The Hundredth Man by Jack Kerley Read Free Book Online Page B

trucking firm. She’d lived at Bayou Verde Apartments for three years. Children weren’t allowed but pets were cool. They used too much chlorine in the pool. This all came out in a nasal twang I knew the drivers made fun of.
    Harry shifted to Nelson. While he slow-walked her through memories, I sat quietly and used a year’s worth of detective experience to identify cat hairs on the couch. Long and white.
    â€œHow well did you know Mr. Nelson?” Harry said. “I’m talking about his past, his friends, his family, his hobbies, and so forth.”
    â€œThose things weren’t important to Jerrold and me, Detective Nautilus. It was just us and the things we’d do. I didn’t need to know anything else.”
    â€œDidn’t need to know or Jerrold didn’t tell you?” Harry loosened his tie, spun a crick from his neck, relaxed. He works in reverse of many cops by leaning forward to toss mushballs and lying back to throw heat and curves.
    Losidor looked away. “I asked a couple of times. He said they weren’t things he liked to talk about; it was painful.”
    â€œSo if you didn’t know his friends you probably didn’t know any enemies.”
    â€œJerrold didn’t have enemies. He was so—so friendly. Always laughing and telling jokes.” A sad smile. “One of my friends told me, she said, ‘Terri, that Jerrold makes my mouth hurt with all his smiling.’ No one could be angry at Jerrold, Detective Nautilus.”
    Harry locked his fingers behind his head and reclined further. “In May you were angry enough to threaten him with jail. Something about eleven thousand dollars moving from your pocket to his.”
    Losidor closed her eyes, sighed, opened them again. “See, he told me he had a one-time chance to get in on a business—it would take just fourteen thousand dollars to make at least seventy in a year. All I had was eleven but Jerry said it would still work.”
    â€œWhat sort of business?”
    There was a clang from the back of the apartment, like something falling on the floor. Terri jumped.
    Harry sat up, wary. “Are we alone here?”
    â€œOh, yes. Just us,” Losidor said, reaching for a cigarette. “That’s Mr. Puff, my kitty. He’s clumsy, always knocking things off the sills and shelves. Crazy cat.”
    Harry and I listened for a moment. Nothing. Harry settled back into the couch.
    â€œWhat sort of business did Jerrold say your money was going for?”
    â€œSomething to do with computers and how they’re hooked together. He explained one office might have one kind of computer and another office had another and the computers couldn’t understand each other. He had a friend who’d invented a better way to make them talk. It made sense, since at my office the computers are always messing up like that.”
    â€œYou ever get to meet his friend? Or hear his name?”
    â€œI just trusted Jerry, you know.”
    Harry spent one year with Bunco, and this was a familiar conversation. “Once you gave him the money Jerrold stopped coming by as much, didn’t he?”
    â€œI don’t know—he got busy with things. . . .” Her eyes dropped to the carpet. “Yes.”
    â€œThen the business went sour.”
    Terri sighed. “He said some other company came out with the same thing first. Intel. I asked the guy who fixes the computers at our office about it. He’d never heard about Intel having anything like that; it wasn’t what they did. That’s when I filed.” Terri sniffled and plucked a pink wad of tissue from her pocket to dab her eyes.
    â€œBut a week later you dropped the charges.”
    â€œHe finally told me the truth,” Terri said, sniffling.
    â€œWhich was?”
    â€œHe used it to buy a share of some cocaine being flown into the county—it’s like a stock deal. You buy shares. Jerry