Shades of Murder (The Mac Faraday Mysteries) by Lauren Carr Read Free Book Online Page A

doubt,” the smoker yelled. “He was tried and convicted. He confessed.”
    “Not to killing Jane Doe!” Joshua felt conviction that hadn’t been there before for finding out the truth about Jane Doe’s murder. Any uncertainty he had felt before about the killer’s innocence in this murder was now gone. “That’s why I’m here.”
    She laughed. “To help a serial rapist and killer?”
    Grins came to the faces of those around her, but not on the face of the pretty woman. Her mouth was tight. Joshua sensed that her heart was pumping as hard as his.
    “No, to help a murder victim.”
    “Well, you’re not getting it here.” She ripped his business card in half and tossed it in the direction of a trash can. “I know your game. You prove Cartwright didn’t kill Jane Doe, and then you make a case that he was wrongly convicted; and, the next thing you know, he’s out. I won’t have any part in it.”
    “Cartwright was never charged with killing Jane Doe,” Joshua argued. “Finding out who killed her won’t have any bearing on getting him out, which he won’t since he’s not seeking an appeal.”
    “Get out of here!”
    Any possible unwanted attraction the fat smoker may have had for him when he first walked in was now gone. Her eyes glaring, she rushed to close up the small bit of space between them, thrust her double chin at him, and pointed a flabby arm towards the door.
    As ugly as Joshua had found her before, she was even more so up close. The glares he saw on the rest of the faces in the squad room indicated that there was no hope for any of them coming to his defense. Even the pretty woman was no longer at her desk.
    With a shake of his head, Joshua left.
    Joshua’s cell phone was vibrating on his hip before he reached the car.
    “Have you had lunch yet, Joshua Thornton?” Her tone was much more pleasant than that of the fat smoker.
    The question reminded him that he had left for the prison early that morning with nothing more than a pot of coffee. His stomach rumbled. “What do you have in mind?”
    “I’m only going to say this once,” she said in a low voice like a kidnapper relaying a ransom pick up. “Pull out of the barracks and turn right. Take the William Flynn Highway for ten-point-two miles. When you come to the fork, stay to the left. Stay on the Pennsylvania 28 South to Pittsburgh. Keep right at the fork and merge onto 279 South and then take Interstate 376 West. Take exit 68 at Parkway Center Drive. There’s a burger joint off on the left. They have a drive-thru. Get me a double cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and only a swipe of mayo. Only a swipe. If I so much as see a drop of mayo, we’re through. I want you to also order a large waffle fries with seasoned salt, a chocolate milkshake, and a small skim milk. It has to be fat-free. Milk with fat gives Irving gas. Oh, and don’t forget the straw and napkins.”
    Joshua was smiling. “Light on the mayo. Waffle fries with seasoned salt. Chocolate milkshake. Fat-free milk. Fat gives Irving gas.—Who’s Irving?”
    “My partner,” she answered. “Feel free to get something for yourself. You’re buying. When you come out of the burger joint, turn right and get on Greentree Road. When you come to a fork, bare to the right onto Ridgemont Drive.—”
    “Is this a joke?” Joshua yanked open the door to the glove compartment for a pen and paper.
    “No,” she replied. “When you come to Springfield Street turn right. Take the first left onto New York Street and follow that all the way to a dead end. You’ll end at a hay field with clover. You’ll know you’re at the right place when you see an abandoned barn with a Mail Pouch sign painted on the side … unless it’s blown down since the murder, in which case you won’t see it, and will have to assume you’re at the right spot. Meet me there in forty-five minutes. Don’t be late.”
    “What if I am?”
    “I’ll faint from hunger and you’ll need to give me