Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (A Dead Cold Box Set) by Blake Banner (read aloud books TXT) 📗

too long, so it became almost embarrassing. After a moment, Dehan looked at me and gave her head a small shake. She said quietly, “I was thinking tonight maybe a moussaka? It’s so cold…”

I nodded. “Yeah, maybe some prawns and avocado to start, and we could pick up some wine…”

Giorgio stopped laughing, but kept a trace of amused irony on his lips. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Sometimes the absurdity of people, you know…? People don’t understand how I feel…”

Dehan said to me, “Yeah, that sounds good…”

We both turned to look at him. I asked, “You done? So I take it there was no rivalry between you and Fernando…”

He chuckled and shook his head, then affected to make a serious face while winking at Dehan. “No, Detective Stone, there was no rivalry between me and Fernando.”

Dehan leant forward with her elbows on her knees. “Were you aware of anybody in the group who might have had strong feelings for Sue?”

He seemed to think for a while, gazing up at his walls. A couple of times he seemed about to shrug and finally said, “When you say group…”

Dehan flopped back in her chair. I let out a sigh that was on its way to becoming a groan. “It’s not complicated, Mr. Gonzalez. Your group of students, or indeed anybody else. Can you think of anybody, either among your students or elsewhere, who might have had strong feelings about Sue?”

He managed to look vaguely pained. “You know, Detective, when I am with my students I am thinking about…” He paused, searching for words, with his hands held up like he was making an offering. “Texture… light… balance…” He gave me a pitying look. “I am not thinking about village gossip, who is fucking who, who has a crush on who…”

Dehan sat forward, her face flushed red, but I beat her to it. I said, “Texture? You are interested in texture? Have you ever seen the texture of a tongue when somebody has been strangled? It’s like a sponge. And color? The color is a dark blueberry, but it starts to turn to gray after a while. And the face has a weird texture too, like somebody has used a bicycle pump to fill it with water. Kind of bloated and also spongy. Would you like to see the pictures of your friend Sue, after she was strangled, the texture, the color, the balance?”

I sat forward and spoke quietly. “Now, I advise you to listen very carefully to me, Giorgio, because this could make an important difference to your life. Sue Benedict was raped. While she was being raped, she was being threatened with death and possibly mutilation. She must have been terrified out of her mind. Are you capable of imagining what that felt like? After she was raped, the son of a bitch who did it to her then strangled her, and she suffered the most horrific death a person can experience, by suffocation. This bastard then took a knife and went into a frenzy of stabbing all over her belly. Is that enough texture and color for you?”

I paused, examining his face, then went on. “Now, I can see that you don’t give a rat’s ass about anything that isn’t about you. That’s fine. But next time I ask you a question, or my partner asks you a question, you are going to give a clear, concise, civil answer. Because if you don’t, I am going to drag your sorry ass down to the station house and charge you with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of marijuana and cocaine. You will do time. Have I made myself clear to you?”

At the last couple of sentences, his face had gone a pasty gray and he raised his hands as though I was pointing a gun at him. “OK, man, it ain’t necessary to…”

“Don’t start.”

He closed his mouth and swallowed.

“Do you know of anybody who had strong feelings for Sue, yes or no?”

“No. Fernando liked her, but it was cool. What I am trying to tell you is that, maybe there were things going on in the class and I just didn’t notice.”

I nodded. “No kidding. Try putting down that mirror sometimes, you might get to see what goes on around you. Can you give us a list of the students you had at that time?”

“Is twelve years ago, man.”

“Yes or no?

He shook his head. “No, I can remember a few people, but not all of them.” Then he frowned. “But, you know what? I gave a list to the detective at the time. You gotta have it in your file, right?”

Dehan asked him, “What happened that night? At the party?”

He groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. I noticed they were strong hands and his forearms were corded with hard muscles. He took his hands away from his face and there was an expression of helplessness there. “What happened at the party? What happens at parties. People drink. People dance. We played salsa, rumba, maybe some people smoked dope—not me, I never smoke marijuana!” He laughed. “Sue was tripping…”

I frowned. “On acid?”

“No man, on the vibe, a natural high. She was dancin’, flirting, driving all the guys crazy. She was nice lookin’ you know? Nice body. She was dancin’ a lot with Fernando. Then she was givin’ me a lap dance!” He laughed a lot. “Sometimes it seems like yesterday. I thought she was gonna stay the night. And Fernando, poor son of a bitch, he was thinkin’ he was gonna go home with her and she was gonna fuck with him. But then she told me she ain’t feeling so good and she’s gonna go home. She tells me maybe I can go over later and wake her up.” He made an ugly face and shrugged. “There are plenty of babes