You Know Who Killed Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

like?”
    â€œYou mean, without the hazy gloss of death? A nice fellow, but a bit dull. He talked a lot about computers. Sharing his last name with Bill Gates may have had something to do with his career choice. Offhand I’d say the only color in his life was his annual fishing trip to Quebec. That’s where he met his wife, after we stopped pretending we had anything in common. She’s French-Canadian.”
    â€œThat explains her name. Did they get along?”
    She picked up the pen she’d been writing with and put it back down, squared with the edge of the yellow pad. “Once again, you’re skating close to my oath. I will say they didn’t have any serious problems. Certainly not enough for Amelie to commit murder.”
    â€œI wouldn’t say certainly. Everyone else’s problems look simple compared to ours. Wives have been known to kill their husbands over a toilet lid. But I wasn’t suggesting that. I’m just trying to get a picture.”
    â€œGood people, both of them. Normal child, full of boy-juice. Maybe a little too much, but that’s between him and his pediatrician. Amelie was three months pregnant when it happened. She miscarried.”
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    â€œI think you are,” she said after a moment. “They say God never gives you more than you can handle. I sometimes wonder. But she’s determined to bring the one responsible to justice. The billboard was her idea.” She frowned. “That’s the phrase, isn’t it? ‘Bring to justice’?”
    â€œThe Old Testament was plenty clear on the definition of the term.”
    â€œSo was the New. I’m often called on to referee.”
    â€œWhen’s the last time you saw Gates?”
    â€œChristmas morning, when the family attended services. I spoke to them briefly afterward.”
    â€œHow’d he seem?”
    â€œHow does anyone seem on that occasion? They’re generally on their best behavior.”
    â€œNothing unusual.”
    â€œNot that I noticed, but it was only a couple of minutes. It was standing room only; some people think He keeps a list, like Santa. I had a lot of hands to shake at the door on the way out.” She rolled the pen up to the edge of the pad. “What’s your experience with this kind of investigation?”
    â€œMore than I liked at the time. My Yellow Pages ad says I specialize in missing persons. Some are more missing than others.”
    â€œI suppose you have references.”
    â€œIsn’t it a little late for that, after answering all these questions?”
    â€œNot if it turns out you’re worth hiring to find Don Gates’s killer.”
    *   *   *
    â€œI’ve got a job,” I said after a moment. “It’s the same case. There’d be a conflict.”
    â€œIt’s the same case, but a different job. Henty’s got you running errands. I’m considering asking you to solve it.”
    â€œThat’s a thin line.”
    â€œHow old are you, Mr. Walker?”
    â€œI’m no longer middle-aged.”
    â€œOffhand I’d say you put on a few extra years recently. Your collar’s loose, and you don’t strike me as a man who’s careless in his dress. You’ve been sick.”
    â€œThis isn’t confession, Reverend.”
    â€œSorry. I digressed. My point was you’re old enough to have been doing what you do for a long time. I’d say you’re no stranger to a thin line.”
    Just for fun I gave her some names and numbers; not the same as I’d given Alvinus Adams of Daniel Boone Drive. You can lose valuable contacts snagging up their time with phone calls.
    I excused myself while she was dialing and went outside for a smoke. A few yards above my head a gash had opened in the overcast, spilling watery sunlight and no heat. Out on the river, the tug that delivered the mail to passing ore carriers slid up