The Mysteries of Max: Books 31-33 Nic Saint (kiss me liar novel english .TXT) 📖

then Odelia and Chase arrived and came hurrying over to where we were guarding the dead man, and I didn’t have to speculate anymore on these Walking Dead scenarios of doom!

Chapter 19

Odelia looked around the small but cozy little studio. It hadn’t taken them long to find out that the man found at the bottom of the elevator shaft was named Darryl Farmer and that he lived with his girlfriend in a modest apartment in Leighton Heights. She and Chase had gone over there to talk to the girlfriend, and break the bad news to her.

“I knew this would happen one day,” said the girlfriend, whose name was Lucy Vale. She had long hair done up in dreadlocks, and was very pretty and petite, dressed in a flowing maroon robe. “I told him that if he kept this up, he’d end up dead.”

“And why is that?” asked Chase, who, like Odelia, was seated on a bean bag and trying to find a comfortable way to sit, which unfortunately was quite impossible. The entire studio was decorated in hobo chic style, with portraits of dead poets adorning the walls, and plenty of symbols for weed. The studio smelled of weed, too—a pervasive smell.

“Darryl was a raver and a DJ. It was what he lived for. And smoking weed and popping pills was part of the deal, unfortunately. He must have been baked out of his mind when he stumbled down that shaft.” She gave Chase a curious look. “You’re sure he was alone?”

“What do you mean?”

“He wasn’t with some girl?”

“You mean…”

“Darryl was something of a playboy, never happy to stick with one girl.”

“You’re saying he was unfaithful to you?” asked Odelia.

Lucy nodded, her fingers twitching as if holding a cigarette. “It was the reason I kicked him out last month.”

“Oh, so you weren’t a couple anymore?”

“No, I caught him cheating on me with some pink-haired teenager. It wouldn’t surprise me if she wasn’t even of age.”

Odelia cut a quick glance to her husband. “Do you happen to remember her name?”

“Um… Suzy something?”

“Suzy Bunyon?”

“Could be. I didn’t pay attention. She wasn’t the only one, by the way. Darryl would find himself a new girl every week. He’d hit on anything with a skirt at the raves he liked to attend. In fact that’s where we met. Only he’d convinced me I was the one, and for a while I believed him. But that didn’t last long.” She glanced up at the ceiling. “About six months or so? And then I discovered he’d been cheating on me all this time, his latest conquest this Suzy person, but there had been others, I’m sure.”

“Is there any reason you can think of why he’d be at a deserted construction site in the middle of the night?” asked Chase.

“Not really. It wasn’t the kind of place where he’d organize one of his raves, if that’s what you mean.”

“Where did he organize his raves?”

“Lately the place to be was the woods just outside Hampton Cove. You probably know where. You head in the direction of Happy Bays and then you turn left just beyond the town sign. We’ve been partying there the last couple of months now. Though mainly Darryl, not me. I have a job, you see. I can’t stay up all night and then expect to be able to work all day. But he was out there every night as far as I know.”

“The woods, huh,” said Chase, jotting down a note.

“Yeah, Darryl was an ace DJ. He knew just how to whip a party into a frenzy. That’s what made him so popular with the girls, I guess. I know it’s what made him popular with me,” she added ruefully. “I figured he was some kind of God when we first met.”

“And why was that?” asked Odelia. “What made him so popular?”

She shrugged. “At a rave the DJ is God. That’s just how it is.”

“So that was his job? Being a DJ at these raves?”

“If you can call it a job. Nobody paid him. In fact Darryl was as poor as a church mouse. Poorer, probably. It was another reason I kicked him out. It took me a while, but then I realized I was dating a loser. It became obvious to me he’d never amount to anything. He had no goals, no ambitions, except to party all night, every night.”

Odelia glanced around, and she caught sight of a nice new mountain bike. “Is that yours?” she asked.

“Nah, that’s Darryl’s. I told him to clear out and take his junk with him, but he hadn’t gotten round to it yet.” She sighed. “That’ll teach me to date a DJ.”

“Do you know of anyone who might have held a grudge against Darryl?” asked Chase.

“A grudge? I thought you said he had an accident.”

“Just one of those things we have to ask,” said the dutiful cop.

“I don’t think he had enemies,” said Lucy with a frown. “I mean, everybody loved him, you know. He was Mister Popular. A loser, and broke, but Mr. Popular all the same.”

“Thanks, Lucy,” said Odelia finally, when no more questions occurred to her or Chase.

“What do you want me to do with his stuff?”

“Can’t you give it to his parents?”

“I never met his parents. I don’t even know who they are.”

“I’ll tell them to get in touch with you,” Chase suggested. “You can arrange for them to come and pick up Daryl’s stuff.”

“I guess that’s all right,” said Lucy as she dragged herself up from her own bean bag and shook Odelia and Chase’s hands. Then she glanced down at Max and Dooley. “Do you always take your cats along with you, Miss Poole?”

“Yeah, they like to follow me around,” said Odelia with a smile.

“Just like Darryl,” said Lucy wistfully. “He liked to follow me around everywhere. Until he met the other girl. I guess he started following her around, and look where it got him.”

Chapter 20

Dooley and I were fortunate enough to be able to follow Odelia and