The Mystery of Nevermore by C.S. Poe Read Free Book Online

he asked, hands in his pockets as he stopped to tower over me.
    Shit. Why had calling him seemed like a good idea?
    “Can I explain?”
    “Please,” he said. I swear he nearly growled.
    I started to give him an abridged story—Dad’s house to Mike’s shop, to no Mike, to dead Mike. “Want me to tell it to you backward?” I asked after finishing.
    “Why?”
    “Because you look like you’re sizing me up for a jumpsuit, and if I were lying, it’d be harder for me to get the facts straight backward,” I answered.
    That made him snort. “Is that so? Why’d you enter the shop when it was clearly closed?”
    “I told you, the door was open.”
    “And you didn’t think that was strange?”
    “Well—no, I did, but Mike lives right upstairs. I thought maybe he had just run down for something.”
    “Why continue when no one answered your entrance?”
    “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Something didn’t seem right.”
    “Why didn’t you just call the cops?”
    “I did.” I pointed at him.
    Winter frowned and was silent for a moment, like a man desperately collecting his patience. “What happened when you called me?” he finally continued.
    I glanced down at my sticky hands. “In the T display, over in the back. I—there’s a cat back there.”
    “A cat?”
    “Yes, but it was dead. I mean, it was hanging by a noose. I ran, and a stupid mannequin behind me looked like a person, and I was spooked. I didn’t see Mike, and I tripped over him. Face-first.”
    “Ah.”
    “And so, I thought the mannequin was the person who killed Mike. You knew who I was and who Mike was. I didn’t think I should call anyone else. Look, can we do this later? I really want to change.”
    Winter shook his head and pointed a blunt finger at me. “Don’t move.”
    “Come on, Detective! I’m covered in blood!”
    The prick was already walking away.
    I moved to look around the corner, watching him go into the T display with Detective Lancaster. I huffed and crossed my arms before quickly uncrossing them. So much for this jacket. And jeans. I’d have to scrub my skin raw in the shower too.
    I was left to stand there under the eye of a uniformed cop who kept a hand on his belt, ready to put a bullet in my knee if I tried to duck out. That’s when the gravity of the situation began pushing down on my shoulders. I told myself everything would be fine. They’d confirm everything I’d said with evidence analysis done by someone like Neil.
    Oh God.
    “Neil….” Was going to kill me.
    I was doing my best to come up with a bearable story besides I resented being treated like a child and wanted to defy you when Winter was approaching me with a short, middle-aged woman. “So, about changing,” I said again.
    “We need your clothing.”
    “You what?”
    “Evidence.” He nodded at the woman who had just come in a moment before.
    “I’ll need you to hand over the jacket and jeans, and whatever is underneath,” she confirmed while putting on latex gloves.
    “I didn’t kill Mike!” I protested while looking back at Winter.
    “You’re covered in his blood,” he pointed out. “You were found alone on his property with the body.”
    “I called you after finding him!” I said, voice rising.
    “I’m only taking your clothes,” Winter said sternly, moving a step closer and already filling up the space around us. “But if you keep it up, I’ll be more than happy to book you and then strip you.”
    Wow.
    I swallowed audibly, clearing my throat. “Can I make a phone call?”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t have anything to wear. Just—let me make a call, please?”
    A moment of internal deliberation was followed by a curt nod, and Winter backed off.
    I pulled out my bloodstained phone and picked Neil from the contacts.
    “Seb?” was the first thing he said. “Is everything okay?”
    “No,” I admitted. “Can you go home—”
    “I’m at work.”
    “I know, but listen. I need you to go home,” I said quietly,