house."
"Okay, let's look." A thought hit me. "You think it ’ s theft - alarmed?"
Lily chewed her lip a moment , looking thoughtful. "Maybe. The door was open. No one leaves a door unlocked , even in a nice area like this."
"Maybe the police forgot to lock it when they left?" All the same, we agreed it was better to just be quick than get arrested. Leaving the kitchen, and ignoring the breakfast nook, we walked down t he hall, taking a few seconds to duck our heads into the living room , then into a formal dining room.
"This is a really nice house," said Lily. "Imagine having a place this big all to yoursel f ."
"Your parents' house is this big," I pointed out. I knew their house currently stood empty while Lily's dad was posted abroad , but Lily preferred her own small apartment t o living in their sprawling house. Her parents were loaded , but she never got an attitude about it.
"I know , but it was never really home. They always moved about so much, except for the last few years of school. Oh, here's the study. It's so..."
"Neat," I finished, taking in the large mahogany desk, inlaid with a leather writing pad. Except , the leather chair behind it wasn't empty.
It was occupied by Martin Dean.
Lily screamed and grabbed my arm. I jump ed and scream ed too. After a moment, we both clapped hands over our mouths and stared, bug-eyed, at my dead boss.
I moved to take a step closer , but Lily clung onto me. So instead , I strained forward , taking in his ghostly gray pallor and his slack, still- open eyes. He wore the same suit as when I found him dead in the office. H e didn't smell good.
"Is he dead?" asked Lily, her voice shaking.
"Yes."
“Still?”
“Ye- e- es.”
"Maybe we should call the police?"
"How c ould we explain being here?" My heart raced , and I felt the creeping onset of panic.
"Maybe we came to visit?" she suggested.
"Maddox said the police swept the place already and there wasn't a body then. They might think we brought it … h im." I flapped a hand at Dean. "Let's search and get this over with."
"You take the desk. I'm not going near a corpse."
"I don't want to go near a corpse either!"
"You already found him dead once!"
And it seemed pretty damn mean that I had to find him dead a second time.
"Okay, I'll take the desk," I said with a sigh.
Lily walked shakily over to the bookcases flanking the near side of the room and I crept towards Dean, half expecting him to jump up and shout , "Punk'd!" any moment. I'd probably die of a heart attack if he did that. As it was, he stayed completely dead while I moved towards him, edging my way next to him . A set of drawers occupied each side of the desk. I opened all of them in turn, poking through the papers with my mittened hands. I didn't find any death threats, demands for money, blackmail notes or confessions, which was a trifle disappointing , given that I at least had the corpse. And boy, oh boy, was he too close to me right now. All the time I w as going through his drawers, I expected an icy hand to land on my back. Or worse, my ass.
"Here's something interesting," I said. "It's an address book. Oh, it's new. There's nothing in it. Sorry."
Lily peered from across the room. "I got nothing," she said. "Lots of books on tax, accountancy and biographies of business leaders. Yawn."
I moved my attention to the top of the desk, crossing around so I wouldn't have to stand hip to corpse with Dean.
There was a hole in the desk for power cords, but no laptop or PC, which I found interesting. There was a small , black notebook that I flicked through , but it was a jumble of numbers, and nothing that made any sense. I put it to one side, because it was an oddity and oddities were what undercover operatives look for. A leather pen holder held an assortment of pens and pencils . I fisted them in one hand and shook the pot upside down, but the only things that fell out were a few paper clips and a litt le notepad. I put the pens and paper clips
"Okay, let's look." A thought hit me. "You think it ’ s theft - alarmed?"
Lily chewed her lip a moment , looking thoughtful. "Maybe. The door was open. No one leaves a door unlocked , even in a nice area like this."
"Maybe the police forgot to lock it when they left?" All the same, we agreed it was better to just be quick than get arrested. Leaving the kitchen, and ignoring the breakfast nook, we walked down t he hall, taking a few seconds to duck our heads into the living room , then into a formal dining room.
"This is a really nice house," said Lily. "Imagine having a place this big all to yoursel f ."
"Your parents' house is this big," I pointed out. I knew their house currently stood empty while Lily's dad was posted abroad , but Lily preferred her own small apartment t o living in their sprawling house. Her parents were loaded , but she never got an attitude about it.
"I know , but it was never really home. They always moved about so much, except for the last few years of school. Oh, here's the study. It's so..."
"Neat," I finished, taking in the large mahogany desk, inlaid with a leather writing pad. Except , the leather chair behind it wasn't empty.
It was occupied by Martin Dean.
Lily screamed and grabbed my arm. I jump ed and scream ed too. After a moment, we both clapped hands over our mouths and stared, bug-eyed, at my dead boss.
I moved to take a step closer , but Lily clung onto me. So instead , I strained forward , taking in his ghostly gray pallor and his slack, still- open eyes. He wore the same suit as when I found him dead in the office. H e didn't smell good.
"Is he dead?" asked Lily, her voice shaking.
"Yes."
“Still?”
“Ye- e- es.”
"Maybe we should call the police?"
"How c ould we explain being here?" My heart raced , and I felt the creeping onset of panic.
"Maybe we came to visit?" she suggested.
"Maddox said the police swept the place already and there wasn't a body then. They might think we brought it … h im." I flapped a hand at Dean. "Let's search and get this over with."
"You take the desk. I'm not going near a corpse."
"I don't want to go near a corpse either!"
"You already found him dead once!"
And it seemed pretty damn mean that I had to find him dead a second time.
"Okay, I'll take the desk," I said with a sigh.
Lily walked shakily over to the bookcases flanking the near side of the room and I crept towards Dean, half expecting him to jump up and shout , "Punk'd!" any moment. I'd probably die of a heart attack if he did that. As it was, he stayed completely dead while I moved towards him, edging my way next to him . A set of drawers occupied each side of the desk. I opened all of them in turn, poking through the papers with my mittened hands. I didn't find any death threats, demands for money, blackmail notes or confessions, which was a trifle disappointing , given that I at least had the corpse. And boy, oh boy, was he too close to me right now. All the time I w as going through his drawers, I expected an icy hand to land on my back. Or worse, my ass.
"Here's something interesting," I said. "It's an address book. Oh, it's new. There's nothing in it. Sorry."
Lily peered from across the room. "I got nothing," she said. "Lots of books on tax, accountancy and biographies of business leaders. Yawn."
I moved my attention to the top of the desk, crossing around so I wouldn't have to stand hip to corpse with Dean.
There was a hole in the desk for power cords, but no laptop or PC, which I found interesting. There was a small , black notebook that I flicked through , but it was a jumble of numbers, and nothing that made any sense. I put it to one side, because it was an oddity and oddities were what undercover operatives look for. A leather pen holder held an assortment of pens and pencils . I fisted them in one hand and shook the pot upside down, but the only things that fell out were a few paper clips and a litt le notepad. I put the pens and paper clips
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