Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (A Dead Cold Box Set) Blake Banner (read out loud books txt) 📖

she was seeing the scene playing itself out in her mind. “Is that where it happened?”

Dehan nodded. “Yes.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a moment, she said, “No, not really. At least, I don’t know what Seb was doing there. Luis is a real party animal. I don’t know where he finds the energy. He used to drag Seb along all the time, but Seb and I had talked about it, and he’d decided to pull back a bit. He couldn’t afford it, for one thing, and he couldn’t take the pace. The fact is we were both finding Luis and Lynda hard work.”

I asked her, “How about Angela? Is she a party animal?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn’t strike me that way, but she might be.”

“I’m sorry to have to ask this, Elizabeth, but, to the best of your knowledge, was either of the boys having an intimate relationship with her?”

She winced a bit, like I’d hurt her feelings. “No, at least, I know Sebastian wasn’t. I don’t know about Luis. But like I said, I think it was more like brothers and a sister. They’d known each other all their lives. They grew up together. I think their parents were friends or something.”

I looked at Dehan. “I think that’s all we need to know for now…” Dehan said, “There is just one more thing. Sebastian was driving a Toyota Corolla…”

Elizabeth frowned. “A Toyota?” She shook her head. “Seb’s car is an old VW Beetle. He called it his project. It’s at the mechanic’s right now... I guess that’s one project he’ll never finish…” She stopped, steadied herself, took a deep breath. “Luis drives a second or third hand Ford Probe. I don’t know whose Toyota that was. Maybe they borrowed it from somebody.” She glanced at us each in turn. “It looks like there was a lot about them both that I didn’t know…”

She pulled out her cell and called her mother to come and collect her. Two minutes later, we watched her walk out of the café, holding it together until she got home. Then everything would fall apart. Then she would allow the full horror, the full, inescapable reality of it to hit her. Dehan puffed out her cheeks and blew, then rubbed her face with her hands and ran her fingers through her hair. It was an eloquent combination of gestures, and expressed pretty well how I felt myself.

“Well, Detective Stone,” she said, and slapped her hand on my shoulder, “it’s looking like the boys were playing fast and loose with the pharmacy, and Lynda, the pharmacist’s assistant. I say we take her downtown and ask her a few tough questions, whaddya say, partner?”

“I say it’s looking like one to Detective Dehan and nil to Detective Stone. But it’s early yet. I say we make like cannibals and grill this girl.”

She suppressed a laugh and shook her head. “Nice. That’s nice.”

As we crossed the café toward the door, in search of the pharmacy, she was still chuckling and repeating under her breath, “Make like cannibals, and grill this girl…”

We made our way out to Pelham Parkway and found the pharmacy in Building One. There was a pretty young girl behind the counter. She was in her early twenties, tall and blond, with mischievous eyes which smiled as we stepped in.

“Good morning!” She said it with that curious, antipodean sing-song.

I smiled back. “Hi, we are NYPD Detectives.” I showed her my badge. “I am Detective Stone, this is my partner, Detective Dehan. Are you Lynda Graham?”

Her face became wary. “Ah…yeah… Why?”

Dehan gave a small, not unfriendly laugh. “Was that a yes, Lynda?”

“Yeah, I guess it was. What’s the problem?”

“We need to ask you some questions about Luis Irizarry and Sebastian Acosta. We’d like you to accompany us to the station.”

“Oh, shit! Look…” She glanced over her shoulder toward the back of the shop. I figured her boss was in there. Her voice dropped. “Me and Luis? I don’t know what he’s told you but we just hang out? We’re friends?” She had that Australian trick of making statements sound like questions. She looked from me to Dehan and back again. “I don’t know anything, I mean, I don’t know…”

She trailed off. We waited a moment while she stared at us. Finally, I said, “Lynda, this is a murder inquiry, and we would like you to come down to the station to answer some questions.”

Her jaw literally dropped. She gaped at me. “Murder? Holy shit!”

I gave a humorless smile. “What did you think it would be, Lynda?”

“Ay? No…! Nothing! I didn’t… I don’t know… Murder?”

Six

It was thirty minutes past nine in the morning. We’d been going for six hours after just three hours sleep. I wasn’t sure if my backache had given me a headache or if it was the other way around, but they both ached. We sat opposite Lynda in interrogation room three. I sipped strong black coffee and thought about organizing my thoughts.

Dehan got there first.

“When was the last time you saw Luis, Lynda?”

It occurred to me as she asked it that Lynda was still under the impression that it was Luis who had been murdered. I glanced at Dehan and realized that she was aware of this, too. She held Lynda’s eye while Lynda stared at her and swallowed three times without saying anything. Dehan cocked her head on one side.

“Is there a problem, Lynda?”

“No… Um… I’m just thinking? Um, last night?”

Dehan frowned like she was confused. “Are you telling me or asking me, Lynda? When was the last time you saw Luis?”

“Last night.”

“At what time?”

“Oh, um…like, eight o’clock? Maybe a bit later.”

“Where did you see him?”

“Him and Seb? Come over to my place for a few beers?”