Read Online The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb: A Berger and Mitry Mystery (Berger and Mitry Mysteries) by David Handler - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David Handler
Ads: Link
from the table.
“There’s fresh-baked cookies in the bread box,” Sheila said.
“What a good idea.” Mitch fetched them, studying Helen curiously. “Did you tell anyone about this at the time?”
“No, of course not.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” Helen gazed out the kitchen window at the waterfall. “Because Mr. Fairchild would have fired me, that’s why not. The day he took me on he told me, ‘Helen, from now on you are my confidential secretary. That means anything you see or hear in this office is confidential. If you ever break this confidence I will see to it that you never work in a law office again. Do you understand?’ Believe me, I understood. And I kept my mouth shut. Had to. It was a high-paying job and my situation was bad enough already. I was not exactly the daintiest, loveliest young thing in Dorset. I was a horse-faced goony bird who hadn’t been on a date with a man in ten years.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Sheila barked at her. “You were a beautiful girl. You had a lovely smile and you were always impeccably groomed. So many of the other girls weren’t. And these girls who I see around the village now, my goodness, they’re just plain greasy.” She turned a frosty gaze on Mitch. “I blame those Hollywood actresses of yours.”
“Sheila, are you going to start in on Mila Kunis again?”
“Tell me, does that young woman ever wash her hair?”
“I really have no idea. But I’ll try to find out if you’d like.”
Sheila glared at him. “Are you humoring me?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“The truth is…” Helen shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I didn’t want to go through the rest of my life being mentioned in the same breath as Missy Lay. Everyone calling me a loon behind my back. Besides, no one would have believed me anyway.”
“Yet you’ve decided to speak up now. How come?”
“Because I don’t care what people think of me anymore,” she answered defiantly.
“That’s the single best thing about getting on in years,” Sheila said, nodding her head sagely.
“Helen, what about Buzzy Shaver? Did he know, too?”
She frowned at him. “What makes you ask that?”
“He bitterly opposed this regrading project in the pages of The Gazette .”
“That’s because Bob did,” Bitsy sniffed. “Buzzy is Bob’s toady.”
“He also tried to gum up the works this morning.”
Bitsy’s eyes gleamed at him. “Really? Do tell.”
“He defied the parking ban and left his Volvo parked overnight in front of the library. Des had to call him at 6 AM to get him move it. She said he was really rude to her.”
“He’s a nasty old man,” Bitsy said. “But there is another explanation. For why Buzzy left his car there overnight, I mean. Hard as I find that to believe.”
“I’ll say,” Helen agreed.
“Okay, I’m not following you.”
“Buzzy lives on Appleby Lane,” Bitsy explained. “It’s a dead-end road. The neighbors are right on top of each other and extremely nosy. Buzzy’s a bachelor who visits a lady friend on a regular basis and doesn’t wish to advertise it to his neighbors. If he came driving home in the wee hours every night one of them would hear him pulling into his garage. Word would get out that he’s seeing someone. So he leaves his car parked on Dorset Street and retrieves it early in the morning. Probably parks down the block from his lady friend’s house as well.”
“Common practice, Mitch,” Sheila said. “Everyone knows that.”
“Really? I didn’t.”
“That’s because you live on an island,” Helen said. “And you’re not a cheat.”
“If you were we wouldn’t be talking to you,” Bitsy said.
“Because Des would have shot you by now,” Sheila added.
All three ladies broke out into gales of laughter.
Mitch helped himself to one of Sheila’s chocolate chip cookies, glad he could bring so much mirth into their lives. “Any idea who Buzzy’s getting busy with?”
“At his age I
“There’s fresh-baked cookies in the bread box,” Sheila said.
“What a good idea.” Mitch fetched them, studying Helen curiously. “Did you tell anyone about this at the time?”
“No, of course not.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” Helen gazed out the kitchen window at the waterfall. “Because Mr. Fairchild would have fired me, that’s why not. The day he took me on he told me, ‘Helen, from now on you are my confidential secretary. That means anything you see or hear in this office is confidential. If you ever break this confidence I will see to it that you never work in a law office again. Do you understand?’ Believe me, I understood. And I kept my mouth shut. Had to. It was a high-paying job and my situation was bad enough already. I was not exactly the daintiest, loveliest young thing in Dorset. I was a horse-faced goony bird who hadn’t been on a date with a man in ten years.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Sheila barked at her. “You were a beautiful girl. You had a lovely smile and you were always impeccably groomed. So many of the other girls weren’t. And these girls who I see around the village now, my goodness, they’re just plain greasy.” She turned a frosty gaze on Mitch. “I blame those Hollywood actresses of yours.”
“Sheila, are you going to start in on Mila Kunis again?”
“Tell me, does that young woman ever wash her hair?”
“I really have no idea. But I’ll try to find out if you’d like.”
Sheila glared at him. “Are you humoring me?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“The truth is…” Helen shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I didn’t want to go through the rest of my life being mentioned in the same breath as Missy Lay. Everyone calling me a loon behind my back. Besides, no one would have believed me anyway.”
“Yet you’ve decided to speak up now. How come?”
“Because I don’t care what people think of me anymore,” she answered defiantly.
“That’s the single best thing about getting on in years,” Sheila said, nodding her head sagely.
“Helen, what about Buzzy Shaver? Did he know, too?”
She frowned at him. “What makes you ask that?”
“He bitterly opposed this regrading project in the pages of The Gazette .”
“That’s because Bob did,” Bitsy sniffed. “Buzzy is Bob’s toady.”
“He also tried to gum up the works this morning.”
Bitsy’s eyes gleamed at him. “Really? Do tell.”
“He defied the parking ban and left his Volvo parked overnight in front of the library. Des had to call him at 6 AM to get him move it. She said he was really rude to her.”
“He’s a nasty old man,” Bitsy said. “But there is another explanation. For why Buzzy left his car there overnight, I mean. Hard as I find that to believe.”
“I’ll say,” Helen agreed.
“Okay, I’m not following you.”
“Buzzy lives on Appleby Lane,” Bitsy explained. “It’s a dead-end road. The neighbors are right on top of each other and extremely nosy. Buzzy’s a bachelor who visits a lady friend on a regular basis and doesn’t wish to advertise it to his neighbors. If he came driving home in the wee hours every night one of them would hear him pulling into his garage. Word would get out that he’s seeing someone. So he leaves his car parked on Dorset Street and retrieves it early in the morning. Probably parks down the block from his lady friend’s house as well.”
“Common practice, Mitch,” Sheila said. “Everyone knows that.”
“Really? I didn’t.”
“That’s because you live on an island,” Helen said. “And you’re not a cheat.”
“If you were we wouldn’t be talking to you,” Bitsy said.
“Because Des would have shot you by now,” Sheila added.
All three ladies broke out into gales of laughter.
Mitch helped himself to one of Sheila’s chocolate chip cookies, glad he could bring so much mirth into their lives. “Any idea who Buzzy’s getting busy with?”
“At his age I
Similar Books
