Read Online All Sales Fatal by Laura Disilverio - Free Book Online
Authors: Laura Disilverio
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Wednesday.”
“Nina called me last night and told me he was missing, but I didn’t believe her,” the newcomer said. “This is just great.” She sounded put out.
“I’m sorry,” I said, holding out my hand. “I’m EJ Ferris. You are—?”
“Paula Woskowicz.” She shook my hand, the multiple rings she wore digging into my fingers. “I kept Denny’s name when we divorced. You wouldn’t think any name would be worse than Woskowicz, but my maiden name was Poupére”—she gave it a French pronunciation—“and I just hated getting called Paula Pooper, so you can see why I held on to Denny’s name.”
“Uh—”
“Anyway, I bet he’s here, right?” She winked a turquoise-gilded eyelid. “He just didn’t want to be bothered by that Nina. Anyone can see why he left her for me. I mean, all you have to do is talk to her for thirty seconds. It’s all Nina, Nina, Nina. A man needs to feel like he’s important, that he’s the center of a woman’s world.”
There was a feminist message if ever I heard one.
“Anyway, I just wanted to make sure that we’re still on for tonight.”
Captain Woskowicz had hidden depths I’d never suspected. Apparently he was dating at least two of his ex-wives, in addition to a reporter for a local TV station he’d beenseeing recently. Now that I came to think of it, she had reddish hair, too. “He’s really not here,” I said. “Did he ever do anything like this when you were together? Not show up for work?”
“Never,” she said. “Denny was all about work. Well, work and… you know.” She winked again.
Yuck. I didn’t even want to think about “you know” with Woskowicz. “Is his car at his house?”
Paula’s eyes widened. “Why, I don’t know. I haven’t been over there, and Nina didn’t say. She stopped by yesterday, she said, just to make sure he wasn’t ducking us, you know, and to feed Kronos.”
“Kronos?” I pictured a slavering Doberman in a spiked collar.
“Denny’s hamster.” She giggled at my expression. “Yeah, I know. I mean, he doesn’t seem like a hamster kind of guy. Aggie gave it to him for their second anniversary. There were two of them, but Cerberus died last year. Kronos just keeps going on and on. Kind of fitting, if you think about it, since he’s named for a god. Immortal. Was Kronos a Roman god, or maybe Norse? I can’t remember.”
An immortal hamster sounded like a shoo-in for whichever Hollywood studio had put out a “squeakquel” about chipmunks. “Aggie?”
“The little home wrecker who filched Denny from me.” Her tone, sort of “easy come, easy go,” didn’t match the words.
Before I could ask more about Aggie, she said, “Look, would you come with me? To check on the car, I mean. It kind of gives me the creeps to think about going over there by myself, when something might have happened to him and all.”
“Didn’t you say Nina visited the house yesterday?”
“Yeah, but still…” She gnawed on the cuticle of her mulberry-painted thumbnail.
I glanced at my watch. My shift had ended long ago, and things were running smoothly.
“Ahem.”
I turned, raising my brows questioningly, to find the camera repair guy standing at my shoulder. Medium height, with glasses and thinning hair, he held a tiny screwdriver in one hand and some sort of gizmo in the other.
“I’ll keep this simple,” he said, his voice a surprisingly pleasant baritone. “See this?” He held up the gizmo from which dangled two wires. “Someone deliberately disabled these cameras. No way did this happen by accident.”
Whoa. I exchanged a quick glance with Joel and then told Paula, “How about if I meet you at Captain Woskowicz’s place in an hour, okay?”
“Yeah, great,” she said, nodding. “I can get some papers graded.” With a waggle of her fingers, she left.
I turned back to the repairman, relieved that Captain Woskowicz’s ex-wife was no longer listening in, and said, “What do you mean? By the
“Nina called me last night and told me he was missing, but I didn’t believe her,” the newcomer said. “This is just great.” She sounded put out.
“I’m sorry,” I said, holding out my hand. “I’m EJ Ferris. You are—?”
“Paula Woskowicz.” She shook my hand, the multiple rings she wore digging into my fingers. “I kept Denny’s name when we divorced. You wouldn’t think any name would be worse than Woskowicz, but my maiden name was Poupére”—she gave it a French pronunciation—“and I just hated getting called Paula Pooper, so you can see why I held on to Denny’s name.”
“Uh—”
“Anyway, I bet he’s here, right?” She winked a turquoise-gilded eyelid. “He just didn’t want to be bothered by that Nina. Anyone can see why he left her for me. I mean, all you have to do is talk to her for thirty seconds. It’s all Nina, Nina, Nina. A man needs to feel like he’s important, that he’s the center of a woman’s world.”
There was a feminist message if ever I heard one.
“Anyway, I just wanted to make sure that we’re still on for tonight.”
Captain Woskowicz had hidden depths I’d never suspected. Apparently he was dating at least two of his ex-wives, in addition to a reporter for a local TV station he’d beenseeing recently. Now that I came to think of it, she had reddish hair, too. “He’s really not here,” I said. “Did he ever do anything like this when you were together? Not show up for work?”
“Never,” she said. “Denny was all about work. Well, work and… you know.” She winked again.
Yuck. I didn’t even want to think about “you know” with Woskowicz. “Is his car at his house?”
Paula’s eyes widened. “Why, I don’t know. I haven’t been over there, and Nina didn’t say. She stopped by yesterday, she said, just to make sure he wasn’t ducking us, you know, and to feed Kronos.”
“Kronos?” I pictured a slavering Doberman in a spiked collar.
“Denny’s hamster.” She giggled at my expression. “Yeah, I know. I mean, he doesn’t seem like a hamster kind of guy. Aggie gave it to him for their second anniversary. There were two of them, but Cerberus died last year. Kronos just keeps going on and on. Kind of fitting, if you think about it, since he’s named for a god. Immortal. Was Kronos a Roman god, or maybe Norse? I can’t remember.”
An immortal hamster sounded like a shoo-in for whichever Hollywood studio had put out a “squeakquel” about chipmunks. “Aggie?”
“The little home wrecker who filched Denny from me.” Her tone, sort of “easy come, easy go,” didn’t match the words.
Before I could ask more about Aggie, she said, “Look, would you come with me? To check on the car, I mean. It kind of gives me the creeps to think about going over there by myself, when something might have happened to him and all.”
“Didn’t you say Nina visited the house yesterday?”
“Yeah, but still…” She gnawed on the cuticle of her mulberry-painted thumbnail.
I glanced at my watch. My shift had ended long ago, and things were running smoothly.
“Ahem.”
I turned, raising my brows questioningly, to find the camera repair guy standing at my shoulder. Medium height, with glasses and thinning hair, he held a tiny screwdriver in one hand and some sort of gizmo in the other.
“I’ll keep this simple,” he said, his voice a surprisingly pleasant baritone. “See this?” He held up the gizmo from which dangled two wires. “Someone deliberately disabled these cameras. No way did this happen by accident.”
Whoa. I exchanged a quick glance with Joel and then told Paula, “How about if I meet you at Captain Woskowicz’s place in an hour, okay?”
“Yeah, great,” she said, nodding. “I can get some papers graded.” With a waggle of her fingers, she left.
I turned back to the repairman, relieved that Captain Woskowicz’s ex-wife was no longer listening in, and said, “What do you mean? By the
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