Tonight I Said Goodbye (St. Martin's Minotaur Mystery) Read Online Free PDF

who he pissed off."
    "I don't like it. Too cute and simple."
    "Perfect," Joe said. "I'm cute and you're simple. Just the case for us."
    "You know anyone in Windsor?"
    "Not yet, but give me an hour or two on the phone and I'll have some friends."
    "Sounds good. I've got to see this April girl in half an hour, so we can rendezvous later this afternoon, if you're still awake."
    He faked a heavy yawn. "You're going to see her even though Kraus said it was a waste of time?"
    "Two things about cops," I said. "One, they've been known to overlook leads before, and, two, they've been known to lie to pain-in-the-ass private operators like us. So, yeah, I'll go see her."
    April Sortigan lived in a cluttered apartment about ten minutes from our building. She didn't have a roommate, but she did have seven cats. In the tiny living room, they seemed to be coming out of the walls. At first I assumed there had to be at least three dozen. Sortigan was a tall, slender girl with raven-colored hair, a slim, slightly hooked nose, and glasses with square black frames. Her body was willowy and firm, not unattractive, but nothing that would draw wolf whistleson the street. She sat with her legs crossed and drummed her fingers on the arm of the couch while we talked. After a few minutes of questioning, she'd assured me of her general ignorance of Weston's life and business. Maybe Kraus had been right. She looked like a dead end--and, unfortunately, a talkative dead end. That would have been all right, but the focus of her talkativeness was herself, not Weston. I tried to pay attention while counting the rings on her fingers. I was up to nine and still going when she fell silent.
    "You met Wayne Weston during your undergraduate years?" I asked, trying to steer her back to the point before she began listing her personal references and extracurricular activities.
    "That's right. I was working on a project about structural accidents, and I learned he'd investigated one in a liability lawsuit. I interviewed him, and the work interested me, so I kept in touch. He offered to give me some background in public records before I went on to law school."
    A large tiger-striped cat sprinted into the center of the room and attacked a newspaper that was lying on the floor. Apparently, the cat believed the paper had been ready to make an aggressive move at any second. April Sortigan ignored it.
    "How much work did you do for him?" I asked.
    "Oh, not too much. He showed me around the process; you know, the clerk's office and auditor's office and all of that. I probably did a few checks for him each month. Just minor research."
    "Anything recently?"
    "Actually, yes. About two weeks ago he sent me a list of three names and asked for a basic check through some of the computer databases and the county clerk's office. He said he couldn't do it because he was going out of town, and asked me to fax a report to him."
    "You know where he went?"
    "Nope, but I still have the fax number."
    "Can I see it?"
    "Sure."
    An obese gray cat waddled out from behind my chair and, with thegreat effort necessary to move such bulk, hoisted itself up on the couch beside Sortigan, meowing loudly. It wasn't really a meow, more like an air raid siren. Sortigan cooed softly to it and scratched under its chin.
    I cleared my throat to regain her attention. "Do you still have those names?"
    "Sure. In fact, I have all the information I gathered on them. Kinda shady guys, to be honest with you."
    "The cops ask you about this?"
    "Yes. But as I said, I have no idea what the significance of the case was. And it's not like many of the people we check out
don't
have criminal records, you know? It wasn't unusual."
    "Sure. Could I take a look at those names and that fax number?"
    "Definitely. Hang on, I'll go grab the folder." She dropped the fat cat to the ground. It uttered a squawk of protest and then collapsed on the floor, where it promptly decided that was as comfortable a place as any and went to sleep.