Death in North Beach Read Online Free PDF

took the sheet of paper back, folded it roughly in half, creased it and then used the edge of the table to rip it cleanly. She handed him one of the halves.
    â€˜Very scientific,’ Lang said. ‘I can see a lot of thought was put into this.’
    â€˜You get six, I get six.’
    â€˜Twelve suspects right off the bat.’
    â€˜Zodiac,’ she said, ‘apostles.’
    â€˜Number of inches in a foot,’ Lang said.
    â€˜Come with me,’ Lang said after they finished lunch and paid the bill. He grabbed her hand and the two of them dodged traffic, jaywalking across the street to Washington Square Park.
    â€˜What are we doing?’
    â€˜We’re going to sit a while in the park,’ he said.
    â€˜Why?’
    He didn’t answer but took her across the expanse of grass to the north-east corner, where there was an unoccupied bench.
    Trees lined the perimeter, but most of the park was open field, except for a grouping of cedars in the center. Most folks – homeless, jobless, lovers, nannies with strollers, and a smattering of tourists – sat on the shady edges. However, in one corner, a legion of Chinese women in baseball caps practiced t’ai chi, moving arms and legs in a kind of earthbound synchronized swimming. In the sunlight there were sunbathers and dog walkers and people cutting across the park’s expanse merely to get from one place to another.
    â€˜Noah,’ she said, sitting on the bench, ‘what are we doing here?’
    â€˜We’re relaxing. We’re contemplating the world.’
    Not far away on another bench a young man played the accordion.
    Carly laughed. Then she sang along with the tune, ‘Let the devil take tomorrow . . .’
    â€˜Exactly,’ Lang said.
    â€˜You are laid back,’ she said. Then a little sternly, she added, ‘We’re working.’
    â€˜We’re also living a life. Or haven’t you noticed?’
    Pigeons gathered in a loose formation and swooped from one corner of the park to the other, occasionally causing folks to duck. Then they quieted again.
    Carly seemed to relax.
    â€˜I repeat. I think it’s likely that Warfield came down from Grant,’ he said, motioning behind him. ‘He crossed the park and thought he could hide in that little island.’
    â€˜He was being chased?’ she asked.
    â€˜Or followed and he became aware of it. He wasn’t a young man. He couldn’t run far. He probably felt like he couldn’t make it home.’
    She nodded. ‘He would have had to run uphill.’
    â€˜He lived on Russian Hill, right?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜He wanted to rest, hide in the darkness. And it was dark in there, under the trees.’
    â€˜The only place that was completely dark,’ she said.
    There was at least five minutes of quiet. She looked out over the park. To her right and slightly behind her was the gigantic Saints Peter and Paul Church. She had been inside many times with her parents. Why didn’t he go into the church, she wondered.
    â€˜The list,’ Noah said. ‘You should add your Mr William Blake.’
    â€˜That would make thirteen,’ she said.
    â€˜The thirteenth apostle,’ he said.
    â€˜Some feet are thirteen inches.’
    â€˜You’re right.’

Four
    Carly didn’t admit it to Noah Lang, but she knew he was right. She hadn’t quite let go of her corporate weenyship. She left her safe and comfortable job as an executive investigator at Vogel Security because it was boring, stifling, and soul-killing. The same could be said about her relationship with Peter – safe, comfortable, boring, stifling and soul-killing. The difference was she quit Vogel Security. And Peter quit her. She was ready for change and leapt into it. There were times when she thought she wasn’t quite over either one.
    But the choice had been made. For better or worse, she was embarking on this new life