Julius Katz Mysteries by Dave Zeltserman Read Free Book Online Page B

and since then I’ve been by myself, mostly reading for pleasure and puttering around. I left the townhouse once since my second meeting with her, and that was only tonight to go out for dinner.”
    Cramer was glaring daggers at him. Julius shrugged again.
    “I was planning to start my investigation soon,” Julius said. “It just hadn’t happened yet.”
    “What did Norma Brewer hire you for?” Cramer demanded.
    “A personal matter,” Julius said. “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss it.”
    “Your client’s dead!”
    “One of my clients is. Helen Arden accompanied her sister when I was hired, and I consider both of them my clients. If you obtain her permission to disclose the nature of the investigation to you, I will gladly do so.”
    “Katz, there’s no such thing as PI-client confidentiality.”
    “Which is why I had her hire me through Mr. Zack. Technically, I’m working for him.”
    It was a bald-faced lie, one that Julius said convincingly. As I mentioned before, he had no “tell”, at least none that I have ever been able to discern. Cramer shot Henry Zack a look. Henry did have a “tell”. He would rub his thumb with his forefinger before he was going to lie, but Cramer had already missed it. Henry nodded and confirmed what Julius said.
    “As an extension of me, Julius does have confidentiality with our clients. However, with Helen Arden’s permission, I’m willing to allow Julius to tell you about his conversation with Norma Brewer.”
    Cramer’s face had been cherry red, now it was paling to a bone white. “You two have just been jerking me around,” he accused bitterly.
    “No, we haven’t,” Julius said. “I didn’t invite you here under the pretense that I had any knowledge of this murder. You came storming to my home threatening to arrest me. I indulged you by offering to have a civil conversation with you.”
    The coffee had finished percolating. Julius stopped to pour two cups, one for Henry, one for himself. After asking Henry how he liked his coffee, he turned back to Cramer. Before he continued he took a deep breath of air, expanding his chest, and held it for several seconds before releasing it. The anger in his eyes was genuine. I’d been with him long enough to know that.
    “From the first minute you’ve done nothing but insult and accuse me,” Julius continued. “I should throw you out of here physically, especially after the charade you’ve been participating in, believing that I could be duped by such sophistry.”
    Cramer started to protest with a forced indignation, but Julius shot him a withering look which stalled the detective’s protest to a mere stutter.
    “Please, don’t insult my intelligence any more than you already have. You must’ve already talked to Helen Arden, which is how you knew I’d been hired, and I’m sure you already asked her what the matter was about and there would be no reason for her not to tell you. You couldn’t possibly reach the position of Detective with that level of incompetence, despite the show you’ve put on here tonight. Isn’t that true?”
    Cramer sat confused for a moment, clearly not sure of which of the questions Julius had asked him. Finally, he nodded.
    “Alright,” Cramer admitted. “I wanted to hear your take on it.”
    “No, that’s not it at all. Your coming here and acting the way you have tells me that so far you have no witnesses and no forensic evidence, and that further, you don’t believe you’re going to. It also tells me that you see this murder as a mess and you’re not sure how to proceed. You thought you could come here and bully me into helping you.”
    Cramer started to protest, but Julius raised a finger to stop him.
    “Don’t attempt to argue this. I’m an expert poker player, Cramer, and I can spot a bluff, especially one as clumsy as yours. But this is a client of mine who has been murdered, so as distasteful as I’ve found your tactics so far, I will offer my help as