Kinsey and Me Read Online Free PDF

going back to Pat’s and call the police. Don’t touch a thing.”
     We all stared at him. The place was empty except for Gerald and none of us wanted
     to touch
him
.
    Pat began to sob again quietly. Emily put a comforting arm around her and drew her
     out into the courtyard, where she helped her sit down on the edge of the fountain.
     The prospective tenants decided to have a little look around and I saw them disappear
     into the apartment. I perched on the fountain rim on the other side of Pat, patting
     at Emily ineffectually. Hermione paced up and down the courtyard, smoking a cigarette.
    Emily leaned forward and caught my eye. “Well, at least now you know I’m not nuts,”
     she said. “I did find him this morning. I just can’t understand how he ended up down
     here.”
    “You’re sure he was dead when you saw him,” I said, quizzing her on the point for
     the second time.
    “Well, I couldn’t swear to it.”
    “What about this Mafia business? Do you have any reason to believe he was tied to
     the Mob?” I couldn’t believe I was saying shit like this—the Mob—like Gerald had been
     “fingered” for betraying some crime boss. Ludicrous. The whole business felt like
     bad TV.
    Pat clutched my arm, digging her nails in painfully. “I just remembered. Caroline
     called two days ago and said she’d be dropping by. She wanted to pick up the refund
     on her cleaning deposit because she didn’t leave a forwarding address.”
    “Wow,” I said. “Uh, so what?”
    “What if she came back?”
    “Last night?” I said.
    Pat nodded vigorously. “Maybe she overheard Emily threaten him. She could have waited
     ’til Emily drove off and then gone in there herself.”
    “Did she know about the gun?”
    “Everybody knew about that,” Pat said.
    Emily seemed skeptical. “I did leave my front door unlocked, but it still doesn’t
     make any sense. If
she
killed him, why move the body to her own apartment? Why not leave it in mine?”
    “And why cut your telephone line?” I said. “The thing is, we really don’t know what
     the scheme consisted of. Maybe you interrupted the killer.”
    Emily spoke up. “Wait a minute. Suppose what he wrote are the first few letters of
     the murderer’s
name
.”
    I could see us all mouthing “Mafia,” trying to imagine what the name might be.
    David came striding back across the courtyard. “The police are on their way,” he said.
    “Uh, me too, gang,” Hermione interjected. “I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes. I have
     to get back to the office.”
    “But what am I supposed to do?” Emily said. “What if I’m grilled and carted off to
     jail?”
    “I’ll be back in an hour. Just keep your mouth shut. Tell them I’m your attorney and
     I’ve told you not to say a word unless I’m present.”
    “Can I do that?” Emily asked. “I mean, is that legitimate?”
    “That’s what the Miranda decision was about, dear,” Hermione said with more patience
     than I might have mustered at that point.
    I gave her a quick word of thanks and watched her head off toward the street where
     her car was parked.
    There was something about this setup that nudged at me. It was one of those situations
     I was sure had a simple explanation if I could only make the mental leap. I felt a
     tug and looked down to find Althea standing next to me, slipping her hand into mine.
     She was apparently attracted to me in the same way cats unerringly select the lap
     of someone who’s ailurophobic. (That’s a fear of cats, folks.) I was flattered, I’ll
     admit, but uncertain what I’d done to warrant such trust.
    Pat became aware of her at just about the same time I did.
    “Oh look, everybody. Here’s Althea,” Pat chirped, sounding like she’d just had a hit
     of helium.
    “We’ll go for a walk,” I said in a normal tone. I was afraid if I hung around, I’d
     start talking like her.
    Althea and I headed out to the alley and strolled up and down, passing the rear