Page 24 of Kept
“Where’s your sassy little flatmate tonight?”
“She’s on a date with her boyfriend.”
“That why you were out the back by yourself? Even though I told you earliernotto go out there?”
“I don’t remember you telling me that,” I laugh, “you just said be careful and keep the door locked.”
“Yes, but the inference was; stay out of the alley at night,” he chuckles.
“Well, I guess I didn’t pick up on that. We have a cat out there. It’s a stray, but we’ve been feeding it for months. Margarita found it way before I moved in.”
“Ah,” he nods.
“How did you manage to get here so quickly?” I frown, “I know you said you worked a beat around here, but still…”
“I’m investigating a spate of deaths,” he says quietly, uncertain I can tell, about how much he should reveal to me.
“I saw on the news tonight some woman squished herself with her car,” I snort.
“Yes,” he frowns.
“Wait. Do you think there is something else behind her death?”
He sighs.
“I’m investigating what is starting to be known as ‘The Country Club Deaths’ – we’ve kept it out of the papers so far, but I don’t know for how long that will be the case. A string of women from high society have died in strange circumstances over the past few months – the woman last night was just one of them.”
“Lady Boston?”
“Yeah, your friend was right. Her head was off before she hit the pavement. That was the clue that prompted us to go back and take another look at a few other ‘accidents’ that had occurred in past months. Things are starting to add up to a serial killer.”
“Fuck.”
“My thoughts exactly. So, don’t hang around the back alley.”
“Do you think?”
“I don’t know,” he shakes his head and places his teacup back onto the coffee table, right near the book.
“You studying ancient texts?”
“Huh?” I look down to see where his eyes are.
“Oh, uh I found this book a few weeks ago. I think it is someone’s attempt to write a vampire novel. It’s funny and morbid at the same time.”
“What is the title?”
“Not sure, something Latin.”
“Have you googled it?”
I shake my head.
“I’ve been so busy lately. It kind of slipped my mind. But since you are the super sleuth, go ahead.”
He smiles and pulls out his phone and punches in the words ‘Mors Rapit Omnia.’
“Huh,” he looks up to me and shakes his head; “death seizes all things.”
