Lark by Richard; Forrest Read Free Book Online Page B

her.”
    â€œMaybe. Or someone could have wanted it to look that way. Let’s see what our friends in white have to say before we make up our minds.”
    Lark had expected at least a minimum amount of squalor in the house, since it was inhabited by a group of weird young people. At his knock, the door was opened by a flaxen-haired young woman whose slightly frayed prom dress was pulled high above her knees and tucked around her waist. Lark’s eyes were drawn to her legs. He noticed bare feet and knees that were red with slight abrasions. In the hallway behind her was a scrub bucket and brush. It was obvious that she had been doing the floor on her hands and knees.
    She averted her eyes and her voice was distant and faraway, as if she were a recalcitrant child. “Yes?”
    â€œI’m Lieutenant Lark of the police and I have a search warrant for this house.”
    The girl immediately turned and fled down the hallway. Near the bucket she skidded on the wet floor, caught herself, and continued running through a swinging door at the rear of the house.
    â€œWant me to cover the rear?” Horse asked.
    â€œI don’t think she’s running. I think she went to get someone.”
    Winthrop Rutledge, splendid looking in a suit the color of vanilla ice cream, scurried through the door and hurried to them. “You can’t come in here!”
    Lark took two steps further into the house. “We’re in, Winthrop. I have a warrant signed by a judge.” He offered the search-and-seizure warrant while simultaneously nodding toward Najankian to begin the search.
    Winthrop looked at the legal paper with a blank expression. “Does this mean I have to let you in?”
    â€œIt does.”
    â€œWe’re very private here.”
    â€œWe won’t disturb anything unless it pertains to the murder.”
    â€œShe was never in here.”
    â€œI’ll want to talk to the girls.”
    â€œI speak for them.”
    Lark stepped closer to the man in the white suit. “Listen, there are two ways we can do this: the easy way or the hard way. The hard way is downtown, and that means paperwork, reading your rights, and all that other jazz that makes me unhappy. The easy way is your cooperation. Well?”
    Winthrop hesitated only a moment. “I’ll get everyone together in the kitchen.” He started back down the hall and called over his shoulder. “That is, everyone except for Reba. Reba is a new probationer and is concentrating in the green room.”
    â€œShe what?”
    Winthrop sighed. “You’ll find her when you go through the house.”
    â€œUh huh,” Lark said as he nodded again to Horse. “Let’s go.”
    The room to the right of the front entrance, which had once been the parlor, was spotless and held only a few pieces of furniture: a worn couch covered with a homemade afghan, and several straight chairs. A lobster pot had been varnished and was now used as a coffee table. It held several books and Lark examined the titles: Crowley’s Magick in Theory and Practice , Wheatley’s The Devil and All His Works , and Wood’s Black Magic .
    Najankian efficiently looked under cushions and in back of furniture. The sparse room was quickly searched. “Whatcha looking at?”
    â€œI think we have ourselves a cult,” Lark said. “Let’s go across the hall.”
    What would have been the dining room was entered by pushing back heavy double doors. “Oh, boy,” Najankian said when the open doors revealed the room.
    â€œWhat did I tell you? A goddamn cult.”
    The floor and walls of the room had been painted black and heavy black drapes covered the windows. A lectern, covered with a dark blanket, was in one corner of the room and held a polished brass candelabrum. A single white circle in the center of the floor with a diameter of seven feet was the only color relief in the dark room.
    â€œOh,