Death In Paradise Read Online Free Page A

path," Jesse said. "Kids probably bring beer in, drink it by the lake."
    He paused, looking at a broken branch on one of the short bushes. He pulled it toward him a little and looked at it.
    "Leaves are still green."
    "So it hasn't been broken very long," Simpson said.
    Farther down the slope was a pair of branches, barely above ground level, that had been broken as well.
    "He gets to the lake," Jesse said. "And he puts her in. Does he just leave her there?"
    "If he didn't care about her being found, he wouldn't have gone to all this trouble," Simpson said.
    "So he wanted her to sink," Cox said.
    "But not right here," Jesse said. "First kid came down here with a Miller Lite would spot her."
    "So he had to drag her out a ways," Simpson said.
    He was excited. It was like a real murder investigation.
    "She'd have dragged easier in the water," Jesse said.
    He stepped into the lake. It was barely knee high. It deepened only gradually as he waded out. He stopped when the water reached his crotch.
    "If he wanted her to sink," Simpson said from the shore, "he'd have weighted her."
    "But not on shore," Jesse said. "It would have made dragging her that much harder. He wouldn't want to weight her until he got her deep enough to let her sink."
    "I read the ME's report," Simpson said. " 'Fore I came out here to sweep the place. There's no sign of any weight being attached."
    "How many shoes she have on?" Jesse said. "When we found her?"
    "Shoes? One."
    "What if he tied the weight around an ankle," Jesse said. "And after it was in the water for a while the body began to decompose and become more buoyant at the same time it was becoming less, ah, cohesive, and the rope dragged off her ankle and took a shoe with it?"
    "So, the weight and the rope should be in the water around here."
    "It should," Jesse said.

Chapter Eight
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    Jesse could hear the music from beyond the curve. As he came around the curve he could barely squeeze his own car between the cars parked on both sides of the street. He could see the blue light revolving on the roof of Arthur Angstrom's cruiser parked in the driveway of a big, sprawling Victorian house that sat at the top of a rolling lawn. Angstrom stood beside the cruiser talking to a short man with a dark tan. The man was partially bald. His remaining hair was gray and hung to his shoulders.
    "You're Chief Stone?" the man said.
    "Yes."
    "I'm Norman Shaw."
    "I know."
    Shaw looked gratified. "Good," he said. "Your officer here appears to think there's a crime being committed here."
    Shaw's eyes were bloodshot, and beneath the tan on his face was a web of broken veins. He was wearing shorts and a white oxford shirt with the tails out. His legs were tan and skinny and nearly hairless. He wasn't fat, but he had an assertive belly that pushed against the shirt.
    "Actually he's not my officer," Jesse said. "He's yours. He works for the town."
    "Casuistry aside," Shaw said, "I like to talk with the man in charge."
    "That would be me," Jesse said.
    "Young for the job," Shaw said.
    "I'm aging fast, though."
    "Well, I am sure you're old enough to explain to this officer…"
    "Angstrom," Jesse said. "Officer Angstrom."
    "I'm sure you can explain to him that Party Patrol is not the best use a policeman can make of his time."
    "You had a complaint?" Jesse said to Arthur.
    "Noise," Angstrom said. "Obstructing access. Drunk and disorderly. Public lewdness. Littering. Urinating on a private lawn."
    "Punishable by death?" Shaw said. "It's a party, for God's sake. The Lieutenant Governor is here. Michael DeSisto came all the way from Stockbridge. There are state reps. A congressman. My attorney. Do I have to get my attorney down here?"
    "Chills run up and down my spine," Jesse said. "You'll have to move some cars." He turned to Angstrom. "You got the names of the complainants?"
    "Yep."
    "Will they point out the culprits?"
    "They say so."
    "Move cars?" Shaw said. "You expect me to go from person to person asking if they