Ray Elkins mystery - 02 - Color Tour Read Online Free PDF

of the past
    Be all the color of the flower:

    So then were nothing lost to man;
    So that still garden of the souls
    In many a figured leaf enrolls
    The total world since life began:

    And love will last as pure and whole
    As when he loved me here in
    Time, And at the spiritual prime
    Rewaken with the dawning soul.
    Ray’s attention was pulled from the page by the sound of the office door opening.
    “What a perfect place for you, surrounded by books,” said Deputy Sue Lawrence, catching Ray lost in a print world. “What are you reading?”
    “A poem by Tennyson,” Ray responded, “that I haven’t read since I was an undergraduate. Makes a lot more sense now than it did then. I probably hadn’t lived enough.” He closed the book and returned it to the bookcase.
    “Amazing,” Sue said looking around. “I’ve only seen rooms like this in movies. The people who built this place must have been serious readers, all these sets of books.”
    Ray admired Sue’s enthusiasm for new experiences. He worried that the brutal side of police work would dull her joie de vivre. “Just decorations, I’m afraid.”
    “Decorations,” she repeated in an incredulous tone.
    He pulled several volumes from the case, explaining the printing process and showing her that the signatures were uncut, indicating that the books had never been read. As he closed the door to the case he asked, “Did you find the weapon?”
    “No. We’ve worked the scene, no hint of a knife or anything like that. We’ve also gone up and down the beach for more than a mile in each direction and checked along the hiking trail that runs above. Nothing. But, you know, it would be so easy to bury it a foot deep in sand. It would only take a couple of minutes.” She paused briefly. “Given the rain and wind, I’m not sure there’s much left to preserve at the scene, but we’ve covered the immediate area with tarps. As soon as the weather breaks, I’ll go over it again and see if there is anything we’ve missed.”
    Ray caught her eyes; she suddenly looked much older than her twenty-four years. “How are you doing?” he asked gently.
    “When I’m there working—you know how it is—your mind is engaged. But when I was driving over here, the horror of it all… ” Her eyes glistened. She looked toward the ceiling and blinked to clear the tears. “She was about my age.”
    Sue paused, breathed deeply and started again. “We’ve closed off the access road to the park. And I’ve got an officer assigned to stay above the scene in case a curious soul decides to hike in over the dunes.”
    “Let’s try to get this completed tomorrow, early in the day if possible,” Ray said. “And have someone go over the area with a metal detector.”
    “I thought you’d be ordering me into the lake,” Sue offered with a wry smile.
    “That’s not a bad idea. Bring your suit.”
    “Too cold, let the scuba guys do it.”
    “Nora is still swimming.”
    “She’s a lot tougher than me. The greatest generation and all that,” she retorted, her tone lightened momentarily. “One more thing, we’ve gotten confirmation from the Shaker Heights Police that they met with David Dowd’s parents.”
    Ray nodded, “Always a painful duty.”
    Sarah James interrupted their conversation. “Mr. Warrington says he is ready to begin.” She led them to the school’s cafeteria, a large, joyless addition tacked on the back of the mansion. Its terrazzo floors, fluorescent lights, and ceramic tile walls had a cheerless quality. The visual impression was reinforced by the smell of institutional cooking.
    The crowd hushed as the two uniformed police officers entered the room. Warrington, looking very strained, stood at a lectern, waiting. Ray and Sue moved to his side. Ray gazed at the faces of the teachers and staff gathered around tables near the lectern; expressions of concern and apprehension met his eyes. The two police vehicles at the entrance had not gone