Never Buried: A Leigh Koslow Mystery Read Online Free PDF

room echoed through the door. Dr. Koslow rose. "Anything else?"
    Leigh smiled. Her Dad wasn't the gushy type, but he could always make her feel better. "Um, actually there is," she answered. "Mao Tse's throwing up again. I need some Laxatone."
    "Take whatever you need," he answered, reaching for the door. Then he turned. "I assume you don't want me to mention this to your mother."
    Leigh shivered. "God forbid. She wouldn't eat for a week. I'll tell her after I've found another job."
    Dr. Koslow nodded. "Good plan." He opened the connecting door to the waiting room and poked his head out. "'Sugar' Fedorchak?"
    Leigh slipped out of the exam room, grabbed a tube of Laxatone from the pharmacy shelves, and left through the back door. The kennel dogs had no comment.
     
    ***
     
    It was late afternoon before Leigh returned to Cara's house. Balancing several bags from the office supply store with one arm, she let herself in the front door. The phone was ringing as she stepped inside.
    "Cara?" she called around the bags, "You here?"
    There was no response. Leigh looked for a place to put her packages, but seeing only a spindly antique table, she dropped them in a heap instead. She ran to the security box, punched in the code, and dove for the phone in the study. The lady of the house didn't believe in answering machines; she rarely even answered in person. Apparently, letting someone think you weren't home was more polite than ignoring a message.
    "Hello? March residence."
    A cranky, shrill voice spat into the other end of the line. "Is this the maid?"
    Leigh controlled her annoyance. "No, it isn't. Whom were you calling?"
    Throaty laughter echoed out the earpiece, and Leigh's face reddened. "Maura Polanski! What the heck is your problem? I about gave myself a hernia running for this phone!"
    The laughter funneled down into a dramatic exhale. "Just couldn't resist, Koslow. You sounded so formal."
    Leigh was in no mood to be the brunt of somebody else's joke. "So what do you want, anyway? I've got work to do."
    "What do I want?" Maura asked, after a short pause. "Have you forgotten you’re living at the site of an official police investigation?"
    She had. "Of course not. But I thought you finished with all that. What is it now?"
    This pause was longer, and the voice that followed was more serious. "I don't have the best news for you. In fact, it's rather worrisome."
    Leigh was unmoved. Worries? She had her own to deal with.
    Maura continued. "I just got a call from the medical examiner's office. They haven't finished the autopsy report yet, but they did find something when they removed the clothing."
    Leigh tapped her foot on her cousin's new carpet and thought about whether or not she had bought the right printer cartridge. Perhaps she should invest in a laser printer anyway. Resumes had to look good in her line of work…
    "There was a note pinned to the shirt. Handprinted on plain notebook paper—new, fresh paper."
    "Yeah, all right," Leigh said impatiently, debating whether she could afford any computer supplies now that she was unemployed. "So what did it say?"
    Maura cleared her throat. "It said: GET OUT OF MY HOUSE."
    Leigh's brain shifted back to the present. Get out of my house. Whose house? Her brow wrinkled. "What is that supposed to mean, Maura? Was the note intended for Cara and me?"
    "I've got no way of knowing that yet, Koslow. The medical examiner still hasn't officially stated that the body was embalmed or how long the man's been dead, much less cause of death. Then there's the matter of identity..."
    Leigh clenched her teeth. Perhaps, on a better day, she might be more patient. Probably not. "So, why did you even call me?" she barked. "I don't know if the note was meant for us, I don't know who he is, what house he's talking about.... Oh, for God's sake. The man's dead! He didn't write the stupid note anyway!"
    A long pause followed. When Maura spoke again, it was in her best calm-the-hysterical-citizen voice. "I