Murder in the Hearse Degree Read Online Free PDF Page B

case, he needs to take that tie of his into work.”
    The police had determined that Sophie Potts had entered the Severn River several miles north of where her body had been discovered, at the Naval Academy Bridge. Despite the condition of the body—I didn’t see it, but I’m going to assume swollen and pearly blue and generally wretched—the initial observations lined up to the idea that Sophie had entered the water at a speed commensurate with that of a body of roughly 115 pounds falling from a height of approximately six hundred feet. Which is to say, she didn’t slip quietly into the Severn River from its lapping banks. The girl slammed into it. Libby told me on the drive over to the bridge that the autopsy was being performed that morning.
    We parked our cars at the foot of the Naval Academy Bridge and walked up onto it, to the middle. It was windy; Libby had to keep a hand on her hat to keep it from blowing off. Libby and Croydon Floyd and I kept back some twenty or thirty feet as Eva Potts stood gazing down into the water. Her husband stood by, twice checking his watch and once taking a short call on his cell phone.
    “So what do you think?” I asked the officer.
    Croydon Floyd was gazing off into the distance. For a moment I thought he hadn’t heard me, but then he turned and looked over at me.
    “About what?”
    “What do you think? The lady swears her daughter didn’t jump.”
    Floyd let his gaze rest on my face a few seconds. “It’s a hard thing for a parent to accept,” he said. His tone was affectless.
    “But you’re keeping open to other possibilities?”
    “Such as?”
    “There’s more than one way to fall from a bridge,” I said.
    “What are you suggesting?”
    “Nothing, Officer, except that it’s possible the girl was tossed from the bridge. Those things happen. I was just wondering if the police were keeping that possibility in mind.”
    “We’re doing our job,” the officer said flatly. He didn’t look too happy saying it. I indicated the couple at the guardrail.
    “I’m sure they’d appreciate that. At least she would.”
    The officer returned his gaze to the horizon.
    As we were waiting for the Pottses, a blue car pulled up at the base of the bridge and a man got out on the driver’s side. Libby frowned.
    “God. What’s he doing here?”
    The man came up onto the bridge. He was tall, nearly my height, and as he approached I saw that he was somewhere in his late fifties or early sixties. His hair was silver and he had a yachtsman’s tan. He was wearing a light gray suit and a concerned expression. The face reminded me of Douglas Fairbanks, minus the mustache.
    “Libby. I’m sorry I’m late.”
    Libby was still frowning. “What are you doing here, Owen?”
    “I tried to get a message to you at the police station. Mike’s been called in to a conference with the D.A. It’s looking very bad, Libby.” The man threw a glance at me.
    “I’m sorry to hear that, of course,” Libby said curtly. “I still don’t understand why you’re here.”
    “Mike can’t get away just now. He planned to be here but he’s putting out fires all over the place. I’m very worried for him, Libby. He told me you’re still in Baltimore. This really isn’t a good time, Libby. I think it would be good if you two could talk this out.”
    “Thank you very much for your opinion.”
    The man coughed into his hand. “Well, as I was saying, Mike told me he was supposed to meet with the young woman’s parents this morning. He feels terrible, but—”
    Libby cut him off. “Stop it, Owen. I really don’t want to hear it. Mike’s not coming. Is that the message?”
    “He can’t. He—”
    “Don’t. The answer is no, he’s not coming. Fine. If Mike can’t find the courtesy to meet with the Pottses in person, well, that’s that. But sending you as his proxy? I know you mean well, Owen, but that’s pathetic.”
    “You have to understand, Libby, Mike is under intense pressure right