Bodies in Winter Read Online Free PDF Page A

train.’
    â€˜You’re sure nobody else gave him a ride.’
    â€˜If they did, he never mentioned it.’
    Though Mrs Lodge’s tone was challenging, I refused to respond in kind. I wanted her help, if she had help to give, and I wanted to get her on the record. Those were my immediate priorities.
    â€˜But he didn’t just show up, right? You did invite him to stay with you?’
    â€˜I felt sorry for him, OK?’ She opened the refrigerator, removed a gallon container of apple juice and began to empty it into the plastic tumblers. ‘Look, there’s something you gotta understand. When Dave killed that pimp it turned my life upside down. You see what I do here five days a week? Well, on weekends, I’m a telemarketer for Time Warner. That’s right, I’m the one you curse at before you slam down the phone. So if I sound bitter, it’s most probably because I am.’
    â€˜I understand, Mrs Lodge, believe me. I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible.’
    But Ellen Lodge was having none of my sympathy. ‘Ya know, after it happened, me and Dave were tossed out of the family. You’re cops and I don’t have to tell you that I’m talkin’ about the Great Cop Family. Me, I don’t see what I did to deserve that, but I been scrambling to survive ever since. Now, you want the story, it goes like this. I wrote to Dave from time to time and I went to see him maybe twice a year. About three months ago, he mails me a letter sayin’ he’s gonna be released soon and could he stay with me until he gets back on his feet? It’s either that or a homeless shelter. Nice, right?’
    â€˜He didn’t have any family? Mother, father, siblings?’
    â€˜His mother’s dead and his father lives somewhere out west.’ She turned away from me, lifting the lid on the crock pot to release the fragrance of simmering vegetables.
    â€˜Mrs Lodge,’ I asked, ‘do you know any reason why somebody would want to kill your husband?’
    She laughed out loud. ‘How about one of the monkeys who spit on us whenever we came in or out of the courthouse?’
    â€˜You mean the protesters?’
    â€˜Yeah, the protesters.’
    â€˜Anybody else? Anybody specific?’
    â€˜No, but Dave was worried about the possibility of revenge. Definitely. He mentioned it to me a number of times in his letters and—’
    â€˜We’ll need to see those letters.’
    Ellen stopped short, her eyes rising to mine, then jumping away. ‘I didn’t keep them,’ she admitted after a long moment. ‘I mean, they weren’t love letters or anything like that.’
    â€˜Can you remember what he wrote?’
    â€˜Besides how he was worried?’
    â€˜Yeah, besides.’
    Ellen shrugged. ‘The usual stuff. How tough the screws were. How bad the food was. How he was trying to stay positive.’
    â€˜But you don’t remember anything specific?’
    â€˜Hey, you’re not listening. Me and Dave weren’t all that close, not after seven years. In fact, we were on the outs before he ever went away.’
    â€˜Then what did he say that led you to believe he felt threatened?’
    â€˜He said there were prison rumors that Clarence Spott’s old crew had a contract out on him. Personally, I didn’t take it all that serious, but the guy you wanna talk to is Pete Jarazelsky. You know who I’m talking about?’
    â€˜I don’t.’
    â€˜Pete Jarazelsky was stationed at the Eight-Three, same time as Dave. He got sent upstate a few years back for knockin’ over a warehouse. What I understand, they were pals. They told each other everything.’
    â€˜And Jarazelsky’s still in prison?’
    â€˜That’s what Dave told me last night. Dave said he was worried about Pete. You know, now that he wouldn’t be there to watch Pete’s back.’
    From outside, a chorus of