Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (A Dead Cold Box Set) by Blake Banner (best ereader for academics .txt) 📕

and I sat in the chair across from him at his desk. I was still thinking about my answer to his question when Dehan started to talk.

“Stone managed to get a DNA sample from Mary Browne.”

“Oh!” His eyebrows shot up. “I thought she was set against that.”

“She was, but she gave him a needle with a piece of cotton attached… It’s a long story, sir. In any case, the man who killed Sue Benedict was Mary Browne’s brother.”

“Splendid work, Stone! So now we just have to find him.”

“No, we found him, sir. He is now an integral part of the foundations of the East 2nd Street Casino Hotel, in Reno.”

“Good Lord!”

“He committed suicide by throwing himself into the wet concrete.”

“Well…” He looked from me to Dehan and back again. “Case closed, then. What about this Fernando Martinez character?”

“He and Giorgio Gonzalez have been involved in small-scale coke and marijuana trafficking for a few years. They also got their kicks by beating up and raping women, mainly hookers we think, but not exclusively. We think they used the art classes both as an outlet for their merchandise, and as a hunting ground for girls. And it was in that environment that Cyril met Sue. It may have precipitated the killing, through jealousy or something of that sort. We just don’t know. The night she was killed, they were all at a party together. With the alcohol and drugs going down, it is hard to form a clear picture of the events.”

“Yes, I see. The Halloween party.” He thought for a moment. “So is it your opinion that Fernando Martinez’s death is related to the original case? Or simply a bizarre coincidence?”

She glanced at me. “I’m not exactly sure of Stone’s views on that, sir, we are still thinking it through. It seems he was stabbed in the back, with a kitchen knife, while he was kissing a woman. My own opinion is that he was probably murdered by one of the women he abused.”

“Yes, I see. That seems to make sense.”

“We thought at first that Giorgio Gonzalez, Sue Benedict’s art teacher, might be involved, but he has a pretty airtight alibi. He had spent practically the whole day with his neighbor.”

The inspector turned and frowned at me. “You are uncharacteristically quiet today, John. Usually it is you doing all the talking, while Carmen here observes a discreet silence. Are you going to share your thoughts with us? What do you plan to do with Giorgio Gonzalez?”

“I’d like to arrest him and bring him in for interrogation, sir.”

“Arrest him? On what charge?”

“Trafficking drugs, rape, assault.”

“Have you any evidence for these charges?”

“He confessed to trafficking cannabis and cocaine in front of me and Dehan, sir. We also have the testimony of Melanie in Jersey. Now that Fernando is dead, she may be willing to testify in court. The truth is, sir, any charge will do. I just want him in custody because I think his life is at risk. In fact, the more I sit here and think about it, the more convinced I am that we are on the clock. Somebody is going to try and kill him, somebody very subtle and very dangerous. He is with Santos and Clay right now, but I would feel a lot more comfortable if we had him safely behind bars, for his sake.”

He had listened to me with a deep frown on his brow. Now he turned to Dehan. “Do you agree with this assessment, Carmen? Did you hear Gonzalez confess to trafficking?”

“Yes, sir, I did. And Stone has been right about this whole damn case all along, so if he says Giorgio is at risk, I am willing to believe that.”

“Fine, that is good enough for me.” He nodded and turned to me. “Bring him in, John.”

I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Clay again. A voice came on telling me it had not been possible to connect my call. I suppressed a jolt of panic, hung up and called again. Again the voice, “It has not been possible…” I called dispatch and had them put me through to Santos. It rang three times and was answered.

“Santos, what the hell is going on? Why isn’t Clay answering his phone?”

There was silence, with only the slightest sound of breathing. I said, “Santos…?”

A sigh and then line went dead. I stood. “Jesus Christ!” I wrenched open the door, shouting at the inspector. “Get every available car down there now! Clay and Santos are down! Do it now!”

Seventeen

I forced myself to stay at thirty miles an hour. I knew that if I went any faster, I’d start fishtailing, skidding and sliding all over the road and we’d end up taking twice as long. As it was, we fishtailed into Patterson Avenue and wound up with the trunk on the sidewalk and the back wheels spinning in the drift. Dehan took the wheel and I pushed and we finally got it back on the road again.

By the time we arrived at Giorgio’s house, the place was like an anthill, only with cops instead of ants. There were five cars there, their red and blue lights pulsing ghostly on the snow. The door was open and yellow light was spilling out onto the porch. The uniforms were putting up yellow tape, cordoning off the area. Across the road, I could see Sandy Beach staring out at us through her window. We ducked under the tape and went up the steps to the door. Dehan was just ahead of me. Sergeant Gunter was standing outside.

“Detectives, The ME and Crime Scene are on their way. So is the Inspector. Clay is just here…”

He pointed through the door. I felt a jolt of adrenaline. The way he said it sounded like he was alive. But when I