The Immorality Clause Read Online Free PDF Page A

in her mind. “I don’t think I’d be comfortable at the police station,” she said. “Can you just come by my place?”
    “Your place? That’s a little unusual, Miss Himura. I’m sure you can understand—”
    “All done, Detective.”
    I glanced up, “Thanks, Ben. I’ll stop by your lab in a few hours to see the photos.”
    The cameramen waved and headed toward the lobby. “Sorry,” I apologized to the witness. “Going to someone’s house for routine questioning is not typically the way we do business.”
    “The NOPD restrictions on personal privacy violations by police officers, right?” she smirked.
    “Exactly,” I nodded. “The precinct has a comfortable interview room where you’d be more than—”
    “No, I’d prefer you to come to my place. I’ll feel more comfortable there. I give you permission to come to my apartment.”
    “Alright,” I agreed, grudgingly. I couldn’t force her to go down to the station and her place of work was out of the question. She gave me permission in front of witnesses; that should satisfy the department’s requirements. “I’ll be at your apartment at three this afternoon, then.”
    “That’s fine… Am I free to go back to the foyer? I need to settle the accounts of the clients that the other officers clear to leave.” She gestured toward the murder scene. “And, I really don’t want to see that again. Plus, I need to start making phone calls to see which remediation company can come immediately—after you complete your investigation, of course.”
    “Of course.” I nodded my head. “You’re free to go.”
    She spun around and began hurrying back down the hall. “Oh, Miss Himura?” I called.
    “Yes, Detective?”
    “At the risk of sounding cliché, don’t try to skip town.”
    “I—” She caught herself and whipped back around, stomping down the hall.
    “What’s that about?” Drake asked.
    I shrugged. “I’ve never claimed to understand women, man.” I took my coat off and draped it over the hook outside the room, setting my hat carefully on top of the shelf. “Okay, what’ve we got?”
    Drake handed me a pair of plastic overshoes. “You’re gonna want these.”

    I stepped across the room’s threshold into a puddle of fluid. The average adult male body contains roughly one and a half gallons of blood and about half a gallon of other fluids. The victim was not an average male. Wolfe’s bulk could have easily contained two and a half gallons, maybe a little more. And it looked like every bit of it either stained the walls or pooled on the floor around his body. No wonder the Diva’s flood sensor alarms had sounded.
    The cameramen’s footprints were all over the place. I couldn’t blame them; there wasn’t any place to step inside the room to avoid Wolfe’s blood.
    Once I was inside, I surveyed the room quickly while I slid on a pair of latex gloves. It appeared to be a standard room, like those in most of Easytown’s sex clubs: king-sized bed with undisturbed sheets, an upholstered couch with no coffee table, a small desk and chair off in the corner to simulate a legitimate hotel, and a bathroom at the furthest point from the door. A pair of jeans and a light green t-shirt lay in a pile on the chair. There didn’t seem to be anything special about the room itself.
    Halfway between the bathroom and the bed, the john’s body lay on the floor. It looked like he’d been torn to shreds by a bear. Dark red blood covered all four walls and large blobs of gelatinous fat tissue clung to the paint, slowly drying. The place was an absolute mess.
    The bedsheets were still in place from when the service droid had made the bed. In fact, the comforter was barely rumpled. Miss Himura said the john showered after he finished with the bot. I made a note in my book to ask the house mistress to verify her timeline.
    “Hmm, what the hell is that?” I asked as I pointed at the baseboard beside the bed, out of view of anyone who wasn’t in