No Way to Die by M. D. Grayson Read Free Book Online Page B

don’t want you getting into any trouble.”
    “Never happen,” Gus said.
    “To what do we owe the pleasure of this phone call?” Dwayne asked. “You’re not hunting for another one of our missing persons, are you?”
    “Not this time,” I said.
    “Good. We haven’t fully recovered from the Gina Fiore case yet.”
    “That was a tough one,” I agreed. “This time, though, we’ve been asked to look into the apparent suicide of a guy named Thomas Rasmussen.”
    “Hmm,” Dwayne said. “That’s the tech guy that shot himself a couple of weeks ago, right?”
    “Yep. We met with his widow this morning, and she presented a credible case that it might not have been a suicide after all.”
    “Really?” he asked. “Why’s she feel that way?”
    “Conflicting behavior,” I said.
    “You know, somebody wants to murder someone and disguise it as a suicide, there are easier ways than using a gun.”
    “Assuming you don’t want to get caught,” Gus added.
    “Right,” Dwayne said. “Assuming you don’t want to get caught.”
    “I know,” I said. “We’re just going to run through some of the facts of the case—try to develop an understanding.”
    “Who handled the investigation for SPD?” Dwayne said.
    “Inez Johnson.”
    “Whoa!” Gus said.
    Toni and I looked at each other. “What do you mean, ‘whoa’?” I asked.
    “Inez is a ballbuster,” Gus said. “She’s mean.”
    Dwayne laughed. “That’s bullshit. Inez is—Inez is by the book. She’s hard-nosed, and she’s tough. But she’s fair. Gus just rubs her the wrong way.”
    “I try not to rub her at all,” Gus said.
    “Do you want me to put in a call to her, so she’ll talk to you?” Dwayne asked. “Otherwise, she may not get back to you for a while.”
    “Yeah, a while—as in five years or so,” Gus added.
    “Seeing how you’re offering, that would be great,” I said. “Will she be okay with you doing that?”
    “No problem. She likes me. Gus is the one who pisses her off. Consider it done,” Dwayne said.
    “We appreciate it. We owe you one.”
    “Yes, you do. We like it when you owe us one, right, Gus?”
    “Damn straight.”
    “Tell you what,” Dwayne said. “Since we’re just a couple of humble public servants, you guys can buy us lunch one of these days. We can do your favorite, Danny.”
    “Sushi at the Marinepolis!” Gus yelled out. They both know I’m not a fan of sushi.
    “Done,” Toni answered before I had a chance to object. I gave her a dirty look. She stuck out her tongue.
    “Outstanding,” Gus said. “I’m already looking forward to it. By the way, Toni, I’ve upgraded my wardrobe. You should see it.”
    “That’s right,” Dwayne said. “Gus found a Joseph A. Bank factory outlet up in Tulalip that still had a bunch of 1970’s sport coats. Yesterday he wore one that was plaid. Today, it’s got—what’re those little curlicue circles on it?”
    “Paisley?” Toni asked.
    “That’s it!” Gus said. “Paisleys!”
    “Gus!” Toni said, smiling. “I’m so proud of you.”
    “See there?” Gus said to Dwayne. “Some of us are dapper. Others, not so much.”
    * * * *
    Just after lunch, I called Inez Johnson. Whatever Dwayne said to her must have worked because she agreed to meet us in her office at four thirty. Driving through traffic at that time was likely to be a bitch, so we left Logan PI at 3:45 in order to make the two-and-a-half-mile trip on time. On top of the drive time, it normally would have taken thirty minutes to either find a nearby parking space, or else park in a distant lot and walk to the Seattle Criminal Justice Center downtown on Fifth Avenue. Fortunately, Dwayne had given us a parking pass to the building’s private underground lot a few months earlier during the Fiore case—one of those credit-card types that you swipe across a sensor to open the gate. Even more fortunately, he must have forgotten about it because he never asked for it back when the case was