Cinderella Read Online Free PDF Page A

real than a live one. Matthew didn't know why that was so. He guessed that when people were actually engaged in a conversation, they didn't notice how sloppy and ragged it was. Like life itself, he guessed. But listening to a conversation on tape, you realized that continuity and order were for novels and movies. In real-life conversation, people invariably meandered far afield, sometimes returning to a point minutes later, often seeming to forget it altogether. Interruptions were frequent, overlapping was common, entire passages sometimes made no sense at all. Listening to a taped conversation was compelling because, first of all, it was so shockingly real, and second, the listener was unquestionably eavesdropping. The conversation between Daniel Nettington and a woman identified on Otto's hand-lettered cassette label as Rita Kirkman (but only as "Rita" on the tape itself) was even more compelling because the people talking were lovers.
        Otto's private office was larger than the reception area- eight by ten as opposed to six by eight-but just as cluttered. It enjoyed the advantage of a window, however, which, combined with its few extra feet, made it seem spacious by comparison, even if the only view from the window was of a bank building across the street. The desk, a twin sister to the one in the reception room, was piled high with papers. There were bookshelves and filing cabinets and a standing electric fan and a small-screen television set and a radio and two wooden chairs with arms and a typewriter on a stand and, on the wall opposite the desk and surrounded by charcoal drawings of nudes, Otto's framed Class-A license to operate a private investigative agency in the state of Florida.
        In accordance with Chapter 493 of the Florida Statutes, such a license granted to its recipient the right to investigate, and to gather information on, a wide range of matters that included:
         -The credibility of witnesses or other persons…
         -The whereabouts of missing persons…
         -The location or recovery of lost or stolen property, and…
         - The causes and origin of fires, libels and slanders.
        The license further permitted the investigator to:
         -Secure evidence to be used in the trial of civil or criminal cases, and…
         -When operating under express written authority of the governmental official responsible, to investigate crimes or wrongdoings against the United States or any state or territory of the United States.
        All for a hundred bucks.
        Which was what the license cost annually.
        Renewable before midnight on the thirtieth day of June.
        This year, Otto Samalson would not be renewing his license. Nor would he be posting the five-thousand-dollar bond required by subsections 493.08 and 493.09.
        Matthew took the cassette May had given him, inserted it into the recorder, sat down behind Otto's desk-feeing the wall with its framed license and its charcoal nudes-and pressed the play button.
        … of getting away for at least a weekend.
        I don't know, Rita. I'll have to see.
        I don't want to force you into doing anything you-
        He hit the stop button. Obviously, he'd started the tape someplace beyond the beginning. He rewound it now, pressed the stop button again, and then the play button.
        … of getting away for at least a weekend.
        I don't know, Rita. I'll have to see.
        I don't want to force-
        He hit the stop button again. Okay, he had it now. The recorder Otto had planted under the bed was voice-activated. It probably had a good pickup range, and it had begun taping as they came into the bedroom, Rita continuing a sentence she had already started before entering the room. Nodding, Matthew rewound the tape, and started it all over again.
        … of getting away for at least a weekend.
        I don't know, Rita. I'll have to see.
        I don't want