Murder Takes a Break Read Online Free

  He tipped his empty glass in the general direction of the report.   "What you said a while ago about Randall?   How he came down here, disappeared, and hasn't been found?   That's what it says."
    "If there was pressure on the police to do a good job, they would have done everything possible to find your son," I said.   "Even without the pressure, they would have done everything they could.   They have the men and the resources to do a lot more than I can.   So what makes you think I'm going to find out anything they didn't?"
    "Because somebody's lying to them," Kirbo told me.
    "Oh," I said, and waited.
    Kirbo's theory, expressed with entirely too much hand waving and leaning toward me across the table, was that someone knew something.   He wasn't sure who it was, or what they knew, but he was convinced that someone knew what had happened to Randall.
    "Maybe his roommate," Kirbo said, leaning back in his chair, much to my relief.   "Chad Peavy.   He was one of the friends that Randall came down here with."
    "He's at Texas Tech?" I said.
    "No.   He flunked out in the spring semester and didn't go back this fall.   He's living in Houston with his parents.   It's all in that report you've got."
    "All right," I said.   "Who else?"
    "Who else, what?"
    "Who else is lying?"
    Kirbo looked around the bar for our waitress.   I could tell that he wanted another drink.   He wanted it a lot.   He didn't see the waitress, so he turned back to me.
    "Hell, I don't know who's lying.   That's why I'm hiring you.   To find out."
    "You haven't hired me yet," I said.
    Mrs. Kirbo looked away from the windows and into my eyes.   "Please," she said.   "Help us."
    "He will," Dino said, giving me a hard look.   "Won't you, Tru."
    I thought about it for a minute, wondering whether Dino had known Mrs. Kirbo when they were college students.   And wondering whether I'd have the nerve to ask him.
    "I'll try," I said finally.   "But I can't make any promises."
    Mrs. Kirbo tried to smile and almost made it.   "Thank you."
    "Don't mention it," I said.

4
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    D ino didn't have much to say as we drove back to my — OK, his — house.   Dino was in a pretty good mood because we'd managed to get out of the hotel before the bell choir began playing.   He turned on the radio and punched the button for the Houston oldies station, and we listened to the usual tunes.   My theory is that they have a list with about a hundred songs on it, and D.J.s aren't allowed to play anything else.   As far as their programmer is concerned, the only song Roy Orbison ever recorded was "Oh, Pretty Woman."
    When I was getting out of the car, Dino said, "I hope you can do something for them, Tru."
    I ducked down and stuck my head inside.   "'Them'?"
    He squirmed a little on the seat.   "Why are you saying it like that?"
    "No reason."
    "You were always a smart-ass, Tru.   Even in high school."
    "So you keep reminding me."
    "Only because it's true."
    My neck was beginning to hurt, so I got back inside the car and sat down.
    "You knew her in college didn't you?" I said.
    He didn't have to ask who I meant.   "You guessed, huh?"
    "I'm a trained detective, and we trained detectives don't like the word guess .   We prefer logical deduction ."
    "Yeah.   I'll bet you do."
    "So are you going to tell me or not?"
    "There's not much to tell.   I knew her a lot better than I knew Tack, let's put it that way."
    "So I logically deduced."
    Dino stared out through the windshield.   Where he was parked there wasn't much to see.   Just my — his — front porch.   The house itself was camouflaged by all the bushes that grew so closely around it that it was hard to see from the road.   The Gulf breeze was whipping their branches against the bricks and the windowpanes.
    After a while, Dino said, "I went out with her a time or two.   But then she started seeing Tack.