Nun But The Brave (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

floors of brown brick face over cinder block. Giulia knew the drill. The brick face added anywhere from twenty to forty dollars to the rent. She walked around to the back of the building. Minimal balconies wide enough for two plastic chairs and little else. Hanging window baskets on several. Limp American flag bunting on a few. The stairwell would smell of cabbage or garlic or onions.
    She opened the central door, nodded at the mailman filling the narrow mail slots, and continued through the inner door. Onions. Santa ought to tuck a tiara with “Sleuthing Queen” in multicolored rhinestones in the top of her stocking this Christmas.
    A middle-aged man with a salt-and-pepper goatee and wearing a two-piece plaid suit stood next to the elevator, giving orders into a Bluetooth headset.
    “I paid you to fix the leaks in the ceilings…Don’t give me that. I’m standing in a puddle on the first floor, you hack…That’s better. I’ll meet you here tomorrow morning at seven sharp.” He touched the headset and held out his hand to Giulia. “Ms. Driscoll? Ron Jankowicz.”
    Giulia returned his firm handshake. “Thank you for meeting me.”
    “Not at all. Glad to see some progress in the search for 3B. She was the ideal tenant.” He pressed the Up button and ushered Giulia into the elevator before him. “I’d rather have three buildings full of tenants like her than win Powerball.”
    Giulia gave him an arch look.
    “I mean it. I like to work. I hate deadbeats and people who sneak rabbits into my apartments. Those long-eared demon rodents chew through the wires and eat the wallpaper. Then the tenants give me grief about losing their security deposit.”
    A subdued ding and the doors opened. The flat indoor-outdoor carpet on this floor matched the orange paisley carpet on the first floor. The off-white walls needed painting and this floor smelled like someone’s trash should’ve been emptied last week.
    It was still better than Giulia’s first two post-convent apartments.
    “I understand Ms. Philbey’s sister is paying the rent until her sister returns.”
    “No skin off my back,” the landlord said. “She pays on time, she can keep the apartment as long as she wants. So, you’re a private eye. I don’t see many women in that profession.” He took out a pass key. “You carry a Glock, right? I love old-fashioned guns. Got a collection. A tenant pulled a knife on me once. I shoved my .45 in his face and he pissed himself.” He brayed rather than laughed. “The apartment is exactly the way 3B left it. I knew the cops would want it intact.” He opened the door. “Thank God she took her cats with her.”
    Giulia followed him into generic apartment A with generic floor plan B. A lingering musty smell reached her nose combined with a faint odor of cat. A square entrance with a coat closet on the right and an open living room on the left. Ahead, a narrow hallway with one door on the left and another at the end. To the right, a square dining area with a round table and two chairs. Off of that, a galley kitchen. The closed living room curtains created twilight at noon. Jankowicz flipped two light switches.
    Now Giulia could see Joanne had fought against generic for her living space. The apartment reflected the creativity she poured into her fancy cakes. The walls in every room were painted a different color. Lemon in the kitchen. Raspberry in the dining nook.
    “Girly in here, isn’t it?” Jankowicz said. “I’m a plain white wall guy myself. White or paneling, like my grandparents taught me. But if my tenants want to paint, I let ’em paint. Happy tenants renew their leases.” He touched his ear. “Jankowicz…Again? Tell her if she can afford to hit the casino three nights a week, she can damn well pay her rent on time.” He said to Giulia, “I’ll be checking the hundred different things I need to inspect. Call me when you’re done.” He issued instructions to his minion on the other end of the phone