The Angel Singers by Dorien Grey Read Free Book Online Page A

swinging it over his shoulders to put it on in one smooth motion that reminded me of a matador swooping his cape at a charging bull.
    I quickly rose as well.
    “You can mail me the contract or drop it off,” he said as we walked to the door.
    We’d worked together so often that contracts were a mere formality, but one understood to also be a legal necessity.
    We left the office together and rode the elevator to the parking garage, where we shook hands and agreed to talk soon, then went our separate ways.
    *
    I made a mental list, on my way back to the office, of the people I wanted to talk to and wrote it down the minute I got to my desk. The mechanic, Roger Rothenberger, and Eric Speers were at the top…and Jonathan, of course. He hadn’t been with the chorus all that long, but he’d joined only shortly after Grant Jefferson had, and he didn’t miss much. He was also quite good at reading people. I’d hold off on Crandall Booth until I’d had a chance to talk to the other three. When I did see him, I wanted to have as much knowledge of what, exactly, was going on within the chorus as possible.
    That evening at dinner I suggested to Jonathan that we have Eric over again and told him my purpose. Joshua gave me a sharp look at the mention of the name Eric but then went back to playing with his mashed potatoes, which he seemed to enjoy pushing into a different shape after every bite.
    Later, while Jonathan studied for his horticulture class and Joshua built an odd-looking structure out of his Lincoln Logs, I asked Jonathan for Sal Lennox’s number and called.
    “Hello?”
    “Sal?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Sal, this is Dick Hardesty, Jonathan Quinlan’s other half. I tried to get in touch with that mechanic friend of yours, but—”
    “Paul, you mean? Sorry, I can’t help you. I haven’t talked to him since Grant was killed. Last time I tried him the line was still open. He just didn’t answer, and he hasn’t called me. I think I get the message.”
    Now, that was an interesting bit of news.
    I asked if he might have Paul’s address and he gave it to me. I wrote it down and put it in my billfold. I thanked him for his time, wished him well, and hung up.
    *
    It wasn’t until after Joshua was safely Story-Timed and asleep that I had a chance to talk to Jonathan to find out if there was anything he might not have already told me about the chorus.
    “I thought I told you everything that was going on,” he said.
    “Well, yeah, you have, but you haven’t really said too much about what you think about it all, or about the guys. Especially anything that relates to Grant Jefferson.”
    He shrugged. “Ah, yeah. Well, I really like most of the guys, even those who sided with Grant. Grant could be really kind of sweet, if he wanted to be—like, if he wanted something. The guys in his inner circle tended to come and go. Somebody would be his best buddy for a while then the next week Grant would totally ignore him.
    “Most of what I know is secondhand, since I have no idea how he was between rehearsals or if he hung around with anybody in particular when we weren’t rehearsing. I’m pretty sure he was having sex with some of the guys, and he was very good with come-ons.”
    “Speaking from personal experience?” I asked with a grin.
    He returned the grin. “I don’t kiss and tell,” he said, and I reached over and grabbed his leg in a vice grip that made him jerk. “Okay!” he protested. “Okay! No kissing, but he did come on to me once or twice. But my strength is the strength of ten because my heart is pure.”
    I rolled my eyes at the ceiling and released my grip.
    “So, Mr. Pureheart,” I said, “anybody you haven’t mentioned have a particular grudge against him?”
    He shook his head. “He wouldn’t win many popularity contests, but I’m pretty sure there were a couple of the guys’ partners who’d be mad enough, like Jerry was, to at least try to beat him up.”
    “Yeah, well, I can see a lot of