State’s Evidence
Page 31
“Marsh.”
“Hey, Arnie.”
“It’s great to see you.”
“You, too.”
“Heard you were in town, Marsh. Ann and I sure would like you to come to dinner while you’re here.”
“I will if I can, Arnie. Say hi to Ann for me, anyway.”
Arnie nodded his balding head. He had to be over sixty-five but he looked a decade younger. His wife had been his student, and their courtship and marriage had been scandalous to many, as those things tend to be, but my knowledge of it was all hearsay. All I knew for sure was that they were both good people who’d taken a genuine interest in me when I was too young to be much of anything but irritating.
“How long you staying?” Arnie asked as I pocketed my change.
“I’m not sure. Probably only a day or two. How’s Craig?” I asked, naming their son, a star miler in his time, which had been about five years after mine. Craig was a doctor in Texas, last I heard. The thought made me smile. Everything I knew about Chaldea’s present was what I had learned through Gail. If she didn’t deem it important enough to tell over the longdistance wire, it didn’t exist.
“Craig died two years ago, Marsh,” Arnie said, jolting my thoughts. “Car wreck. Down in Dallas.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. We’re over it now. Took a while, I admit. Hard to understand a thing like that. Just like what happened to you folks.”
He stopped, stabbed by the pointed blade of memory, and his gaunt face grew even longer, assuming an aspect that on another face would have been a caricature of grief. “Left a wife and three kids,” he went on. “We never see them. She thinks we’re too backward up here in the sticks. Big society woman. Married Craig’s partner six weeks after he died. Thank God Ann has her church.”
Arnie’s eyes returned from the gruesome burden of the past. He rubbed them back to life and coughed while I searched for something to say. “Come see us, Marsh,” he said, before I thought of anything.
Arnie slapped my shoulder again and walked away. I took some quarters back to my table and left them for the waitress. When she saw me she hurried up and asked if anything was wrong with the buckwheats. Her breasts bounced furiously within their sheaths. I told her I’d been too busy to eat, then hurried out into the street without meeting any of the eyes that sought out mine.
Buy Fatal Obsession Now!
About the Author
Stephen Greenleaf (b. 1942), a former lawyer and an alumnus of the prestigious Iowa Writer’s Workshop, is a mystery and thriller writer best known for his series of novels starring PI John Marshall Tanner. Recognized for being both literate and highly entertaining, Greenleaf’s novels often deal with contemporary social and political issues.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1982 by Stephen Greenleaf
Cover design by Drew Padrutt
ISBN: 978-1-5040-2100-5
This 2016 edition published by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.mysteriouspress.com
www.openroadmedia.com
THE JOHN MARSHALL TANNER MYSTERIES
FROM MYSTERIOUSPRESS.COM
AND OPEN ROAD MEDIA
These and more available wherever ebooks are sold
MYSTERIOUSPRESS.COM
MYSTERIOUSPRESS.COM
Otto Penzler, owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, founded the Mysterious Press in 1975. Penzler quickly became known for his outstanding selection of mystery, crime, and suspense books, both from his imprint and in his store. The imprint was devoted to printing the best books in these genres, using fine paper and top dust-jacket artists, as well as offering many limited, signed editions.
Now the Mysterious Press has gone digital, publishing ebooks through MysteriousPress.com.
MysteriousPress.com. offers readers essential noir and suspense fiction, hard-boiled crime novels, and the latest thrillers from both debut authors and mystery masters. Discover classics and new voices, all from one legendary source.
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.MYSTERIOUSPRESS.COM
FOLLOW US:
@emysteries and Facebook.com/MysteriousPressCom
MysteriousPress.com is one of a select group of publishing partners of Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
The Mysterious Bookshop, founded in 1979, is located in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. It is the oldest and largest mystery-specialty bookstore in America.
The shop stocks the finest selection of new mystery hardcovers, paperbacks, and periodicals. It also features a superb collection of signed modern first editions, rare and collectable works, and Sherlock Holmes titles. The bookshop issues a free monthly newsletter highlighting its book clubs, new releases, events, and recently acquired books.
58 Warren Street
info@mysteriousbookshop.com
(212) 587-1011
Monday through Saturday
11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
FIND OUT MORE AT:
www.mysteriousbookshop.com
FOLLOW US:
@TheMysterious and Facebook.com/MysteriousBookshop
Open Road Integrated Media is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.
Videos, Archival Documents, and New Releases
Sign up for the Open Road Media newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign up now at
www.openroadmedia.com/newsletters
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM
FOLLOW US:
@openroadmedia and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia