Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich Read Free Book Online Page A

safe.”
    “Have you checked the safe since he disappeared?” Emerson asked her.
    “No. I’m sure there’s nothing in it of interest to me. I keep my jewelry in the bedroom. Truth is, I don’t even know the combination. I believe our lawyer has the ability to open it should something happen to Günter.”
    “It sounds as if you expect Günter to return,” Emerson said. “Have you heard from him?”
    “No, I haven’t heard from him. One morning he left for work with his to-go cup of coffee and his briefcase, and he simply never returned.”
    “You don’t seem especially worried,” Emerson said.
    “I drink a lot,” Irene said. “And I smoke dope. It keeps me more or less happy.”

I rene opened the door at the top of the stairs, and everyone stepped into Günter’s home office. It was a room much like Günter’s office at Blane-Grunwald, all rich mahogany and plush upholstery. A few flies buzzed around in the semidarkness. A shaft of sunlight fell on the ornate partners desk through the gap in the heavy draperies. The walls were paneled and lined with bookshelves. The books were for the most part academic.
    Irene opened the drapes. “I really should air this room. I can’t imagine how these flies got in here.”
    A door chimed downstairs, and Irene looked at her watch. “That’s my housekeeper. I need to talk to her. And I’m meeting a friend for coffee in a few minutes. Will you be much longer?”
    “Yes,” Emerson said. “Considerably longer.”
    Riley thought Irene looked like she wanted to stick a fork in Emerson’s heart. And she didn’t blame her.
    “Would you mind terribly letting yourself out?” Irene said, forcing a smile. “I really need to run.”
    “No worries,” Emerson said, rifling through Günter’s file drawer, not looking at Irene. “We’re fine on our own.”
    Riley settled into an oversized overstuffed chair and watched Emerson search through the room. After fifteen minutes she was tired of watching. She checked her cellphone for emails and surfed some news sites. At the thirty-minute mark she began sighing. Loudly.
SIGH!
    “I hear you,” Emerson said. “I would expect better communication skills from you than
sighing.
”
    “I didn’t want to disturb you.”
    “Rubbish.”
    “That’s very British.”
    “I went to secondary school in England. Several of them, actually.”
    “Kept getting kicked out?”
    “I was an academic challenge.”
    “Are you finding anything useful?” Riley asked.
    Emerson opened the top drawer on the desk and removed a scrap of paper. “This room is surprisingly sterile. Very much like Günter’s office. No personal effects scattered about. And to answer your question…perhaps. There’s this piece of paper with a quotation from Seneca, the Roman philosopher.
Sometimes, even to live is an act of courage.
”
    “What does it mean?”
    “It’s either a suicide note, or the exact opposite.”
    “What’s the exact opposite of a suicide note?” Riley asked.
    “Getting up every day and living. And even better than the quote is the name scrawled on the back. ‘Dr. Bauerfeind.’ ”
    “Do you know him?”
    “We’ve met.”
    “Anything else that’s captured your interest?”
    “The beetle hanging on the wall. It’s a death’s head beetle.”
    Riley crossed the room and examined the beetle. It was perfectly preserved and mounted in a glass frame. The shell was shiny, with two black spots on it. The wings were glossy and golden. Under it was pinned a piece of paper with an inscription, written in a fine scientific hand. SCARABAEUS CAPUT HOMINIS .
    While Riley looked at the beetle, Emerson removed a Rembrandt etching from the wall and exposed Günter’s safe.
    “So predictable,” he said. “It really takes some of the fun out of it.”
    He stared at the digital keypad for a minute or two, punched in a combination, and the safe swung open.
    “How did you know the combination?” Riley asked.
    “It was obvious. I only