Name Withheld : A J.p. Beaumont Mystery (9780061760907) Read Online Free Page A

out…”
    â€œLook, Ron, the girls were fine while I was gone. And believe me, they had nothing whatever to do with all that soap.”
    â€œYou should have heard her on the phone. There’s going to be trouble over this.”
    Again, since Roz Peters wasn’t my ex-wife, it was easy for me to wax philosophical. “Come on, Ron, don’t hit the panic buttons. It’s no big deal. After all, what could Roz possibly do with a bunch of soapsuds?”
    The answer, of course, was a whole lot different from what I thought. Roz Peters, otherwise known as Sister Constance, had every intention of turning a little molehill of soapsuds into a mountain of trouble. It pains me to say that I never saw it coming.
    But then, I never do.

Two
    I was pretty much feeling on top of things when I headed to the department the next morning. A yellow Post-it note was plastered on the wall next to the entrance to my cubicle by the time I got there. “See me,” it said. It was signed, “L.P.”
    The L.P . in question, Captain Larry Powell, is even more of a troglodyte than I am. I’ve gradually moved into the modern era enough so that I can tolerate voice mail. I’ve gradually learned to hunt and peck my way around a computer keyboard. There are even times when I’ve found a fax machine downright useful. Larry, on the other hand, has come only as far as Post-it notes. That far and no further.
    â€œWhat gives?” I asked, sauntering up to the open door of the captain’s fishbowl office.
    â€œI hear you took on yesterday’s floater. Anyprogress on that one so far?”
    â€œNot yet. It’s still early. That’s what I’ll be working on this morning.”
    â€œIs it something you’d mind handling alone?”
    Did Br’er Rabbit mind being thrown in the briar patch?
    â€œNo problem,” I said, trying not to let Larry see the grin that threatened to leak out through the corners of my mouth. “Why? What’s happened to Sue? Aren’t she and I partners anymore?”
    Detective Sue Danielson has been my partner for several months now. She’s young and fairly new to Homicide—a transfer in from Sex Crimes—but she’s also a capable investigator. I knew she had taken her two boys and gone to visit her folks in Ohio over the holidays, but I also knew that her sons were due back in school that morning.
    â€œShe’s stuck in Cincinnati with chicken pox.”
    â€œTraveling with kids is always so much fun,” I said sympathetically.
    â€œIt’s not the kids who are sick,” Larry Powell told me. “It’s Sue.”
    â€œChicken pox? At her age?”
    â€œEvidently,” Larry observed dryly.
    When Jared Danielson had come down with chicken pox early in December, Sue had said she remembered being sick with the same thing back when she was a child. I mentioned that to Larry.
    â€œEvidently, she was mistaken,” he replied. “And from what I hear, right this minute she’s one sick little lady. It’ll be several days before shestops being contagious and can get on an airplane to come back home.”
    â€œTough break,” I said, “but don’t worry about me and Mr. John Doe. The two of us will get along fine without her.”
    The captain nodded. “I figured as much, but if you need help, let me know.”
    â€œSure thing,” I told him.
    Larry’s phone rang just then. He waved me out of his office, dismissing me. Before heading back to my cubicle, I took a little detour down to Missing Persons. There I found Detective Chip Raymond moving stacks of paper back and forth across his desk.
    â€œLooks like a giant game of solitaire,” I said.
    Chip glanced up at me balefully and shook his head. “Don’t I just wish. Where the hell do all these people go?”
    â€œAway?” I offered.
    Detective Raymond didn’t appreciate my helpful suggestion. “Cut