Proof of Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #4) - Lauren Elliott Page 0,78
his face and gasped. “What is that wretched smell?”
Jerry sneezed and turned his head away.
“It smells like a corpse to me and if a suspicion I have is right, that’s exactly what you’re going to find down there,” Simon said, seemingly unaffected by the wafting stench.
Addie veered her face away “You must be used to this.”
“One never gets used to the smell of death. It only becomes less obtrusive over the years.”
Bile formed in the back of her throat. She came to the quick conclusion that Simon could keep his dead bodies and nasty-smelling job.
Steve returned, wearing a white hazmat suit and oxygen mask. Another suit was draped over his arm, and he juggled a second mask and a coil of rope with his gloved hands. Addie curled her fingers into her palms to keep them from ripping the mask off his face and covering hers.
Jerry wrestled into the other one. If the odor in the small room had not been so revolting, Addie might have laughed at the sight of the two police officers dressed in their alien space suits.
Marc gave his men instructions, unraveling the long rope that was attached by a clip on the belt of each man. Little by little, as they descended into the depths of the house, he released more of the rope. There was a sharp jerk followed by a crackling noise across the speaker of the police radio on his shoulder. The rope went slack.
Marc pulled on it. The rope bounced up in a snarled heap at his feet. “Why would they unclip themselves?”
“I guess they are farther than the two hundred feet of rope you have.” Simon toed the coiled rope at the edge of the abyss.
Marc tried to reach the two officers on his police radio. No answer. “What happened? They couldn’t have just disappeared.” Panic edged in his voice.
“Hey, Chief,” a garbled voice came over Marc’s radio, “can you go into the garden by the back door?”
Marc acknowledged the request and glanced at Addie and Simon. “What the heck?”
The three sprinted out onto the back porch. Addie shielded her eyes from the blazing sun on the horizon and laughed. There, by the yard sale tent, stood the two officers, their once-white suits covered with grime and greenish-gray sludge.
Marc rammed a hand through his hair “What the—?”
Jerry stepped forward—at least Addie thought it was Jerry based on the size of the looming swamp creature. He waved his hand toward the back stonewall fence and said something none of them could make out.
“Take your mask off, Jerry,” Marc barked.
Jerry raised his oxygen face mask and repeated. “The stairs lead to a tunnel that comes out under a trapdoor buried in the overgrowth at the back of the garden.”
Addie caught her lip between her teeth to keep from smiling. “I guess that answers the question of how someone got the missing property out of the house.” She cut Marc a smug glance.
“Not really, Miss Greyborne.” Jerry tucked the mask under his arm. “The green slime doesn’t appear to have been disturbed by anything larger than critters in probably a hundred years.”
“Oh.” Addie winced and glanced apologetically at Marc.
“What about the decaying corpse smell?” Simon piped in.
“Rats, lots and lots of rats, and some carcasses. Looks like mostly racoons and squirrels.”
“No human remains?”
“Nope.”
“So much for my theory.” Simon shot Addie a side glance.
“I guess we’re back to my original theory.” She nudged Simon’s arm. “The culprits hid out in the brick room until the coast was clear and took the stolen loot out of the house after everyone left for the day.”
“That still doesn’t answer the question of the staff returning in the morning to find the house locked up and no signs of a break-in.” Simon turned a probing eye on Marc.
“That’s true,” Addie said. “Blake’s theory about it being a staff person might be right after all.”
“It’s time we ran a complete background check on his entire crew.” With a head tic, Marc gestured to Jerry and Steve. “You guys get cleaned up and meet us back inside.”
“You two”—Marc waved a finger at Addie and Simon—“wait in there.” He pointed to the library door as he veered off toward the sound of Blake’s voice coming from the top of the stairway.
* * *
“Okay,” Marc said to Addie and Simon a few minutes later from the library doorway, “tell me everything you found today, how, and what you touched.”
When Jerry and Steve returned, looking much better after their tunnel adventures, he instructed