Fidelity by Thomas Perry Read Free Book Online Page A

secretive.
    Emily had examined the dozen most recent case files before she heard the sound of a key in the door of the outer office. She was ter-rifled. The killer must have known today was the day of the funeral. What did he want? It was too late to turn off the lights, so she ducked behind Phil’s desk, opened the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet behind her, and took out the gun Phil had left there. She heard the door rattle a little as she looked at the pistol frantically, found the safety, and switched it off. She put her eye to the side of the desk and watched as the door swung open.
    Ray Hall walked into the office, looked around him, a puzzled expression on his face. He reached into his coat.
    Emily called, “It’s me, Ray. Emily.” She got up from the floor, sat in Phil’s chair, and hid the gun in a lower desk drawer so he wouldn’t see it.
    “Oh. You scared me. I was pretty sure we had left the lights off.”
    “You had,” she said.
    “Why aren’t you home?” He walked to the door of Phil’s office and stood there.
    “Why aren’t you?”
    “I’m meeting the others here. We talked at the funeral, and we thought we’d come in.” As he spoke, Dewey Burns and Billy Przwalski came in the door, stopped, and looked at Emily and Ray. A moment later, April Dougherty arrived.
    They whispered to each other in the outer office, and then came to the door of Phil’s glass cubicle. Ray Hall stepped inside with Emily and the others crowded in after him.
    She lifted the dozen case files out of the file drawer, set them on Phil’s desk, and said, “Thanks. I’m grateful to all of you for coming in.”
    “We talked after the funeral, and we thought we might come in and see what we could do about collecting Phil’s things for you. We didn’t expect you to be here. But since you are, maybe we can finish the job today and close up the office.”
    “Close up the office?” Emily said.
    Ray shrugged. “Yes.”
    “Thanks for your offer. You’ve all been really kind, and I know things look bad right now. At the moment I don’t have the money for this week’s paychecks, but I do intend to make everything right as soon as I can.”
    “That’s okay,” Dewey Burns said. The others nodded, then stood where they were, looking uncomfortable.
    “I can see you’re all waiting politely to hear me say thanks for everything, and good luck in your next job. That’s not why I came in today. I’m here to work.”
    “What?” Dewey Burns said.
    “I said I’m here to work.”
    “Here?” Bill Przwalski said. “At the agency?”
    “Phil’s gone, Emily,” Ray Hall said gently. “The agency is bankrupt.”
    “I’m afraid I can’t just let it go at that, Ray. Phil not only cleaned out the agency’s accounts, but he also emptied our savings, let his life insurance go, and-as far as I can tell-cleared out whatever money he had set aside for retirement. I don’t know why he did. I don’t know why he was killed. But I find that all I’ve got left is this business. I’ve got to try to run it.”
    Dewey Burns said, “You can’t run a detective agency without a license.”
    “You and Ray both have licenses, and Billy’s halfway there.”
    Ray Hall said, “Emily, this is probably not a great idea. It’s true that technically, the agency still exists, and since you’re Phil’s heir, you own it. But running it is a different story. It’s not an easy business, and with the bank accounts gone, the assets aren’t much-a few lastgeneration computers, some steel filing cabinets, and a reputation that depended on Phil’s credibility. You would probably be smarter to sell it.”
    “I’m not completely ignorant,” she said. “I worked with Phil in the old days, when we started this agency. I’m not a detective, but I know how to run an office.”
    Dewey Burns said, “When was the last time you worked?”
    “I quit when I was seven months pregnant.”
    The four attempted to conceal their skepticism. Ray