Nun Too Soon (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 1) by Alice Loweecey

Trophies sat on top of the entertainment center, crowning the 42-inch TV like castle turrets. An entire row of sports and war games for the Xbox lined the bottom of the sectioned wooden structure, the Xbox itself in a narrow vertical slot next to the games.
    Giulia took note of the doors and windows as he led her into the dining nook. This accountant gave her a definite impression of someone not to be trusted. Foolish, really, since she had no reason to doubt he was exactly what he appeared to be: An ex-jock gone to seed.
    The Scoop ’s daily half-hour of rumor and mud-flinging blared on the TV. Giulia turned away from the screen.
    She and Tulley sat opposite each other at the octagonal table, between them a football-shaped Lazy Susan stacked with condiments.
    “So what do you want to know about Roger?” His flat voice challenged her to convince him she was legitimate or else he’d toss her out onto the landscaping.
    “In your case, Mr. Tulley, I’d like some information about the video of him you discovered online.” Giulia kept her voice efficient and bright, but not perky.
    “Huh? Why?”
    “It’s part of the investigation Mr. Fitch’s attorney hired us to do. In the first place, how did you happen to notice it? The web is overflowing with videos of people’s dirty laundry.”
    His wheels turned, but at a slug’s pace. Giulia, watching his eyes, wondered if he was drunk. Then she wondered if he was punch-drunk. A thirty-four year old former defensive tackle—she’d seen that in the photos—would’ve played in the pre-concussion awareness years.
    “I was bored,” he said at last. “Nothing on TV, nobody online to play Madden.” His eyes slid to her right. “You know how that is. You sit there and surf the web.” His eyes slid to her left.
    Liar, Giulia thought.
    “We all do that,” she said with a smile. “I’ll start looking at cat pictures and the next thing I know an hour’s disappeared.”
    One corner of his mouth curled up. Giulia couldn’t tell if it was the beginning of a smile or a sneer.
    “Yeah, you don’t look like the online porn type. It was like this: I’ve got a few search strings I use whenever I think I’ve been a bachelor too long. Nagging wives, screaming in-laws, kids from hell. Everybody uploads their sneaky videos.” His eyes didn’t shift as much during that confession.
    “And?”
    “And I could’ve sworn I started watching some streaky-haired broad ripping Roger a new one. I blew it up full-size and sure enough, there was Roger and Loriela and, according to the description, Roger’s ‘mother-in-law,’ all of ’em looking like an episode of The Jerry Springer Show . You remember that one? Back when they used to throw chairs at each other and the bouncers would wrestle the idiots to the floor.”
    Giulia nodded.
    “Loriela’s mother kept switching from English to Spanish but I got the gist of it. Especially the cursing. That broad can cuss with the best. Then a barstool went flying and Loriela was bleeding and things got even crazier.”
    “I’ve seen the video.”
    “Roger showed it to you? He’s got balls.”
    With an effort, Giulia refrained from reacting. Tulley appeared to be trying to get her to rise to his locker-room language. The longer she kept her interested face on, the more it ought to goad him into revealing something juicy. If Giulia could play one part well, it was the proper lady.
    She said, “He recognized that concealing information I could find out on my own would be counterproductive to our investigation.”
    That did it. Tulley’s eyes rolled back in his head before he caught himself.
    “Yeah, whatever. So Roger’s baring his soul to you to keep his butt out of the death chamber. Always said he was the smart one.” He tilted his chair back and twisted his head to the left. “It’s after four. I gotta get to the brewery soon. You need anything else?”
    Giulia thought fast. “I’m going over some of the ground the police