The Violet Crow Read Online Free

“You think she’ll be accountable and take responsibility …?”
    â€œBut it’s in print,” the chief protested. “She’s on the record.”
    â€œPrint, shmint ! A week ago. Two weeks. Who’s gonna remembra? Who’s gonna care? If I don’t produce, you’ll be the one who hired me. You’ll be the one who’s payin’ me. You’re the one who’s wasting the taxpayers’ furshlugginer money. You’ll be the one who’s accountable and responsible .”
    â€œSo what are we going to do?” The Chief didn’t even notice that he was saying “we” rather than “you.”
    â€œWe’re gonna solve da moidra.”
    â€œBut we don’t have any clues. We don’t even know who the victim is …”
    â€œOf course. That’s why you need me.”
    The Chief looked like he needed to curl up in the fetal position and crawl back into the nearest womb.
    â€œSo we got a deal?” The Chief glared, holding out to see if the psychic would retract his offered handshake. He didn’t. They shook perfunctorily. Then the psychic put his business card on the desk and turned to leave, quickly, as if he wanted to get out before the Chief could change his mind.
    Chief Black picked up the card gingerly by the edges and examined it carefully. There was a crude drawing of a flashlight emitting rays of light, with the detective’s name and a phone number.
    â€œBruno X?” The Chief read the information aloud in a voice dripping with self-pity. “That’s your name, Bruno X? And no address, just a phone number?”
    â€œThat’s correct,” said Bruno. “This is a dangerous business. The less people know about me, the better. I charge five hundred a day plus expenses. Call me when you’re ready to get started.”

Chapter 5
    For Chief Black, the empty meeting house was devoid of emotion. Plain walls. Plain benches. No pictures. No symbols. No musical instruments, fancy costumes or other religious equipment. Only emptiness—and silence.
    It was different for Bruno. He was in his element. Meditation, visualization were things he understood. But there was something puzzling about the place. He’d never been inside a Quaker meeting house before. After he got used to the initial starkness, he started to tune into an undercurrent of emotion that seemed to flow in layers. It was good not to have too many external distractions. He looked about with anticipation.
    â€œYou found no clues here?” he asked the Chief.
    â€œJust the body—nothing else came in from outside. Nothing is out of place.”
    â€œShow me where you found her.”
    The Chief paced off a certain number of rows. He pointed to a spot at the far end of the row. Bruno frowned. There was no crime scene tape to protect the spot.
    â€œAny sign of how they got it in?”
    â€œNo. There was an hour between the time the building was unlocked for school to start and when the classes came in for the monthly meeting.”
    â€œPretty risky, breaking in in broad daylight,” Bruno mused out loud.
    Chief Black nodded in agreement. “Except there was no sign of a break-in. No picked locks. No broken windows. No footprints in the snow, tire tracks, or anything like that.”
    Bruno shuffled over to the spot where the body was found. He stood behind it, leaning forward with both hands on the back of the wooden bench.
    â€œEverything you know about physical evidence is also true for psychic evidence. If the crime scene is disturbed I can’t do my job.” Bruno sat down in the spot where the victim was found. He slumped over, attempting to imitate the girl’s posture. He sat that way in silence for several minutes. “Nothing here,” he said finally, without moving or opening his eyes. “Normally there are powerful emotions associated with a violent crime. Both from the victim and the