Dark Places Read Online Free PDF Page B

warrant.
    â€œMrs. Talbott? Edith Talbott?”
    â€œYes?” A little less concerned, but not much. The door widened enough for an anorexic inchworm to wriggle through.
    â€œI’m Detective Claire Morgan from the Canton County Sheriff’s Department. This is my partner, Detective Bud Davis.”
    â€œHave you found Mr. Classon yet?”
    â€œNo, ma’am.” I smiled at the faded blue eye now peering out through the crack. “We thought maybe you could help us find him.”
    â€œI don’t know where he is. I didn’t do anything to him. I mind my own business and expect him to do the same.”
    Bud said, “Yes, ma’am. We just need to talk to you for a minute or two.”
    â€œGo ahead then, talk to me.”
    â€œIt sure is cold out here, ma’am.” To prove it, Bud energetically beat his gloved hands together and exhaled a smoky breath.
    â€œYou blaming me for that, too, are you? I’d say weather like this is to be expected this time of year. Winter’s like that, you know. Cold, sometimes snowy.”
    Bud slanted me a we’ve-got-a-real-wiseass-here look, then we both eyed the eye in the door. It blinked. Twice.
    â€œWell, let me see your badges. I watch TV. I know how killers get in people’s houses pretending to be cops. And I know what badges that come from Toys “R” Us look like, too.”
    We got out our legitimate badges and let Cyclops eyeball them.
    â€œWell, okay, I guess, but I’m gonna call the sheriff first and make sure you’re for real. It’s a little late in the evening to come knocking on a person’s door without calling first, don’t you think? You stay right where you are and don’t try anything.” The door shut in our faces. The lock clicked, then two more.
    â€œHell, it’d be easier gettin’ into the Oval Office with a hand grenade.” Bud shuffled his feet some more to keep warm. I shivered patiently and blew into my gloved hands to warm my frozen nose. My bruised cheekbone was beginning to ache.
    Finally, the door opened all the way and revealed to us the inhospitable Mrs. Talbott. She was leaning on a cane, a big aluminum one with a curved handle, but it was painted red, white, and blue like the American flag. She was little and wrinkled and prim, and looked exactly like Granny in the Tweety Bird cartoons, all the way down to her white-haired bun. I looked around for a birdcage. There was a brown wicker one on a table by the front window but it was empty. Maybe Sylvester finally got lucky.
    â€œWell, I’m sorry if you became chilled waiting out there, but a lady my age can’t be too careful. I am eighty-seven, you know. And I watch America’s Most Wanted and C ops and NYPD Blue . Law and Order ’s pretty good, too, and the Court TV channel is nothing less than a public-service network, in my opinion. I see how criminals like to treat us senior citizens. That’s why I had bars put on my windows and the Brink’s alarm system put in. I don’t got a lot but what I got is gonna stay mine.” She glared at us, and we smiled graciously, also fans of those programs.
    â€œYes, ma’am, we appreciate your caution.” When she finally let us step inside, her home was a relief after the angel grotto down the street. Not a cherub or seraph in sight. Lots of books, stacked newspapers, and a giant big-screen television muted on a rerun of Sex and the City . Hmmm. Looked like Mrs. Talbott had a feisty streak.
    â€œGo ahead then, sit down, and I’ll fix you some tea. I am not going to even offer you coffee because it’s not good for you. Green tea is all I drink and all I fix for myself or anybody else.” She glowered at me, then Bud, as if we were going to pull our weapons and shoot her dead if she didn’t produce some Folgers in a hurry.
    â€œI do love a spot of green tea,” said Bud, suddenly the British lord with a