Read Online The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan - Free Book Online

wouldn’t leave me all alone in the world.”
    The subtraction of Hadley and Cassidy from her life didn’t surprise Rachel at all, but Khattak’s response was kind.
    â€œFor the time being, we’ll have to ask you for your key and that you stay away from this house until we’ve completed our inquiries. You should know, however, that you are designated as the beneficiary in Mr. Drayton’s life insurance policies. Regarding his will, if you know his lawyer’s name, you should contact him. He’ll be able to guide you further.”
    Melanie’s impossible heels saw her sway into Khattak’s chest.
    â€œThank you, Inspector, thank you! You don’t know how worried I’ve been. Does the policy say—?”
    â€œOne hundred thousand dollars each. There are two of them. But they won’t be settled until we’ve ascertained that Mr. Drayton’s death was no more than an accident.”
    Melanie stared at them shrewdly, her whole mood brightening.
    â€œChrissie didn’t kill himself. He had no reason to. I’ll swear that to anyone who asks.”
    She had the confidence of a woman who knew that the objections of any rational male could be softened by a comprehensive glance at her cleavage.
    She turned in her key without protest, a spring in her step as she let herself out of the garden.

 
    6.
    Do you still believe that we die
    only the first death
    and never receive any requital?
    â€œI want to look for that atlas, Rachel.”
    â€œI’d like to get to that museum before it closes, sir. And shouldn’t we get something to eat?” The breakfast sandwich being a faded memory at this point, leaving her purse redolent of egg whites, cheese, and sausage.
    â€œAfter this, I promise.”
    Rachel screwed up her face in concentration. Only one section of Drayton’s bookshelves held any atlases—the same one that contained the teen fiction she now ascribed to Hadley and Cassidy. They were heavy books. She took them out one at a time, shifting them to the surface of Drayton’s desk. Khattak shook them out. No letters fell loose, none were concealed between the endpapers or slipped inside their covers.
    â€œNo luck, sir,” she concluded.
    She was in the act of setting the final one back when she saw that Drayton had folded down the corner of a particular page. She opened the atlas to study the borders of the country mapped on its pages. It wasn’t Russia or Albania.
    In a quick flash of intuition she connected the name of the woman Melanie had called a little slut. Audrina. Shortened, it was a five letter word. A word dark-penciled on the map.
    She left the atlas open on the desk to make her way to the safe, adrenaline juicing her veins. The glimmer of an idea was taking root in her mind.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    She pointed Khattak to the atlas.
    â€œI think I might be able to figure out the combination.”
    If it was as simple as a substitution code. Numbers for a name Drayton hadn’t been able to get out of his mind, a name that kept him up at night. A preliminary attempt taught her that a straightforward substitution wouldn’t fit the five-digit display. Using paper from Drayton’s desk, she tried another tack. If she divided the alphabet in half and assigned the numbers one through thirteen, only one combination would spell the name she had found on the map. She punched in the numbers 45911 and the digital display lit up. As she pulled the small lever forward, she heard a click. The safe opened without resistance.
    Drayton hadn’t been mumbling the name of another woman in his sleep.
    He’d said Drina , not Audrina. The name on the map was also the code.
    Dozens of letters cascaded from the safe into her lap. She shifted through them, catching odd phrases here and there.
    Yellow ants, your days are numbered.
    Bend down, drink the water by the kerb like dogs.
    Take the town. Comb the streets house by