Suspicion Read Online Free PDF
Author: Joseph Finder
filigreed with ornate scrollwork and attached to tall stone columns, appeared in a clearing. He came to a stop. The gates were closed. Mounted to a column were a call box and a CCTV camera.
He cranked down the car window and pressed the CALL button. After a few seconds, a woman’s voice crackled over the intercom, “Please come in.”
The gates swung inward as low lights came on, illuminating another stretch of driveway, here paved with cut stone. The road curved gracefully around until suddenly an immense house loomed into view, like a castle appearing out of the mist.
It was Georgian, built of fieldstone with a slate roof. Its façade was perfectly illuminated by floodlights on the ground. It had graceful lines and was three stories high and almost half as long as Danny’s block on Marlborough Street. Danny had been expecting a gaudy McMansion. But Galvin’s house, though vast, was actually beautiful.
Off to one side was a full basketball court. Danny remembered clearly the day his father had installed an in-ground basketball hoop on a pole next to the blacktop of their driveway. How all the neighbor kids thought that was as cool as it got and wanted to use it at all times of day.
In front of the house was a circular drive. He pulled around, got out, slammed the door. Its rusty hinges squeaked.
The front door came open. It was a huge slab of ancient-looking oak that looked like it came from a castle in Spain. Galvin, in suit and tie, stood there with his wife. She was dazzling. She had glossy straight black hair and big brown eyes and a radiant smile and reminded him of Penélope Cruz, only a few years older. She was small and slim and wore a clingy, deep blue sheath that showed off a long waist and the swell of a voluptuous bosom. She didn’t look old enough to have a kid who’d graduated from college.
Behind them, a couple of little rat-dogs skittered and yapped. They were tiny, hairless, and dark gray with outsize ears like a bat’s. “Loco! Torito! Quiet!” the woman said. “I’m so sorry. They think they’re protecting us, they’re keeping us safe. I’m Celina.”
Danny had expected a servant to open the door, a butler in livery. Not the hosts themselves. He introduced himself and handed her a bottle of wine in a metallic-looking red Mylar gift bag that someone had left in his apartment a couple of years ago when he still had people over for dinner.
Celina pulled the wine out of its bag and admired it as if it were a rare and expensive Bordeaux instead of an $8.99 special from the bargain bin at Trader Joe’s. At least he’d sprung for the one with the fancy label instead of the Two-Buck Chuck.
“Châteauneuf-du-Pape!” Tom said. “Nice!” He nodded and gave Danny a sly smile. “That’s red, right?”
“Not sure,” Danny said, smiling back.
“Like I can tell Château Whatever from Welch’s grape juice, right?” Galvin said. “But I can tell the fancy kind, because they’re in French.” He put a hand on Danny’s shoulder, guiding him in, while Celina took his coat.
“Your daughter is in the kitchen, helping cook,” Celina said.
“She knows how to do that?”
“Oh, Abby is a fantastic helper,” Celina said, half scolding. “She does everything. She’s like I have another daughter. I’m sorry, but you can’t have her back.” Her smile was dazzling. “We’re keeping her.”
“We do have an attractive long-term leasing plan,” Danny said.
“Lina’s always wanted another daughter,” Tom said. “After two sons, she feels she’s earned it.”
Celina gave him a playful swat.
“No problem getting here?” Tom said.
“Actually, I think I might have made a couple of wrong turns on your driveway,” Danny said. “Thank God for GPS.” The Accord didn’t actually have a nav system, but whatever.
Galvin cracked up. “Come say hi to the girls.” The rat-dogs yapped and pranced alongside as they headed to the kitchen.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen dogs
He cranked down the car window and pressed the CALL button. After a few seconds, a woman’s voice crackled over the intercom, “Please come in.”
The gates swung inward as low lights came on, illuminating another stretch of driveway, here paved with cut stone. The road curved gracefully around until suddenly an immense house loomed into view, like a castle appearing out of the mist.
It was Georgian, built of fieldstone with a slate roof. Its façade was perfectly illuminated by floodlights on the ground. It had graceful lines and was three stories high and almost half as long as Danny’s block on Marlborough Street. Danny had been expecting a gaudy McMansion. But Galvin’s house, though vast, was actually beautiful.
Off to one side was a full basketball court. Danny remembered clearly the day his father had installed an in-ground basketball hoop on a pole next to the blacktop of their driveway. How all the neighbor kids thought that was as cool as it got and wanted to use it at all times of day.
In front of the house was a circular drive. He pulled around, got out, slammed the door. Its rusty hinges squeaked.
The front door came open. It was a huge slab of ancient-looking oak that looked like it came from a castle in Spain. Galvin, in suit and tie, stood there with his wife. She was dazzling. She had glossy straight black hair and big brown eyes and a radiant smile and reminded him of Penélope Cruz, only a few years older. She was small and slim and wore a clingy, deep blue sheath that showed off a long waist and the swell of a voluptuous bosom. She didn’t look old enough to have a kid who’d graduated from college.
Behind them, a couple of little rat-dogs skittered and yapped. They were tiny, hairless, and dark gray with outsize ears like a bat’s. “Loco! Torito! Quiet!” the woman said. “I’m so sorry. They think they’re protecting us, they’re keeping us safe. I’m Celina.”
Danny had expected a servant to open the door, a butler in livery. Not the hosts themselves. He introduced himself and handed her a bottle of wine in a metallic-looking red Mylar gift bag that someone had left in his apartment a couple of years ago when he still had people over for dinner.
Celina pulled the wine out of its bag and admired it as if it were a rare and expensive Bordeaux instead of an $8.99 special from the bargain bin at Trader Joe’s. At least he’d sprung for the one with the fancy label instead of the Two-Buck Chuck.
“Châteauneuf-du-Pape!” Tom said. “Nice!” He nodded and gave Danny a sly smile. “That’s red, right?”
“Not sure,” Danny said, smiling back.
“Like I can tell Château Whatever from Welch’s grape juice, right?” Galvin said. “But I can tell the fancy kind, because they’re in French.” He put a hand on Danny’s shoulder, guiding him in, while Celina took his coat.
“Your daughter is in the kitchen, helping cook,” Celina said.
“She knows how to do that?”
“Oh, Abby is a fantastic helper,” Celina said, half scolding. “She does everything. She’s like I have another daughter. I’m sorry, but you can’t have her back.” Her smile was dazzling. “We’re keeping her.”
“We do have an attractive long-term leasing plan,” Danny said.
“Lina’s always wanted another daughter,” Tom said. “After two sons, she feels she’s earned it.”
Celina gave him a playful swat.
“No problem getting here?” Tom said.
“Actually, I think I might have made a couple of wrong turns on your driveway,” Danny said. “Thank God for GPS.” The Accord didn’t actually have a nav system, but whatever.
Galvin cracked up. “Come say hi to the girls.” The rat-dogs yapped and pranced alongside as they headed to the kitchen.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen dogs
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