Read Online The Deadly Embrace by Robert J. Mrazek - Free Book Online Page B

table had been set for lunch. There were two place settings. Sterling silver and cut-glass wine goblets flanked fine old china. A ripe wedge of cheese sat next to a plate of freshly cut tomatoes and fresh basil. Taggart was tempted to ask him where the admiral got fresh tomatoes in January, but he was trying to be on his best behavior.
    “Thank you for taking time to see us,” he said after they had sat down. “May I smoke?”
    “Of course,” replied the admiral, sitting down next to the woman. His uniform was impeccably tailored, with six inches of heavy gold braid on each elbow.
    “I regret that I only have a few minutes for you,” said the admiral, removing his rimless steel glasses and rubbing his eyes. “I have an exceedingly busy afternoon.”
    Although she had seemed more youthful from a distance, the woman beside him was in her late thirties, with delicate, angular features. Her large amber eyes were flecked with gold. Liza noticed the narrow bands of red puffiness underneath them, and wondered if she had been crying. She sat in the carved chair with a trim, graceful bearing.
    “I gathered from General Manigault’s telephone call that this was important,” said Admiral Jellico.
    “Yes, sir,” said Taggart, glancing momentarily at the woman. “It is also highly confidential.”
    “Helen Bellayne is my personal aide and secretary,” he replied. “Anything you have to tell me can be said in front of her. She has a top-secret clearance, just as I do.”
    The woman smiled politely at Taggart.
    “This matter is highly personal,” persisted Taggart. “I wanted to give you a private opportunity to...”
    “I said I only have a few minutes, Major Taggart. Get on with it.” Taggart nodded and said, “I assume that you have been notified about the death of Lieutenant Jocelyn Dunbar.”
    “Yes, I was. It’s most unfortunate. She was a very efficient girl,” he said, as if the loss had only been a typewriter.
    “We have every reason to believe she was murdered, Admiral.”
    “I understand that Joss took her own life,” said Helen Bellayne in a voice steeped with upper-class cadence. Her amber eyes filled with tears as she added, “Colonel Gaines called an hour ago to tell me.”
    “He is entitled to his opinion,” said Taggart, “but he is not in charge of the investigation. I am.”
    “I gather you are some kind of policeman,” said the admiral, looking at Taggart as if the job was as disreputable as his uniform.
    “Not any longer,” replied Taggart. “Now I work for General Manigault in military security.”
    “And why did you leave police work?”
    “I was fired,” said Taggart.
    “I see. And now you’re over here.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Well, I have no idea how she died,” he said. “Is there anything else?”
    “Admiral Jellico, I will be very blunt. It would appear that your relationship with Lieutenant Dunbar went well beyond the military chain of command,” said Taggart.
    The admiral glanced momentarily at Helen Bellayne before training his eyes again on Taggart.
    “What are you implying, Major?”
    “That you were involved with Lieutenant Dunbar in a sexual relationship,” he said evenly.
    “That is absurd,” pronounced Admiral Jellico very calmly. “Jocelyn was younger than my own daughter. On what basis do you make such an accusation?”
    Taggart debated for a moment whether to be frank about the private communications he had read over the past several months. This was worse than matrimonial work, he thought silently.
    “I’m not at liberty to discuss that right now,” said Taggart. “However, I was hoping to enlist your cooperation so that you’re immediately removed as a potential suspect. Can you please tell me where you were last night from nine o’clock until dawn?”
    “This interview is at an end,” the admiral said, standing up from the table. “I plan to call General Manigault immediately and tell him that you have made a totally unsupported