Read Online 4 The Marathon Murders by CHESTER D CAMPBELL - Free Book Online Page B

Malibu, the
type used by Metro homicide detectives, sat at the curb. Three cars were parked
in the driveway, including Kelli’s and Warren’s rentals. I parked behind the
Malibu, and Jill and I walked to the front door.
    When I punched the chime button,
Kelli promptly opened the door. She had changed into brown slacks and a light
green blouse. Her hair had been put up in a swirl and nested gold rings dangled
from her ears. Her eyes were dark with stress. She looked more vulnerable than
we had ever seen her.
    “Come on in,” she said. “Detective
Adamson is here.”
    Thank God for small favors. As we
walked in, Phil rose from a chair opposite where Warren sat on the sofa, hands
clasped beneath his chin. Tall and gaunt, Adamson looked like a guy with his
nose out of joint. Not figuratively, but literally. It angled slightly to one
side, the result of a bad encounter early in his police career. He was a sharp
investigator who taught the subject for other law enforcement officers at a
local community college. Phil stuck a pen in his shirt pocket and swiped a hand
through thinning brown hair, turning to me with a modest grin instead of his
usual dour look.
    “After Colonel Jarvis told me about
the connection, I figured you’d show up sooner or later.” He looked over at my
partner. “Hi, Jill.”
    She waved.
    Phil and I had been friends for
some time, but our relationship was more firmly cemented a few months earlier
when we shared a traumatic moment with an armed and deadly felon. I returned
the grin.
    “I wasn’t in any hurry,” I lied. “I
knew Metro’s finest would have everything under control. How’s it going?”
    “If by ‘it’ you mean the case at
hand, I’ve about wound up the initial phase of the investigation. The Medical
Examiner’s man has already been here and gone.”
    I looked around at Warren and
Kelli, who were now seated side-by-side on the sofa. I was sure they weren’t
happy with that “initial phase” remark.
    “Would you excuse us a moment,
folks,” I said. “Come on back to the kitchen, Phil.”
    He followed me down the hall. “You
seem pretty familiar with the place.”
    “Jill and I were here early this
afternoon.” I pulled out a chair and beckoned him to join me at the table.
“Matter of fact, we sat right here and talked with Kelli about her grandfather.
Getting to the case at hand, how about filling me in? All I know is Warren
called and said a guy was dead.”
    I didn’t want to say any more than
necessary until I learned what they had told Phil. He was smart enough to know
what I had in mind.
    “According to the colonel and Miz Kane, who I presume is his girlfriend, this guy comes in posing as a real estate agent wanting to list the house for
sale. Said he was told Kane’s grandfather, who owns the place, was in a nursing
home. She accuses him of following her to the nursing home earlier, and he gets
his dander up. She says he made a threatening move toward her just as the
colonel walks in. She screams, the guy sees Jarvis and starts to run. Jarvis
says he tried to grab the guy but knocked him off balance. The guy falls and
hits his head on a big brass stand with a cupid figure holding an arrow.”
    I flinched at the image. It was the
stand I had noticed when we first came in. “Did he hit the cupid?”
    “The arrow caught him right in the
temple. The paramedics say that’s likely what killed him. We’ll let the medical
examiner say for sure.”
    Two deaths in three days from blows
to the head was scary. I leaned my elbows on the
table. “Do you know who the guy was?”
    “Yeah. He
was one of yours.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “A private investigator named Harold
Sharkey. Know him?”
    I had never met the man, being new
to the ranks, but I’d heard he was not too highly thought of by most others in
the profession.
    “By reputation,” I said, “which
isn’t very good. I hear he’ll take on anything, legal or otherwise.”
    “That’s my impression.