Cold Quarry Read Online Free PDF

houses, a throwback to the days when massive barracks housed the thousands of workers, and a washed-out business district spotted by decaying buildings. We turned left and drove past the firehouse. Another quick left brought us past a giant American flag festooning a proud little city hall across the street from the headquarters of the Nitro Police Department.
    “So why did you think Chester even called you guys in the first place?” I asked.
    “He’d given me permission to hunt up there if I ever wanted—not that I was planning to since it’s so far from my place—and he wanted to warn me about a potential problem,” Toronto said. “He thought there might be something in the air or the water up there, maybe something that was affecting the game population too. Seemed pretty worried about it.”
    “Yeah,” Farraday chimed in. “He told me the same kind of thing. Let me go hunting on his land sometimes with my redtail, Tawny, and he knew I’d been over there in that same area a couple of days before. He wanted to know if Tawny was showing any symptoms too.”
    “Did she?”
    “Nope. She’s been fine, far as I can tell.”
    “So maybe Elo just happened to come into contact with something that made him ill. Maybe he ingested some kind of pesticide or something.”
    “Maybe,” Toronto said.
    “When did all this happen?”
    “About ten days ago.”
    “The lab results come back yet?”
    Toronto shrugged. “Not that I know of. … Damon?”
    Farraday was busy wrestling with his gearshift at the moment. He stared straight ahead.
    “Damon?”
    “Oh, sorry. What were you asking?”
    “Lab results. You know if anything more has come in on Elo?”
    “Uh-uh. I ain’t heard a thing.”
    I put my hand up against the ceiling to steady myself in the seat. “Damon, you said you had an idea about who might’ve killed Chester.”
    “Yup. I do. I mean I ain’t no cop or anything, but if I was, I’d sure be looking at these two.”
    “What two are you talking about?”
    “I first ran into ‘em when I was hunting up there on Chester’s land a few weeks ago. Had ourselves a conversation. Two guys, seemed about my age, both carrying shotguns.”
    “Poachers?”
    “I ain’t sure. Didn’t look like no hunters to me.”
    “What did they look like?”
    “That’s just it. I couldn’t really tell ‘cause they was dressed in camo and masks.”
    A ball of apprehension materialized in the pit of my stomach. “What did they say to you?”
    “They wanted to know what I was doing up there. I had Tawny with me and I told ‘em, and naturally, I asked the same about them.”
    “And?”
    “They said they was lost.”
    “Lost.”
    “That’s right.”
    “You tell the sheriff’s department about all this?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The Scout rumbled a bit as we rounded another curve.
    “Hey. If it was one of these dudes shot Chester, why don’t we just get after ‘em?” Farraday asked. “Cops probably won’t do nothing about it.”
    “Let’s not go off half-cocked until we know what we’re talking about,” I said.
    “I’ll tell you one thing. Whoever killed Chester is gonna pay if I have anything to say about it,” Farraday said.
     

4
     
    The Carew place was a smallish Victorian relic that had seen better days. The exterior siding, though not quite peeling, was painted a dull shade of what might have once been yellow. The foundation planting lay listless in the cold. More than a dozen other vehicles lined the driveway and spilled onto the lawn.
    Toronto and I were sitting in the cab of my pickup. He had pulled me aside while Farraday went with Nicole into the house and said simply, “We gotta talk.”
    Both my back and my aching head rejoiced at finally being able to peel myself out of the back of Farraday’s Scout.
    “What’s going on?”
    “There’s more to this story,” he said. “I didn’t want to spill in front of anybody else.”
    “Tell me,” I said.
    “There was something else eating