"Elrod, P N - Vampire Files 09 - Lady Crymsyn E-Txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elrod P N)

Damn. I was afraid he'd say something like that. "Look, I have to have at least
half the basement finished by the end of the week. Monday I got people coming in
to install the heating and air-conditioning andЧ"
"You're putting in air-conditioning?" He seemed intrigued.
"Yeah, the movie theaters don't do so bad by it, and once I get three hundred
people in upstairs it's gonna be hot here even in the winter. The whole shebang
goes in on this side of the basement. Will that be all right with you?" I could
have made it all right with him, but I didn't want to interfere with the process
of an investigation. My only angle was making sure he wasn't throwing his weight
around just to show he could do it.
He thought it over. "Let my people check over this end tomorrow, then you should
be able to go ahead. Unless they find something, that is." I agreed to that and
wished him luck. He'd need it. "You think you'll turn up anything after all this
time?"
"Maybe. We'll find out who was a regular when the place was open, and take it
from there. Something as ugly as this is going to leave a hell of a messy
trail."
"Why do you say that?"
He leveled a long stare at the other end of the room, where a knot of his men
lingered around the alcove. "Because anyone who went to the trouble of walling
that poor girl up alive did it as an object lesson. Those kinds of lessons are
no good unless you tell others about it. We might not find solid proof against
the person who did it, but we'll probably get a likely suspect."
"Huh. Well, if it goes that far, gimme a call. I'd like to know who it is."
He shot me a funny look. "Mr. Fleming, that would be a breach ofЧ"
"BlairЧ" I focused hard on him again. "I said gimme a call if you find your man.
Remember, it'll be a pleasure for you to help me or Escott."
He blinked, maybe even felt a little dizziness from the pressure I was putting
on him. "Yes, of course I will."
I released him. He couldn't have known I was trying to do him a favor. If he
found a suspect, then I could get a confession. That girl had died in a manner
so hideous I shied away from even thinking about it. Putting her killer's neck
in a noose seemed little enough punishment for the crime, but I'd gladly do it,
given the opportunity.
"You know where to find me," I said, hoping to wind things up.
"YesЕ ah, that's all for now." His departing smile was brief and tinged with
puzzlement, but this time he did shake hands before going off to check on his
men.
We were old pals, after all.
For one whole second I debated running the gauntlet with the reporters again,
then took the back way out. Leon Kell caught my eye, though, so I went over to
hear what he wanted.
"What a job it was," he said. "They had me and the guys tearing that whole thing
out one brick at a time by hand with only hammers and chisels to break up the
mortar. We coulda done it in a couple of minutes with picks if they'd let us,
but they wanted to take pictures."
"It has something to do with preserving the evidence."
"They got plenty of it and then some. The questions they askedЧlike how old the
mortar was. As if I should know such things. It wasn't even good mortar."
"Yeah?"