Read Online (5/10) Sea Change by Robert B. Parker - Free Book Online Page A

looked at each other.
    “That’s what we told the parents,” Claudia said.
    They both giggled.
    “Partying,” Corliss said.
    “Where?”
    “In New York.”
    “Manhattan?” Jesse asked.
    “No, no, Sag Harbor.”
    “All summer?”
    Both girls giggled.
    “Staying with friends?”
    “Ohhh yes,” Corliss said.
    “Could I have a name?” Jesse said.
    “Name?”
    “Of the friend you stayed with.”
    “Why?”
    “Better to know than not know,” Jesse said.
    “You think we did something bad?” Claudia said.
    “Ohhh yeah,” Jesse said, and smiled.
    The twins giggled again.
    “Well, we didn’t do anything bad to Flo,” Claudia said.
    “Of course not,” Jesse said. “Where were you staying on Long Island?”
    “Well,” Corliss looked at her sister.
    “We were at a guy’s house in Sag Harbor.”
    “Name?”
    “Ah, the guy that owned the house was, ah, Carlo.”
    Jesse nodded and waited. Corliss looked at her sister again.
    “What was Carlo’s last name?” she said. “You remember?”
    Claudia frowned cutely.
    “Funny name,” she said, “like it was part of his first name.”
    Corliss frowned cutely. Jesse waited.
    “Like Coca-Cola,” Corliss said.
    “Carlo Coca,” Claudia said.
    “C-O-C-A?” Jesse said.
    “I guess,” Claudia said.
    Both twins looked pleased. Jesse wrote down the name.
    “Got an address?” Jesse said.
    “Oh,” Claudia said, “I don’t know.”
    She looked at Corliss.
    “On the beach,” Corliss said.
    “Phone?”
    They both shrugged. Jesse nodded.
    “Well, we’ll find him,” Jesse said.
    “He may not remember us,” Corliss said.
    Jesse smiled at them.
    “Hard not to,” he said.
    “You can’t tell our parents,” Claudia said.
    “They’d have a shit fit,” Corliss said.
    “I have no reason to tell your parents,” Jesse said.
    “They think we’re still their little baby virgins,” Claudia said.
    “How did you hear of Florence’s death?” Jesse said.
    “One of our friends called,” Corliss said.
    “The friend knew where you were?”
    “Not really, she called on our cell phone.”
    “What’s her name?”
    “Kimmy,” Corliss said.
    “Kimmy Young,” Claudia said. “Why?”
    “I’m a cop,” Jesse said. “I like to know stuff.”
    “We were thinking maybe we should hire some kind of private detective,” Corliss said.
    Jesse nodded.
    “You know?” Corliss said.
    Jesse nodded again.
    “I mean this is like a small town,” Claudia said. “You know?”
    “I do,” Jesse said.
    “So you won’t be like, insulted?” Corliss said.
    “No.”
    “But we don’t know how to go about it,” Claudia said.
    Jesse nodded.
    “Talk with Rita Fiore,” Jesse said.
    He wrote the name and phone number on a piece of yellow paper and handed it to Claudia.
    “Criminal lawyer at a big Boston firm,” Jesse said. “Use my name. I’m sure she can put you in touch with someone.”
    “We, ah, forgot your name,” Corliss said.
    Jesse took a card from the middle drawer of his desk and handed it to Corliss.
    “She’ll be, ah, you know, she won’t talk about us to anyone,” Corliss said.
    “Soul of discretion,” Jesse said.
    They nodded.
    “Are you planning to stay awhile?”
    “Until our sister’s killer is brought to justice,” Corliss said.
    “Before you leave here this morning, give Molly your address.”
    “Is that the policewoman out front?”
    Jesse smiled. Molly would bite them if they called her that.
    “At the desk,” he said.
    “Okay. We got a nice suite at the Four Seasons. With a view.”
    “In Boston,” Jesse said.
    “Un-huh,” Corliss said.
    “Did anything bad happen to Flo before she died?” Claudia said.
    “Hard to say.”
    “I mean did anybody hurt her?”
    “Can’t tell,” Jesse said. “You think someone would?”
    The twins looked at each other.
    “Not really,” Corliss said. “But she ran with a weird crowd sometimes.”
    “Names?” Jesse said.
    Both twins shook their heads.
    “Oh, we don’t know