Jason Deas - Benny James 03 - Brushed Away by Jason Deas Read Free Book Online Page A

could be the type of person to do something like this?”
    “Make a painting out of blood—yes, kill someone—no.”
    “What kind of work does Angel’s mother do?”
    “Her name is Nina and she’s a mix of Georgia O’Keefe, Jackson Pollack, and Wassily Kandinsky.”
    “Oh my,” Benny said. “So let me get this straight. She paints something in nature, close up, throws sand and other random things in the paint, and has spirit?”
    “Have you seen her work?”
    “Not yet.”
    “Show off,” Vernon said. “What is she like as a person?”
    “Shy, quiet, and withdrawn.”
    “What do you mean by withdrawn?” Vernon asked.
    “I think she’s one of those shy people who have a very hard time interacting with people, even in the simplest exchanges. She only brought her work here because there was such a bad leak in her roof. If she didn’t need the money she never would have come.”
    “And people bought her work?” Vernon asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Can I finish this story?” Benny asked.
    “Be my guest,” Rene said smiling.
    “You bought her work.”
    “I did.”
    “You’re good people,” Vernon said.
    “Would you like a painting of a maple leaf, which has pieces of pine straw in it, and every color you ever imagined? I don’t have room for a lot of paintings here on the sailboat.”
    Benny and Vernon laughed and gave each other a secretive nod. They stood in unison.
    “We’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” Vernon said. “We just wanted to check on you and ask a few questions. Let me know if you think of anything else.”
    “I will.”
    Benny pretended to sniff the air when he told Rene goodbye and had eye contact with her.
    “Do you smell gas or something?” Rene asked.
    “No, I just caught a whiff of a man’s cologne. You must have had a guest earlier.”
    “No. You two are the only people who’ve come over today.”
    “Maybe it’s my new deodorant,” Benny said. “The store was out of my usual.”
    As Rene turned to walk to the door, Vernon shot Benny a look and Benny stuck his tongue out at him.
     

Chapter 7
     
    Benny steered the boat back toward his marina. When they were out of earshot from Rene’s, Vernon busted out laughing. Benny pulled the throttle back and slowed the boat.
    “Would you like to share?” Benny asked.
    “Did you really smell cologne? I didn’t smell anything.”
    “No. I didn’t smell anything either, but I wanted her to lie to my face.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I’ve studied lies. Faces do different things with different types of lies and I wanted to read her face.”
    “And?”
    “It was definitely an ashamed lie.”
    “Ashamed of what?”
    “My guess is she’s sleeping with Big E so he’ll let her live at the marina. That’s all. Just a guess.”
    “Why wouldn’t she just get an apartment or a house?”
    “I imagine she likes living on her boat. Who knows why people do the things they do.”
    “How about I check Big E out this afternoon, and you see if you can have a chat with Nina Oglethorpe.”
    “Sounds good. We need a photo of the front of Big E’s boat. Do you think one of your deputies can find it and snap one?”
    “I’ll do it.”
    “Really? Are you going to drive a canoe around the lake and look for his boat? And if you find it, you’ll park your canoe and take a couple of photos?”
    “Have I told you lately that you’re hilarious?”
    “No, you haven’t.”
    “I wonder why?”
    Benny laughed and pushed the throttle down as Vernon chuckled and settled into his seat.
     
    Vernon spotted Big E’s boat at the Sleepy Cove Marina. Benny slowed the boat.
    “That was easy,” he told Benny. “I have a little point and shoot camera in the car.”
    As Benny tied the boat, he noticed Big E walking out of Donny’s office toward his boat.
    “Hurry and get the camera. I’ll try to make small talk with him.”
    Vernon hurried up the dock and Big E yelled to Donny that he would get him next time. Benny heard his