Murder in the Hearse Degree Read Online Free PDF

have a friend who is a private investigator, Mrs. Potts,” I explained. “I spoke about it with Mrs. Gellman. She was terribly concerned.” I aimed this last line at Potts.
    The woman played her deep eyes all about my face. It was a remorseful and heavy scrutiny.
    “Sophie did not kill herself,” she said again. “I know my daughter.”
    Potts aimed a stubby finger at Libby. “I want a goddamn accounting. Be sure of that.”
    “We can probably do without the pointing,” I said to him. I made no friends with Potts in saying it, but somehow I had already sensed that the relationship was doomed.
    Two policemen came into the hallway. The one with the cowboy swagger—the older of the two—had a brushy patch of rusty hair atop a creased ruddy face. The stale smell of tobacco arrived seconds before he did. The brass plate on his shirt said his name was Talbot and I didn’t have any reason to believe it wasn’t true. The younger cop was black. He had soft brown eyes and was essentially expressionless. His name was Croydon Floyd. Officer Floyd nodded solemnly at Libby.
    “Ma’am.”
    “Hello again.” Libby turned to me. “Officer Floyd was the one who came to the house to take the original missing persons report.”
    Talbot was the acting police chief. Apparently the regular police chief was in a nearby hospital hugging a teddy bear to his chest. Open-heart surgery. The teddy bear is one of the postoperative therapies they use these days. It helps to keep the staples together. Judith the receptionist had told me all about it.
    Talbot rocked back on his heels as he addressed the parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Potts, Officer Floyd here was first on the scene yesterday at the . . . where your daughter was found. Croydon’s a good man. He’s in charge on this.” The man had a folksy sort of delivery that could cut two ways, only one of them being genuine. “It’s an awful thing that happened,” he went on. “I know you both must be in shock. But I want you to know that Croydon here can answer any question you folks have. Anything you need, you check with him. We’re here to help you in any way we can.”
    The acting police chief tipped his head toward Floyd and gave the officer a hard look. It seemed to me that Floyd made a point of not looking at his superior.
    Eva Potts spoke up. “I want to see where it happened.” Her voice was quavering. “Where was Sophie when this happened?”
    “Officer Floyd can take you there. He’s all yours. Croydon, you take the Pottses along now.” Talbot reached out and patted the officer on the shoulder. It seemed a trifle patronizing to me. Floyd showed no reaction, but my guess was he didn’t like it. Talbot turned to Libby. “Give my regards to your husband, will you, Mrs. Gellman?”
    “I’ll do that,” Libby said. Talbot flashed an inappropriate smile all around as he took hold of his belt and gave it a tug. His hardware jangled. He turned and walked off. The sense that he had just palmed this whole thing off on the young officer was palpable. It was my bet that halfway back to his desk the acting police chief was already sorting out what he was going to have for lunch.
    Murray Potts slapped his chubby hands together. He’d probably hoped to make a larger sound than he did.
    “Okay then. Let’s get rolling.”
     
    “No Mike,” I noted as Libby and I got into her car.
    Libby pulled a pair of sunglasses from the visor and put them on. One of her wide-brimmed hats was on the seat next to her. “You noticed that, too.”
    Eva Potts had requested that Libby accompany them to see where it was the police believed Sophie had entered the water. Eva had—she said—more questions for Libby. We watched as the Pottses got into their rental car. Croydon Floyd was leading in his police cruiser.
    “So warm, so cuddly,” I said. “What does he do, do you know?”
    “Potts? Sophie told me that he owns a chain of dry-cleaning establishments on Long Island.”
    “In that