster bothered to check.” Garik waited a heartbeat.“If only I could see the original evidence…”Mike pointedly ignored that.“Who do you think did this?” He took the flashlight back and pointed it at Misty’s torn throat.“Probably Charles Banner.” Probably.“But as I said, I prefer competent work on behalf of law enforcement.Where is the evidence, do you know?”Reluctantly, Mike said, “Local evidence stays here in the courthouse, in the evidence room.”“Really?” Garik couldn’t believe his luck.“It’s right here?”“You going to break in?” Mike sounded hopeful.“Not me.” Garik lifted his eyebrows, tilted his head, and smiled at Mike.Mike retreated.“No.No way.Not me.I’ve got a wife with an expensive underwear habit to support, and I like it that way.”Garik advanced.“What if Misty’s lover killed her, and he’s still hanging around? That’s someone with a lot of fury simmering.What if he hates blondes? Isn’t your wife blond?”“Sometimes.Depends on what her and her hairdresser are up to this week.” Mike dismissed that with a wave of his hand.“But Garik, that’s the only murder there’s been in this town, so even if it’s not Charles Banner, whoever it is is never going to kill again, or he’s moved on, or he went nuts, or he drove into the ocean.He’s not around anymore.”“Or the discovery of Misty Banner’s body is going to scare him and bring him out of hiding.”“No, I’m not stealing evidence for you.No, no, no!” Mike’s voice got louder with each repetition.Which meant he was tempted.So Garik backed off.“Okay! You don’t have to sound like a reluctant virgin.I’ll do it myself.”“Don’t get caught.”“I won’t if you give me your keys.”“Yeah, that’ll get me off the hook.Anyway, I don’t have the keys for the evidence room.And honest, Garik, I don’t think you ought to break in.I’m telling you…” Mike stopped talking.He put his hands in his pockets again.He shifted from foot to foot, avoided Garik’s gaze.“Men’s room’s up the stairs,” Garik said.“It’s not that.” As if he’d made a decision, Mike set his chin.“You’ve been in on a few autopsies in your time?”“A few.I do everything in my power to avoid them.Afterwards I have nightmares, and the dead are always, like, talking to me.” Garik shuddered.“The dead talk to me, too, if I examine them correctly.” Mike shut the drawer, hiding Misty from sight.He pulled a couple of latex gloves out of a box on his desk and said, “Come and look at this.” He opened another drawer.Garik stared at the body of a shriveled old woman.“Who’s that?”“Foster’s mother.”“His mother?” Garik searched his memory, and remembered an ancient sighting of her driving herself to church.“God, it is her, isn’t it? She looks like hell.”“Dehydrated.After the earthquake, Foster didn’t go home.Finally when he did, and this was last night, he found her crushed under the refrigerator.Took three men to lift it off so I could drag her out.”“She was dead?”“Yes, and a long, painful, unpleasant death it was.Internal bleeding, bruising from being battered with cans, cuts from the broken dishes.”“The day I came into town, she texted him while we were talking.” Garik remembered the way Foster had acted when the call came through.“He never went to check on her?”“It gets better.” Mike flicked on his flashlight and carefully rolled Mrs.Foster to one side.“I couldn’t quite figure out what caused bleeding on her skull, lower right, so I shaved her hair and took a look.”Garik looked at the dent.“What caused that?”“Not a can.”“The shape looks like the butt of a revolver.”“That’s what I thought.”Garik put the clues together.“The old battle-ax wasn’t quite dead when he found her, and he wasn’t taking any chances she might survive [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]