3 Requiem at Christmas Read Online Free Page A

side, the two men put her in
mind of The Odd Couple . Though rather
a Felix herself, this time she sided with Oscar.
    “Since there are no photos, we’ll need to call in a sketch
artist—”
    “No need. I am an artist.” Juliet sat down at the desk. Her
hands were finally warm enough to function after their second trip into the
snowy night to see a burning automobile. She turned over a flyer for a garage
sale that hadn’t made it onto the corkboard and proceeded to draw the body as
she had last seen it.
    Then, realizing from Gibbons’ and Nyland’s shocked looks that this wasn’t the sort of thing they could put out on the
evening news when asking for information about the identity of the dead man,
Juliet picked up another flyer for a bake sale and drew a less gory portrait of
the dead man. He still looked a little terrified, but what could she do? He’d
been dead when she saw him.
    “That should suffice for the media.”
    “If it’s accurate,” Gibbons muttered.
    Juliet was the first to acknowledge that she wasn’t at her
best when she was hungry. Reasonable became difficult when she was tired and
she had passed tired hours before. That evening, after a return to the scene
where there was nothing of the crime scene but a burnt-out hulk of what had
been the Jaguar, she was clutching at the last straws of good manners. Her
limbic system was still fully functioning, but as her reptilian brain was
telling her to lock both men out in the dark and eat all the cookies she knew
were hidden somewhere in the ranger’s desk, it couldn’t be counted as a plus.
    Juliet pulled up the last reserves of professionalism. This
silly man was a representative of the state police. Though he was used to
dealing with traffic violations he did actually have the authority to enforce
any state law. The seven points on his badge stood for character, integrity, knowledge,
judgment, honor, loyalty, courtesy. She was trying hard to respect that even if
she felt the man himself fell a bit short in several of these areas.
    “It’s accurate. Now, I have told you everything I know. Twice. As I said, he had a Las Vegas newspaper in the
backseat along with an expensive leather case that contained a musical score. He
was wearing a kilt in the Buchanan tartan and there is a Celtic festival going
on in South Lake Tahoe—the direction from which he came. If anything else
occurs to me I will call you. You have the name of my hotel if you think of
anything relevant to ask me or if the homicide investigators wish to be in
touch before morning.” Her voice suggested that any questions before an
advanced hour of the morning had better be very relevant indeed.
    “But—” Officer Gibbons looked desperate. Murders were above
his pay grade, but given the weather he was going to have to deal with the
situation until the homicide detectives arrived. Juliet sympathized but she was
at the end of her resources.
    “Thank you, Jack, for towing my car down and clearing the
road back to the highway. If you have the chance, please come up for the
Requiem Mass. It’s at Saint Clair Church. There will be a seat for you.”
    “My pleasure,” he lied. Nothing about the night had been
pleasurable, but he had been raised in the old school where people were taught
that good manners cost nothing and one should by God use them.
    “Now, I need to leave. I am exhausted and hungry and my
friends are expecting me. And as they are the kind of people who will begin
with calling hospitals but end by calling Governor Black and Commissioner
Border, it might be best if I got underway before we have a four-alarm fuss.”
    Ranger Nyland’s eyes had actually
begun twinkling and he looked a bit gnome-like. Put him the right clothes and
he could pass for a large elf. Since it amused him, she supposed that she should
have started being ruthless and bossy hours ago. It would have saved a lot of
wear and tear on her nerves.
    “Let me help you get those skis on your car,” the