The Mystery of Nevermore Read Online Free Page A

don’t you like him?”
    “I told you why.”
    “He let the questioning about Mike drop and left.” I had turned back to stir the sauce, but paused and looked at Neil. “You haven’t heard anything about that, have you? Mike’s break-in?”
    Neil shook his head before taking a swig of beer. “Someone else’s case, not mine.”
    “Why do you think Mike would accuse me of breaking into his store?”
    “Because he’s a prick.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    “But nothing,” Neil interrupted. “He’s always had it out for you, Seb.”
    Taking a drink of beer, I considered my next comment. “I was thinking about giving him a call tonight.”
    Neil stared at me as if I’d grown a second head. “You’re not stupid, are you?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Sebby, stay the hell out of it. Let the police investigate what happened to Mike, and don’t be an idiot and harass him.”
    “Who said anything about harassment? I was just going to see if he’s all right.”
    “Doesn’t matter,” Neil replied. “The police don’t need to see you’ve been contacting him after he pointed his finger at you in the first place, okay?”
    Neil had a valid point, of course, and who would know better what a cop would think than another cop?
    Taking a drink and giving dinner my full attention, I zoned back in when I heard him saying my name.
    “Seb, promise you won’t stick your nose where it’s not supposed to be.”
    “Why do you think I will?”
    That question made Neil laugh. “Because you like the thrill. The two hundred mystery novels on the bookcase in the living room say so.”
    “I don’t have two hundred ,” I said defensively. But so what? I liked a good brainteaser.
    “Seb,” he said again, more sternly.
    “I won’t ,” I insisted, getting annoyed. “I get it.” Before Neil could say another word, I said, “How the heart ended up in the shop has yet to be explained.”
    “Hmm?”
    “How’d a pig’s heart get under the floorboards, Neil?” I asked while turning. “I didn’t put it there, and I was the one to close up last night. I didn’t forget to lock the gate or set the alarm.”
    “It was probably a prank,” he said simply, shrugging.
    “A prank?” I echoed. “By who?”
    “I don’t know. Kids— teenagers . Someone sick in the head. Come on. You’ve been busy as hell at the Emporium. You and Max can’t keep an eye on everything all the time.”
    Again, what Neil said could have very easily been true. Minus today, we had been slammed since before Thanksgiving. There was always a handful of customers roaming about at one time, inventory coming in, items going out for auction—I couldn’t always watch everything.
    “But what’s the point?”
    “What’s the point of a hotdog-eating contest?” Neil countered with a laugh. “People do stupid things sometimes, Seb.”
    “I guess. It’s a little dramatic, though. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’”
    “The what?”
    “Poe,” I said. “It is the beating of his hideous heart!”
    “Oh, yeah, I think I remember reading that in school,” Neil replied thoughtfully.
    “An old man with a blind eye is murdered and cut up. The murderer thinks he hears the heart under the floorboards where he put the body,” I explained. “He goes mad with guilt while the police are there looking into a possible disturbance.”
    “Well, damn.”
    “Good thing I’m only legally blind,” I said sarcastically.
     
     
    NEIL AND I watched some police procedural drama while we ate, which really was just Neil complaining for forty-five minutes that the forensics team was handling the scene incorrectly, and no one got DNA results back that quickly. Disgruntled, he ended up channel-surfing before finding Home Alone and settling on that.
    “I always wanted to do this,” he said as we sat in the dark, sipping wine later in the evening.
    “Be Macaulay Culkin?”
    “Catch bad guys,” Neil replied.
    “You do,” I pointed out. “Just with big-boy toys. You’re a