Read Online Deadly Descent by Charlotte Hinger - Free Book Online Page A

creased the paper and shook the leftover tobacco back into the pouch. He took his time putting it back into the drawer. He puffed patiently and steadily on the stem.
    He blew a series of rings into the air. I out-waited him.
    “Keith know you’re here?”
    “No,” I said, keeping my voice neutral, stung by his faint, patient smile.
    “I think you should talk this over with him first.”
    “No need, Sam. He understands women making their own decisions.”
    There was a flash of quick amusement in his eyes. He was plenty smart enough to pick up on the implied rebuke.
    “Okay,” he said mildly. “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why would you want such a miserable stinking job?”
    “You need me, I know you do. If I may speak frankly?”
    He nodded, waved his pipe.
    “I heard about some of questions Betty Central asked the night Zelda was killed. It’s not going to do you any good to have an officer of the law talk to anyone like that.”
    He gave me a look. There was more than acknowledgment in his eyes. Something closer to despair. I had hit upon a sore point indeed, but he did not give me the satisfaction of agreeing with me.
    “There’s got to be things that come up. Crimes against women. Rape, incest, where you need all the good help you can get.”
    With a bitter glance, his head bobbed in curt agreement. His pipe had gone out: he reached for his supply of matches, patiently coaxed it back to life.
    “You didn’t answer my question,” he said again. “Why you would want to do this? It’s a dirty little job, and you’ll know more about the people in this town than you’ve ever wanted to know, far more than what’s good for you.”
    He waited.
    “No, the question is, do you want to hire me? That’s the question I’m interested in.”
    He paused and looked at me hard. “Got a hidden agenda, Lottie?”
    I swallowed hard. “All right. Maybe I do have a special reason. It has to do with Zelda St. John’s death.”
    “What about it?”
    Sam would have to know. I told him about Judy asking me to look into it.
    “And you know you need decent help with this, Sam. Why not me? I know more about research than anyone else you could hope to find. I’m an historian. Dead people are my specialty. That’s what you’ve got here. A dead person. I need the authority to ask questions I would have a hard time asking as the director of the historical society.”
    He let out a long sigh, touched his hand to his forehead.
    “You’ll get excellent reports,” I coaxed.
    He almost smiled.
    “Now it’s your turn, Sam.”
    He quirked an eyebrow.
    “I answered a question for you, now you answer a question for me. Why would you not want to hire me? As you’ve pointed out, people aren’t exactly beating down the door for this job.”
    “No, they’re not,” he said flatly. “The truth, Lottie?”
    “What else?”
    “You’re too elite. You don’t belong out here. You belong in an ivory tower. You don’t fit in. You’re an outsider. Law enforcement is a dirty business, and you’re not the kind to get your hands dirty.”
    So that was how they saw me, the people in this town. I looked at him wide-eyed. Stoic. If he expected tears, he would be disappointed. Then it dawned on me I had just passed my first test with flying colors.
    He was a cunning old bastard. I wouldn’t underestimate him again.
    “I do belong out here. I’m quite capable of getting my hands dirty. Sometimes people will talk more to an outsider than they will to someone they’ve known all their lives. The stranger on the bus thing. I’m not asking for a full-time job, Sam. I’m asking for a part-time deputy job so I can help find out who murdered Zelda St. John.”
    “Do you plan to just pop in and out?”
    “Yes, of course. Why not? Part-time. That’s all I want. I come with skills. You would have to train someone else in report writing, interview techniques. Stuff I already know how to do.”
    There was an interested glint in his