Pernicious Read Online Free PDF Page A

the book. “Mendacity?” Tasha asked.
              “Yeah,” Derrick said. “What does that mean?”
              “It means--wait a minute, what in the world are you reading?” She took the book and closed it. The title: The Divorced Child. “Who gave you this?”
              “Daddy.”
              “Why?”
              “I asked him for it.”
              This revelation stunned her.
              She had not fully considered the negative ramifications of divorce, though warned repeatedly by her mother that the dissolution of her marriage would undoubtedly cause Derrick unnecessary mental anxiety.
              “Tell you what, sugar,” Tasha said, tucking the book under her armpit, “let Momma read it first. I’ll pick out all the hard words for you.”
              “Okay, Momma. You gotta give it back. Daddy borrowed it from the library. He might want it back soon.”
              “Don’t worry. Your daddy will definitely get it back.”
                                            
                                          * * * * *
             
              The phone rang just as Tasha entered her cubicle. “Homicide. Detective--”
              “Detective Montgomery!” the caller said, “I’m so glad I got you on the phone.”
              “Hello, Mrs. Davis,” recognizing the voice. “How you doing?”
              “I’m doing fine if you can call having your son’s murderer go scot free as doing fine. Detective Montgomery, would you please look into my son’s death? Please! I’m begging you. Please! Just look into it, please!”
              Tasha sighed. “Mrs. Davis, your son’s death was ruled accidental. I’m sorry, that’s all there is to it. There’s really nothing more that I or anyone else can do. I’m sorry.”
              “Detective Montgomery, if what you say is true, what strain on your eyes if you look into it? You think I’m a silly old woman who can’t let go after her son’s death. Trust me, when I say my son was murdered, he was murdered.”
              “Tell you what, if I take a look into it, will you accept my decision?”
              “Thank you, Jesus! I had a special feeling about you the moment I talked to you.”
              “Mrs. Davis, don’t set your hopes too high, okay? And like I said, once I check into it--”
              “I’ll be praying for you. You pray, too, ’cause you’re ’bout to come in contact with pure evil. The woman is evil, Detective. You be careful.”
              “You’re talking about your son’s wife, right?”
              “Right. I hate to say her name without a Bible handy.”
              Tasha grabbed a pencil. “Okay, what’s her full name?”
              “Perry Davis. She’s evil, Detective.”
              “You told me. Do you know Perry’s social security number?”
              “Yes, let me go get it. Hold on, okay?” Moments later: “You ready?”
              Tasha wrote the number down. “Give me a few days, Mrs. Davis, and I’ll be in touch.”
              Tasha hung up the phone before the woman could rant further. She typed the name and the social into the National Crime Information Computer Bank and, as she’d expected, nothing.
              She called her friend, Dale Porter, a FBI agent at the FBI’s Little Rock field office. He ran the info through the FBI’s database and came up with the same results.
              Tasha then called the Medical Examiner’s office and spoke to Gary Fagin, the chief examiner, who reported that there was nothing unusual about Willie Davis’ death. “A run-of-the-mill drowning,” he said.
              During lunch she told Bob about her