Out of the Blue: A Pengram Mystery Read Online Free Page A

it go, you know? We work so hard. Some drinks, some dancing . . . Usually she just watched TV when she got home from work, or read a book. Those are hers.” Lindsay gestured to the far side of the sofa.
    There was a tall pile of library books beneath the end table, a bookmark halfway through the bodice-ripper on top. That was sad to me, a novel that wouldn’t ever be finished. The rest of the books revealed eclectic interests, cozy mysteries and science fiction, more romances and a self-help book at the bottom about overcoming social anxiety.
    “She always fixed dinner for two, even though I never asked or expected it,” Lindsay said. “It was sweet. She loved cooking. It calmed her down at the end of the day. She could make a killer grilled cheese.” Lindsay covered her mouth briefly. Killer hung in the room between us.
    Her voice thin with strain, Lindsay said, “I liked how she made this a home. I always had to get the big plates down from the shelf for us. She was so tiny she couldn’t reach them. She was like a doll. At work she could barely see over the counter. She worked in the deli at Tasty.”
    “What happened once you got to Bounce?” I said.
    “It was around nine-thirty, or a little later. We got drinks at the bar, sat down in one of those sofa squares in the corner to chat.” Lindsay wiped off her wet cheek. “She clammed up. She needed people to keep picking at her to talk, but . . . I mean, that was fine when it was the two of us here, but we were just messing around at the club, shooting the shit, and it wasn’t the place for that. I was a little frustrated with her and that wasn’t fair. I knew she got frustrated with herself for not knowing how to jump into a conversation. She wanted to see a therapist but it’s just so expensive. Then she got up to dance.”
    “With anyone?”
    “No. She got up and went over there on her own. I saw her over at the bar getting another drink some time later, and then on the dance floor a couple of times. It was pretty crowded. That must have been between ten and midnight. I’d had a lot to drink so after a while . . . I didn’t see her and didn’t think about it. I was having such a good time. Craig walked me back here around one, one-thirty.”
    “Did he stay?”
    “Yeah, but it wasn’t like that. I kind of wanted to . . . you know, take it further, but he gave me a kiss and said I was too drunk. He’s a good guy. He was real buzzed, didn’t think he was okay to drive home, so we crashed in my bed and slept until his alarm went off for work at seven. I have today off. He left, and I fell asleep again. I woke up at ten. Her door was open and I figured she’d gone to work, too. She wasn’t scheduled for a shift, but she’s been called in lots of times to cover someone sick. You can go in there to look around, if you need to. It doesn’t . . .”
    Lindsay started to cry in earnest. “Her bed is still made from yesterday. She never made it back home. I was too smashed to even notice. If I could have called 911 last night to report her missing . . .”
    It wouldn’t have made any difference, I thought. Police didn’t get all hot and bothered about an adult not coming home for a night.
    I went to the room to look in as Halloran said, “When you saw her at the bar and on the dance floor, was she talking to anyone? Was anyone trying to talk to her?”
    “No,” Lindsay said. “She was by herself. I mean, she was dancing with everyone else on the floor, but not with anyone in particular.”
    Chloe’s room was simple and tidy, the duvet pulled up over the pillow on the twin bed, half a dozen cartoon sea posters on the walls. Clothes hung neatly in the closet and her shoes were lined up below. On the desk was a picture of a beaming couple with a baby about a year old in their arms. The frame said Mom & Dad , surrounded by metal leaves. Several more pictures were behind it, Chloe aging past her second birthday before her parents vanished from the