Read Online The Hearse You Came in On by Tim Cockey - Free Book Online Page A

to be killed.”
    “Are you suggesting that I killed Carolyn?”
    I didn’t much care for the poker face that came with that question. But it was the right question.
    “I don’t know what I’m suggesting,” I said cautiously. “But you might be on to something.”
    Detective Zabriskie lowered her finger tent. Her face softened. So did her voice.
    “I was trying to save Carolyn James, Mr. Sewell.”
    “From killing herself?”
    “From being killed.”
    “Somebody wanted to kill her?”
    She nodded. When she spoke, there was no mistaking the sadness in her voice. “They didn’t get their chance. Carolyn took care of the problem for them.”
    The detective redirected her gaze to a water spot up on the ceiling vaguely in the shape of South America. Or inverted Africa. Outside the window directly behind Kate Zabriskie’s head a flashing neon sign with burlesqueletters reading: “She Feels Guilty” was being hoisted into view. I blinked and it was gone.
    I cut into her reverie. “Are you going to explain any of this to me?”
    “It’s complicated,” she said.
    I laughed out loud at that. I couldn’t help it. Detective Zabriskie went cold on me.
    “I said it was complicated, I didn’t say it was funny.”
    “I know it’s not funny. Two people I never knew are dead and Napoleon down the hall there has dragged me down here so that he can stick a few pins into me. So I know it’s not really funny. That weird stunt you pulled on me, that wasn’t funny. But now you’re saying it’s complicated.
That’s
worth a definite chuckle. It had sure as hell
better
be complicated, Detective. What I’d like is for you to uncomplicate it for me.”
    “Wouldn’t you rather just drop it?”
    “What do you mean, ‘drop it’? You mean, drop it drop it?”
    “I mean forget about it. Let it go. Chalk it up as a peculiar week. A
funny
week if you prefer. I’m suggesting that you just file this away as someone else’s business, Mr. Sewell, and go on about your life.”
    I shook my head slowly. “Can’t do that, Detective.”
    “You should.”
    “Let’s say I’m uncommonly curious.”
    “Let’s say you’re unwisely curious.”
    “Okay, doc, let’s say that. That’s fine. But unwise or not, I’m still curious. And you still owe me an explanation.”
    “I am trying to keep you from getting involved in something unpleasant,” she said tersely.
    “Then you should have thought of that before you sashayed into my place of business under the assumed name of a soon-to-be-dead person and asked me to bury you.”
    “I know I should have, damn it. I was having a
bad day.
Do you know what that is?”
    “I think I’ve read about them.”
    She slammed her hands down on her desk. “Why are you being so sarcastic?”
    “Why are you being so secretive?”
    “I’m a cop! It’s part of my job!”
    “I thought your job was to serve and protect.”
    The next thing I knew, the woman was on her feet. She snatched up a staple gun from her desk and threw it against the wall. Her face was flashing crimson. A light on her telephone lit up and she picked up the receiver. “No. No problem. Thanks.” She slammed the phone down and glared over at me. I kept my trap shut. After all, somewhere in this office this woman had a gun. Kate Zabriskie waited a good ten seconds, maybe more then she measured out her words.
    “It
is
my job, Mr. Sewell. That’s exactly what it is. And I did a rotten job of protecting Carolyn James, okay? And I don’t feel very good about it. Okay? In fact, I feel horrible about it. So now I am trying to protect you and you’re not letting me.”
    “I’m not in any danger.”
    “That’s true. You’re not. So how about we keep it that way? How about you let me serve and protect?”
    We squared off for another ten seconds of silence. She spoke first.
    “Are you going to back out of this, Mr. Sewell?”
    “No.”
    She let out a most unhappy sigh. “Then we need to talk.”
    I spread my hands.