Notoriously Neat Read Online Free Page B

there, due in large part to Vega’s obvious unhappiness with Connors and me. He stood frowning at us without comment and then returned his attention to Jerred.
    “Okay . . . so Ms. Blodgett finds the body,” he said. “Do we know how she got in the door?”
    “It was open,” Jerred said.
    “Open as in slightly ajar? Or wide open? Or just unlocked?”
    “Unlocked, sorry,” Jerred said. “Ms. Blodgett was bringing in her dog for a dental cleaning. She works at City Hall . . . I think in the county clerk’s office or something. Told me she has an early meeting tomorrow morning.”
    “Actually, she’s with the human resources department,” I said. “The meeting’s at eight a.m. sharp . . . I had to clean the main conference room today to get it ready. Corinne must have arranged to drop off Zsa Zsa tonight, figuring she’d be too rushed tomorrow.”
    Chief Vega gave me a look. I wasn’t sure at first if it was because he appreciated the information or was annoyed at being interrupted. Or because the monkey had clambered up onto my shoulder and started making nervous squeaking sounds. After a second I decided it was a little of all three.
    Meanwhile, he’d turned back to Jerred. “Corinne arrives with the dog, lets herself in the door. How come she doesn’t go around to the office entrance?”
    Jerred shrugged. “Beats me.”
    “You didn’t ask?”
    “No, sir.” Jerred had gone from shrugging to squirming in a blink. “I, ah, left that to Clarke. Since he’s outside taking her statement—”
    “Corinne probably used this door because it’s already after seven o’clock,” I said. Not that anyone had asked me. But I thought I knew the answer to Vega’s question, and felt bad watching Jerred cringe.
    Vega shot another glance in my direction. “And the reason that’s important is . . . ?”
    “Dr. Pilsner’s office hours are only till five. If she made special arrangements with Corinne, she probably asked her to use the home entrance. That’s where she would have expected to be.”
    “At home as opposed to in the office.”
    “Right.”
    Vega tugged his chin. It was another gesture I’d gotten used to seeing when he was deep in thought.
    The squeaking monkey aside, everyone in the hallway was quiet as Vega slowly moved around Dr. Pilsner’s crumpled body and studied it from various angles. Though I tried not to look, my eyes staged a mutiny. All at once, the full, harsh reality of Gail’s death—and the certain violence with which it had come about—almost bowled me over. Possibly as a defense mechanism, I pictured her alive and rubbing noses with Skiball while giving her a checkup. That’s one way cats make friends and express affection.
    Ski has a shy temperament and doesn’t do her nose-rubbing bit with many people besides me.
    “Anybody here notice this entrance is open?” Vega had stepped over to a paneled door to the right of the stairwell.
    “Slightly ajar, sir,” Jerred clarified with a nod.
    He hadn’t meant to sound wise. On the contrary, I think he was trying to impress the chief. But I jumped to his rescue anyway.
    “The door leads straight into Gail’s offices,” I said. “I don’t think she keeps . . . kept it locked.”
    “What makes you say that?” Vega asked.
    “Hardly anyone in town locks the doors in their homes. Also, her reception desk’s on the other side. And her file cabinets. I’ve seen her rush in and out plenty of times without stopping to lock or unlock it.”
    Vega was looking at me again, not a hint of annoyance in his eyes now.
    “Thanks, Sky,” he said simply.
    I stood there without quite knowing what to say. Have I mentioned that Mike was a crime reporter? Because he was. And it struck me that he’d never once thanked me for helping him with an investigation.
    Vega had reached for the handle of the partially open hallway door.
    “You wait here,” he said to Jerred, flicking a glance past him at the EMTs. “Nothing gets moved till I’m