Death hits the fan Read Online Free PDF Page A

unblinking, she headed toward the para-

    medics, engaging them in whispered conversation as Dupree left the store for purposes unknown. The captain brightened up his smile some more and continued speaking.
    "So, perhaps we can arrange these chairs in a nice little circle," he suggested cheerily.
    "I'd be glad to," Ivan offered and scuttled out from behind the sales counter. "Where's Marcia?"
    "Where's Marcia?" PMP echoed. "Where's Marcia. Never here when I need her. Oh, well. Scree-scraw. Cash or charge."
    But Marcia Armeson was there suddenly, appearing like a genie from the bottle of the back aisle. She sauntered toward the rest of us with a show of nonchalance that matched her designer jeans but not the tightness of her clamped lips. Whatever she'd been doing in the storeroom before, she was a dutiful employee now, helping Ivan arrange the folding chairs into a circle with a minimum of clattering and a maximum of efficiency. Actually, the circle ended up being more of an oval, the chairs skirting the authors' table, and Shayla's body behind it, just as carefully as the humans had.
    Once the seating was arranged, one of the paramedics gathered up equipment while the other listened to the squawk of a hand-held phone, and then they rushed back out into the night, letting in another blast of cold, wet air. Captain Xavier swept his arm toward the group of chairs.
    It was amazing how easily everyone dropped into those teak folding chairs. Maybe it was the captain's charisma at work. Yvette Cassell started to protest, but Lou laid a restraining hand on her arm and they both sat down. Ted Brown took his place beside them without a word. Zoe In-gersoll led a still dazed Dean Frazier to his seat, before taking her own. Even Winona Eads sat down, though still rubbing her arms convulsively. When Marcia, Ivan, Wayne, and I took our own seats, Vince Quadrini collapsed into his. Only Phyllis Oberman, the acupuncturist, remained stand-

    ing, straight and tall, staring into Captain Xavier's eyes as if there was a secret there she didn't understand.
    "Madam?" Captain Xavier offered with another expansive sweep of his arm, and Phyllis clumped into the circle, seating herself and pulling at the legs of her Mao pajamas while muttering something too low to be heard. Only then did the captain of the Verduras Police Department lower himself onto one of the folding chairs as if it were a throne. King Arthur of the Knights of the Round Table, minus the table.
    "Well now," Captain Xavier boomed. "The first thing on my agenda is to get to know you each a little better. Why don't we just go around the group, introduce ourselves, where we're from, and how we knew Ms. . .." He turned to Ivan for help.
    "Ms. Greenfree," Ivan whispered, his voice husky, his Asian bulldog features flat, face drained.
    "Of course, Ms. Greenfree," the captain echoed, beaming as if at a prize student. "An author, I understand."
    "A great author," Mr. Quadrini put in, his voice loud but quavery. For a moment I worried about Mr. Quadrini. He seemed too old for the game we were playing, whatever it was. His body was shaking in his pinstriped suit, really shaking. It was cold again in the store, all the heat sucked out by the many trips in and out the front door, but not that cold. Was he having some sort of attack?
    "Perhaps, you might introduce yourself first, then, sir," Captain Xavier suggested.
    Mr. Quadrini straightened up in his chair, clasping his trembling hands together. "My name is Vincent Joseph Quadrini. I'm the owner of Quadrini and Associates Realty. I knew Shayla Greenfree as a fan—"
    "Do you live here in Verduras?" the captain interjected, his voice and face friendly.
    "What?" Mr. Quadrini jumped. "Oh, Verduras. No, I live
    i

    down the way in Hutton. Anyway, I just wanted to say that Shayla Greenfree was a truly gracious woman, and a truly great writer—"
    "Damn-darn, she wasn't all that great," Yvette threw in. "I mean she was pretty flippin' good, but not