Lloyd Corricelli - Ronan Marino 01 - Two Redheads & a Dead Blonde by Lloyd Corricelli Read Free Book Online Page A

Wal-Mart prints of little kids playing baseball, and I couldn’t bear the thought of living in a mirror image of her house. I also didn’t want the constant grief from my buddies about the pictures of sweet faced cherubs on my walls. I could almost hear the Michael Jackson comments within thirty seconds of their first visit. My friends were all a bunch of ball busters, not much different than myself. I still got a rash of shit over the frilly drapes Karen picked out for my kitchen, but I could live with that. Comparisons to a whacked-out dead pop singer, I could not.
     
    * * * *
    I parked my Jeep in the garage and managed to stumble into the shower to wash the smell of cheap beer and sweat off me. After taking a whiff of myself, I’m surprised Karen could stand it. My clothes should have been burned but a heavy-duty washing might save them.
    I fell into bed sometime around four. Before I drifted off, I thought of Karen, again feeling like I should have been with her at that moment. Somewhere in my dreams, I was bounding across roof tops in some random crime filled city, my cape flowing behind me, when the doorbell rang and a pounding on my front door woke me.
    I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It was nearly ten in the morning. My mind raced through all the possibilities of who could have been banging on my door this early, and none of them were good including a scary image of my mother and tuna fish. I dragged my ass down the stairs and looked out the window. It would have been better if it were my mom with a casserole.
    “Open the door, please.”
    Two guys in jackets, ties, and dark glasses stood on my porch. This is never a good sign.
    “What do you want?” I asked.
    “We’re with the Lowell Police Department. Please open the door, sir.”
    I unlatched the door and opened it.
    “Ronan Marino?”
    “You got em’. What can I do for you?”
    “I’m Detective Morley. This is Detective Garcia.”
    They badged me, and I quickly glanced over their shields and nodded. There looked to be about a twenty-five-year age difference between them. Garcia was a squat tough-looking Puerto-Rican with a Marine high and tight, while Morley was tall and lanky with thinning gray hair and a big pointy nose. They were an odd pair to say the least.
    “We’d like you to come down to the station,” Morley said. His breath smelled like he had eaten rotten fish with garlic for breakfast.
    “What’s going on, guys?”
    “Were you with a Karen Pommer last night?”
    A feeling of dread washed over me. “Yeah, we left Max’s together after closing.”
    “She was found dead this morning, floating in the river near the Pawtucket Falls.”
    The news hit me like a Ray Bourque slapshot between the eyes.
    They didn’t handcuff me or read me my rights, so this was going to be a voluntary interview. That meant I could choose to leave anytime I liked, though in reality it never actually worked that way. There is always an excuse to keep you there. I was a suspect in my girlfriend’s death.
    I quickly got dressed and sat in the back seat of their unmarked patrol car, feeling ill with thoughts of Karen floating in the cold waters of the Merrimack.
    They drove into the police garage off of Arcand Drive and parked next to an old paddy wagon that must have been left from the days when they didn’t transport in cruisers. I was led up the stairs, past the booking area to an interview room.
    “Can we get you something?” Morley asked.
    “I could use a cup of coffee, regular.”
    The elder detective nodded and exited, leaving me alone. The room was a standard interview room, white sound dampening tiles on the walls, a small table and three chairs. On one wall was a large pane of one-way glass, and I figured I was being watched for any behaviors they could use against me. No doubt Morley and Garcia chatted behind that glass right now, plotting their interrogation strategy. That’s what I would have been doing if our positions were