Read Online The Case of the Murdered MacKenzie: A Masao Masuto Mystery (Book Seven) by Howard Fast - Free Book Online Page A

he should have realized this before he ever allowed Geffner to lure him out of his meditation chamber.
    They squeezed onto the shoulder behind the two black limousines. The windows of the limousines, darkened glass, were quite opaque. The chauffeurs, men with hard, expressionless faces, stood by their cars. Masuto made a mental note of the license plate of the car in front of them. Masuto, Geffner, and Hendricks got out of their car and walked down the road to where a lieutenant in the highway patrol stood center-stage to a circle of news and television people.
    â€œI know him,” Masuto told Geffner. “The lieutenant. That’s Archie Delt. Not the sweetest man in the world. He’ll be sore as hell to see a Beverly Hills cop out here in Malibu.”
    â€œThe hell with him!”
    â€œI’ll hold that thought,” Masuto said wryly.
    The tow truck was trying to maneuver into a position near the break in the guardrail where it might drop a hook from its winch, and Masuto wondered why the haste to bring up the wrecked car, since the woman’s body had been removed. Another part of his mind was following the questions and answers—questions thrown by the TV people and reporters.
    â€œWho pronounced her dead?” a reporter asked. “Was there a doctor on the scene?”
    â€œPatrolman Gilbert climbed down to the car. It was not entirely dark. As I said before, Mrs. Mackenzie’s neck was broken. She had numerous other injuries and she had no pulse. Then Patrolman Anderson arrived on the scene and the two of them managed to remove Mrs. Mackenzie from the car and carry her up to the road.”
    â€œWhy was she sent to All Saints Hospital? Why not to a local hospital?”
    Lieutenant Delt was patient with the questions, even though they tended to be repetitive. He was not unaware of the TV cameras fixed on him as he stood in the glare of the emergency lights.
    â€œIf Mrs. Mackenzie had not been dead, she would have been rushed immediately to the nearest hospital. But she was dead and had been dead for at least an hour before we brought her body up to the road. She was taken to All Saints because that’s the Beverly Hills hospital and that’s where her physician instructed us to take the body and she is a resident of Beverly Hills. Does that answer your question?”
    Delt finally excused himself. The tow truck was in place, and the emergency lights were turned on the canyon. The car could be seen now, a small, two-seater Mercedes, apparently not too damaged. The press was drifting away. Masuto noticed two men in civilian clothes in whispered conference with Delt, and one of them glanced at him and then nudged Delt and whispered to him. Delt walked over to where Hendricks, Geffner, and Masuto were standing. Meanwhile, the tow truck crew were feeding the cable down into the ravine.
    â€œFar from home, Sergeant,” Delt said to Masuto. “You didn’t just happen to be driving through the canyon?”
    â€œI’m afraid not,” Masuto said. “We heard that a very unlikely thing had happened here, and District Attorney Geffner and—”
    Geffner nodded slightly.
    â€œâ€”and Officer Hendricks of the Los Angeles police and myself—well, we’d like to look at the car when they bring it up.”
    â€œIt would appear to me,” Delt said, “that you’re all a little outside of your jurisdiction.”
    â€œJust hold on,” Geffner said coldly. “This is L.A. County, so don’t read me any lessons on jurisdiction. The dead woman was arrested and charged in Beverly Hills, and as far as Officer Hendricks is concerned, he’s here as an assisting officer, courtesy of L.A.P.D., and his specialty is car crime, and I want him to look at Eve Mackenzie’s car. Any objections?”
    During this the two men who had been talking to Delt moved up to join the little circle, and one of them, a tall, well-built handsome man