Murder On The Mind

Murder On The Mind - Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Tuesday dawned gray and cold. The headache was still with me. I couldn’t even remember if I’d joined Richard and Brenda for dinner the night before. The evening was just a blank.

My breakfast consisted of three pink tablets. For a while it seemed to quell the pounding. What kept me going was the thought of seeing Maggie again.

Richard called Ron Myers and begged a favor—an appointment for me at eleven. Since Myers was actively campaigning for Richard to deposit all his money with Bison Bank, he was more than happy to grant me an interview, hoping to solidify a deal.

Meanwhile, Brenda had scheduled an appointment for her and Richard to look at a clinic downtown. She was hot for them to volunteer their time and skills somewhere, but he didn’t seem enthusiastic. I couldn’t tell what was going on with him. What he said he wanted and what he really wanted seemed to be two different things.

I was putting on my shoes when Brenda ducked her head inside my door. “There’s a phone call for you.”

“Female, I hope,” I said, thinking of Maggie.

“No such luck.”

Who the hell could be calling me?

I followed her into the kitchen and picked up the extension. “Hello.”

“What’s going on?” It was Sam Nielsen’s voice. “Suddenly you and your brother are suspects in the Sumner murder case.”

My mouth went dry. “How did you get this number?”

“Directory Assistance.”

“I’m not listed.”

“Your brother is. I remembered your face five minutes after you left my office yesterday. The geeky photographer on our school yearbook. You still play basketball?”

“Yeah. Tell me why we’re suspects.”

“More your brother. The rumor around Orchard Park PD is that you’re some kind of psychic.”

Holy Christ. Hayden hadn’t promised he wouldn’t talk about me. I’d just assumed....

Nielsen was still speaking. “—that it was you who found Sumner’s body parts out in Holland. Possibly put them there. Do you want to comment?”

“No.”

“How about off the record?”

My hand tightened around the receiver. “Why should I believe you?”

“I protect my sources.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had to warn Richard. We needed to contact his attorney—to cover our asses.

“Hayden seems to think you haven’t told him all you know,” Nielsen continued.

Maybe I should’ve told the cop more. Maybe— “What makes you think I’ll tell you?”

“Picture this headline: Psychic Finds Sumner Remains. That’s not the kind of information you want circulated, now is it?”

The pounding in my head increased. I’d been back in Richard’s life a couple of weeks and already I’d ruined it, just when he’d returned to Buffalo, getting ready to resume his career. “What’s this going to cost me?”

“Just information.”

“Like what?”

“You got a suspect for the murder?”

“Nothing concrete.”

“We could help each other.” He sounded sleazier than a Vegas lounge lizard.