Expectation: A Francesca Fruscella Mystery

Chapter 5. Fünf Klavierstücke op. 23

chapter 5 Fünf Klavierstücke op. 23 Expectation 51 III. langsam The dumpster was polished, spotless. Although aged, its sides and floor sparkled. Purity spoiled by Benderson’s corpse. Almost amused, his eyes and mouth smiled. The wounds were large, brutal. Body surrounded by 1000-Peso notes. His clothes folded, immaculate, unscathed. Upon recycling bin, suit and underwear arranged. Shoes shined beneath shirt, tie. The site felt staged, theatrical. Completely wrong, Benderson’s body and background mocked. The sun rose over suburban strip mall, police and investigators gathered, outraged, vengeful. Not popular, the victim was nevertheless police, his murder and sepulture rankled. The coroner examined, hands probing with tenderness , care, expert, painstaking. I walked back to the dumpster , saw final broken body, face. “Wasn’t killed here, obviously. Got a time of death for me?” 52 DeShell “I don’t know: six hours ago? Give or take fifteen.” He pointed to one of the wounds on his chest, “Four entry wounds from Black Talon cop-killers, from a .40 Smith and Wesson fired at relatively close range, say less than three feet. He was dead before he hit the ground, Detective.” “The body looks awfully clean.” “They scrubbed around all wounds. The killers washed with full-spectrum medical rub, and they were extremely thorough.” “Extremely strange: this is like opera, Magic Flute, La Bohème, because it exaggerates. Everything points to a meat eater executed; nude sanitized body, pesos.” I walked around the dumpster, thinking: excessive, stylized, Benderson , Lowenthal. This was all histrionic: not revenge or warning—silencing was the point here. Like this, no dealer murders, careful, meticulous, all details and props measured. This scene was like Sixto’s, where surfaces and appearances were melodramatic, mendacious. The cases were analogous, connected. With possible Dehmel murder and Benderson link. I walked to alley’s edge. Above crowded inviting Starbucks , the sun rose. The day would be bright, hot. ...