Dead Man's Mistress
Page 29
I’ve always maintained that the film would have won the Oscar if only the Mehrens had revealed that the paintings were forgeries. It’s possible that they didn’t know, however. I didn’t tell them and I doubted Louise or Perrin would have confessed. On the other hand, it’s possible that everybody knew including Mary Ann and Flonta, but they didn’t want to give up the benefits that three undiscovered McInnis canvases gave them, specifically the overwhelming interest in all the other work by Randolph McInnis that they owned or controlled.
Then there was the film’s happy-sappy ending with Mary Ann, Flonta, and Louise all hugging Perrin Stewart and one another at the black tie gala when they finally put their differences aside and donated the three paintings to the newly opened Randolph McInnis Wing of the City of Lakes Art Museum.
Part of me was amused and another part was outraged by all this. But then again, as far as I could determine, no money actually changed hands, so the criminology major part was satisfied.
My contribution to all this nonsense was not examined in the film, although both father and daughter tried mightily to convince me to participate.
Jennica told me that her relationship with Alden lasted until their third official date. That’s when he began pulling rank on her. He was twenty-four and had both a bachelor’s degree and a job while she was twenty and still in school, so obviously he should make all the decisions. My first thought when I heard that, Who did Alden think he was dating?
Peg Younghans tried for an insanity defense because, let’s face it, she was a few bubbles off center, yet nothing came of it. Eventually she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder—144 months, out in eight years if everything goes her way, and let’s forget all her other crimes. The body-cam footage that convinced Peg—and her lawyer—to take the deal never saw the inside of a courtroom. Nor was it reported in the Cook County News-Herald or anywhere else. Certainly, it didn’t end up in the documentary. I’ve always wondered about that. It made me speculate that Sheriff Peter Wurzer—yes, he was elected sheriff—might have engaged in some selective enforcement for the benefit of Louise and maybe the others, too. But what did I know?
Eventually, Nina and I snuck over to the City of Lakes to see for ourselves what the fuss was all about. I stared at the paintings for a long time. I tried to get them to speak to me the way that Perrin said the paintings sometimes spoke to her. After a few minutes …
“Do you hear that?” I asked.
“What?” Nina said.
“Never mind.”
“What?”
“I thought I heard laughter.”
ALSO BY DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT
Featuring Holland Taylor
Penance
Practice to Deceive
Dearly Departed
Darkness, Sing Me a Song
First, Kill the Lawyers
Featuring Rushmore McKenzie
A Hard Ticket Home
Tin City
Pretty Girl Gone
Dead Boyfriends
Madman on a Drum
Jelly’s Gold
The Taking of Libbie, SD
Highway 61
Curse of the Jade Lily
The Last Kind Word
The Devil May Care
Unidentified Woman #15
Stealing the Countess
What the Dead Leave Behind
Like to Die
Other Novels
The Devil and the Diva
(with Renée Valois)
Finders Keepers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT has won the Edgar Award and is the three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for his crime fiction. He is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Just So You Know
Also by David Housewright
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DEAD MAN’S MISTRESS. Copyright © 2019 by David Housewright. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photograph by Tucker Brastad
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Housewright, David, 1955– author.
Title: Dead man’s mistress: a McKenzie novel / David Housewright.
Description: First Edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2019.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019002281 | ISBN 9781250212153 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250212160 (ebook)
Subjects: | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3558.O8668 D4 2019|DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019002281
eISBN 9781250212160
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First Edition: May 2019