Expectation: A Francesca Fruscella Mystery

Chapter 7. Fünf Klavierstücke op. 23

chapter 7 Fünf Klavierstücke op. 23 Expectation 75 IV. schwungvoll The gardener’s SUV was found, engine running. This annoying, blocking completely drop-off drive-though. Samuels’ calloused hands handcuffed to wheel before dying . The thickish wrists cut deeply, splatters on leather seats, ruining and flamboyant. Tied tightly, feet constrained. The easy hypothesis: poisoning, asphyxiation. Engine running, exhaust hose now removed, except for wrist and ankles, epidermis intact and unmarked. Killed ostentatiously. Warning. Threat. A graphic gesturing obviously . Perpetrator? Motive? To whom was this addressed? From whom did this originate? The setting obviously important. “You think this is weird?” “Yeah: TOD?” 76 DeShell “I’d say five, five-thirty.” The immediate suspect Lowenthal. Killings connected. A relentless ostinato, inescapably. Germont guilty. Although hands unbloodied, guilty just the same. A panicked killing, obviously Lowenthal worried. And worried killers make mistakes without fail. And overconfident detectives misidentify, fuck-ups beyond redeeming. It vital, to allow rigorously anomaly, discord into flexible hypothesis. I, distracted, met the CS officer abruptly. Face expressive. “The victim’s car arrived when?” “Clerk from opposite 7-11 guesses about 5:00. She smokes always outside at 5:00. She saw the victim’s vehicle.” “Accompaniment?” “What?” “Any other person? Passenger? Someone running away?” Exhausted, spent already. Brutality, theatrics, the goddam arrogance, cleverness: Lowenthal was no closer to stumbling perceptibly. Patterns present, but unheard. Noise, blood. I am no closer to proving, definitively, anything. Present, but unheard. Listen better, detective. Yes. Listen. ...