The Bee Balm Murders Read Online Free Page B

million dollars.” Orion held his mug in both hands because of the comforting feeling it gave him. He was six years old again, wrapping his hands around a mug of cambric tea at his grandmother’s on a rainy afternoon.
    “Were you close to him?”
    Orion set down his mug. “Not really. I didn’t trust him entirely.” He helped himself to a graham cracker, snapped it down its perforations, and dipped a quarter piece into his tea. “I’m sure he didn’t trust me, either.”
    “What was he doing here, checking on you?”
    “I wish I knew, Mrs. Trum … Victoria.”

 
    C HAPTER 4
    “Rumors fly from one end of this Island to the other faster than your optical fibers will ever carry them.” Victoria stood and held the back of her chair. “You’ve got to go to Casey and explain what you just told me.”
    Orion shook his head. “I’m distancing myself from any possible connection with Angelo Vulpone and the police.”
    “I can assure you rumors are already on their way announcing that Orion Nanopoulos knows the identity of the body found on the ball field, and speculation on why you didn’t identify the victim.” Victoria leaned on her chair. “Why didn’t you, by the way?”
    Orion ran his hands over his head, smoothing his hair back to the elastic that held his ponytail in place.
    Victoria waited.
    “I’m sure Vulpone was connected to the mob,” Orion said. “Shot in the back of his head, a mob-type execution. I don’t want to be identified with this killing. I’ve got a job to do and a deadline. Do you understand, Victoria?”
    “Certainly,” said Victoria. “But here are the facts.” She moved the chair around and sat again. “Angelo Vulpone will be identified eventually. By dental records, missing persons reports, fingerprints, DNA. And when he is, every contact he’s ever had will be unearthed and investigated.” She rested her elbows on the table. “When it’s learned that you expected him to invest in the project, didn’t like him, failed to identify his body, and caused a delay in that identification that cost authorities time and money…”
    Orion sighed. “I’ve heard enough.”
    “Do you happen to be involved with the mob?”
    “Good heavens, no.”
    “Then your delay in identifying Angelo Vulpone will cause someone in the mob to wonder why. You’ll have both the mob and the police annoyed with you.”
    “Is the police station open on Sunday?”
    “Casey will be there.”
    “You win.” Orion rose and offered her his hand. “Will you accompany me to the police station, Deputy Trumbull?”
    *   *   *
    Victoria shrugged into her frayed trench coat, tied a scarf over her head, retrieved her lilac-wood stick from behind the door, and waited in the entry out of the rain for Orion to fetch his car.
    When he came around to the passenger side to open the door for her, his entirely pleasant expression had returned along with what looked like a smile.
    *   *   *
    Orion pulled up in the parking area in front of the tiny West Tisbury police station and held the passenger door for Victoria. The ducks that usually flocked around new arrivals made a few desultory quacks from their shelter under the rosebush. The rain had slackened a bit. Victoria and Orion hurried up the station house steps before the threatening clouds let go again.
    When they entered, Casey was on the telephone. She beckoned for them to sit. Victoria took her usual seat, the wooden armchair in front of Casey’s desk, and Orion wheeled over the chair from the desk next to the chief’s. A nameplate on the tidy desk read SERGEANT JUNIOR NORTON .
    Casey hung up the phone. “I have a feeling that call had to do with something you already know, Victoria. Are you here because of the unidentified body…?”
    “Yes.” Victoria gave Orion a significant look. “This is Orion Nanopoulos.”
    Casey and Orion nodded to one another. “Aren’t you the fiber-optics guy?”
    “That’s right,” said