A Killer in the Rye by Delia Rosen Read Free Book Online Page B

ball. “Look, I spoke to the police about this yesterday. I don’t see what—”
    â€œWhat you see isn’t important,” he said. “There’s something you need to understand . This was a family member. A much-loved family member. He was like a brother to me.”
    â€œUnderstandable. He was your brother-in-law.”
    â€œDon’t give me sass. I have some questions for you. How well did you know Joe?”
    Sass? That was the least of what I wanted to give him. “Officer McCoy, are you on the Nashville PD?”
    â€œSeven years.”
    â€œThen you know Detective Daniels?”
    â€œJust answer the question. Either that, or you’re going to have a thin blue line that doesn’t answer your alarm when it goes off. And it will.”
    I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. We were in Nashville, not New York. And even in New York that kind of thing happened mostly in the Bronx.
    â€œDid you just threaten me, Officer McCoy?”
    â€œHow well did you know Joe?”
    I decided to see where this was going. “Like I told some not-so-thin members of your blue line, I didn’t know him. We’d occasionally spoken by phone for business. And he called me that morning, but I wasn’t here to take the call. The cops have a recording of that.”
    â€œHey, I don’t like the term cops, ” he snapped. “It’s disrespectful. Call us police.”
    â€œCall me Ishmael,” I said.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œCall me a cab.”
    â€œLady, are you crazy?”
    â€œ Call Northside 777 ,” I said. “Crazy? I’m getting there.” I had to turn this into a game. If I took it seriously, I’d scream till my throat was raw.
    â€œLady, this may be a joke to you, but my dear sister, Joe’s wife, has just lost her beloved husband. Her anchor. Her business partner. Do you understand the pressure that puts on a family? Her husband’s dead, and you’re making jokes.”
    â€œOfficer, I understand. You’re all in mourning. And frankly, maybe you’re not thinking clearly. So perhaps you’d better hang up, take a step back, and tend to your sister. Because from where I sit this is harras—”
    â€œI don’t think you do understand!” Officer McCoy shouted into the phone like a delayed-reaction firecracker. “What are you not telling us? Where were you Friday morning? Why were you alone with my brother-in-law?”
    â€œI was alone with a corpse!” I screamed. “Are you insane?”
    My office door cracked open slightly, and I looked over as a face appeared. Grant! I’d never been so happy to see him.
    I put a shush finger to my lips and punched on the speaker.
    â€œI’m sorry, Officer McCoy. Would you repeat the question?”
    â€œI said, ‘Why were you alone with my brother-in-law? ’ I don’t believe he was necessarily a corpse, like you say. Not until you made him one! Why?”
    â€œOkay, Officer. I confess. Only not about being with your brother-in-law. I was with Detective Daniels, who happens to be with me. Would you like him to confirm it?”
    It was a lie, but it was all I could think of to put this shmendrick in his place.
    â€œWhy, you slimy New York—”
    â€œWatch that,” I cautioned. I knew what was coming next.
    Grant jumped in before things got worse. “Jason?” he barked. “What the hell are you doing, man?”
    â€œTalking to your friend.”
    â€œI hear that. On whose authority?”
    â€œMy own,” he said.
    â€œYour own. Where in the regulations is ‘your own authority’ a reason to interrogate a suspect?”
    I stared up at him like I was looking at Bernini’s David in human form, all heroic and stern but with clothes on.
    â€œDetective, I was following up on—”
    â€œA family matter?”
    â€œI thought she might have remembered