hurt
Sandy?'
An kicked Bruce's foot with her own, indicating
that he should go back to glowering with
his back against the wall. She told Martin, 'Your
co-workers claim Sandy taunted you quite a bit.'
'No, she didn't,' Martin countered. 'Well, I
mean, not in a disrespectful way. Not to be cruel,
I mean. Well, maybe it was a bit cruel, but she
didn't mean to hurt—'
'Two days ago, she went on the loudspeaker
and called you "teeny weenie" then Super Glued
a twelve-inch vibrating rubber dildo to your
desk.'
Martin cleared his throat. 'She liked her
pranks.'
'Apparently.'
'And Sandy knows that Super Glue can be
easily removed with GlooperGone. It's one of
Southern's best-selling products.' He shook his
head. 'She started out on the Glooper line, for
goodness' sakes.'
An tried not to imagine Martin gripping a
twelve-inch vibrating dildo as he lubed it with
solvent and scraped it from his desk. 'Some of the
women we talked to said that you listen to them
while they are urinating in the toilet.'
Jergens' lip curled in disgust. 'Seriously, dude?'
Martin explained, 'My office is right outside the
toilets. I wasn't listening. I didn't have a choice.'
'Yeah, right.' Jergens went back to his
doodling. An could see he had drawn a hangman's
gallows with a figure resembling Humpty
Dumpty hanging from the noose.
An suggested, 'Mr Reed, you can clear this up
if you just tell us where you were last night.'
'I told you I drove around. I was home by
eight – there was a television program I wanted
to watch.'
Jergens perked up. 'What'd you watch?'
Martin looked down, his face reddening. He
mumbled something unintelligible.
An, Bruce and Jergens all asked, 'What?' at the
same time.
Martin held his head up high, squared his
shoulders. ' Dancing With the Stars .'
Jergens shot Bruce a look, and both men
chuckled. 'Did you watch it with your mommy?'
An stared at the lawyer, for some reason
feeling protective of the suspect.
Martin answered, 'Yes, I watched it with my
mother.' An could tell that he was struggling to
hold on to a sliver of his dignity.
She asked, 'Did you watch it all the way
through?'
Martin nodded. 'Mother went to bed when
Mr T was doing the rumba, and as I am a lifelong
A-Team fan, I wanted to see what would
happen.' He added, 'There's nothing feminine
about wanting to watch people dance. Mr T is
very light on his feet. He's an amazing athlete.
Lots of athletes take dancing lessons. It makes
them more nimble.'
An sighed again, sitting back in the chair.
Sandra Burke had been murdered around eightfifteen,
which, if An was remembering correctly,
was around the same time one of the Dancing With the Stars judges had commented that, in
fact, many athletes were nimble dancers.
Martin could not stop defending his masculinity.
'There is nothing wrong with having a
wide variety of interests. I am interested in many
things. Very many interesting things.'
'Books?'
Martin smiled – a genuine smile. 'I love to
read.'
'What subjects are you most interested in?'
'Well, murder mysteries. Science fiction, but
more about social issues than space ships.' He
stared down as his hands, almost bashful. 'I'm
particularly fond of Kathy Reichs. Her main
character is very . . . alluring. She gets to the
bottom of things, like, you know . . . you.'
An felt her face flush. She never missed an
episode of Bones . Was he comparing her to
Tempe Brennan?
Bruce wasn't buying it. 'Come on, Reed. Dr
Brennan is a forensic anthropologist.'
'He's right, man,' Jergens agreed, seeming to
forget that Martin was his client. 'Andi is a
detective.'
'Anther,' Martin corrected. 'Detective Anther
Albada.' He kept his eyes on An as he pressed a
doughy finger to the legal pad where he had
written her name. 'Anther.'
An had started to chew her cuticle again. She
made herself stop. Things had gotten off track,
and she could not for the life of her figure out
how. She asked Martin, 'Do you read true
crime?'
'Definitely. But only Ann Rule – not the
Sandy?'
An kicked Bruce's foot with her own, indicating
that he should go back to glowering with
his back against the wall. She told Martin, 'Your
co-workers claim Sandy taunted you quite a bit.'
'No, she didn't,' Martin countered. 'Well, I
mean, not in a disrespectful way. Not to be cruel,
I mean. Well, maybe it was a bit cruel, but she
didn't mean to hurt—'
'Two days ago, she went on the loudspeaker
and called you "teeny weenie" then Super Glued
a twelve-inch vibrating rubber dildo to your
desk.'
Martin cleared his throat. 'She liked her
pranks.'
'Apparently.'
'And Sandy knows that Super Glue can be
easily removed with GlooperGone. It's one of
Southern's best-selling products.' He shook his
head. 'She started out on the Glooper line, for
goodness' sakes.'
An tried not to imagine Martin gripping a
twelve-inch vibrating dildo as he lubed it with
solvent and scraped it from his desk. 'Some of the
women we talked to said that you listen to them
while they are urinating in the toilet.'
Jergens' lip curled in disgust. 'Seriously, dude?'
Martin explained, 'My office is right outside the
toilets. I wasn't listening. I didn't have a choice.'
'Yeah, right.' Jergens went back to his
doodling. An could see he had drawn a hangman's
gallows with a figure resembling Humpty
Dumpty hanging from the noose.
An suggested, 'Mr Reed, you can clear this up
if you just tell us where you were last night.'
'I told you I drove around. I was home by
eight – there was a television program I wanted
to watch.'
Jergens perked up. 'What'd you watch?'
Martin looked down, his face reddening. He
mumbled something unintelligible.
An, Bruce and Jergens all asked, 'What?' at the
same time.
Martin held his head up high, squared his
shoulders. ' Dancing With the Stars .'
Jergens shot Bruce a look, and both men
chuckled. 'Did you watch it with your mommy?'
An stared at the lawyer, for some reason
feeling protective of the suspect.
Martin answered, 'Yes, I watched it with my
mother.' An could tell that he was struggling to
hold on to a sliver of his dignity.
She asked, 'Did you watch it all the way
through?'
Martin nodded. 'Mother went to bed when
Mr T was doing the rumba, and as I am a lifelong
A-Team fan, I wanted to see what would
happen.' He added, 'There's nothing feminine
about wanting to watch people dance. Mr T is
very light on his feet. He's an amazing athlete.
Lots of athletes take dancing lessons. It makes
them more nimble.'
An sighed again, sitting back in the chair.
Sandra Burke had been murdered around eightfifteen,
which, if An was remembering correctly,
was around the same time one of the Dancing With the Stars judges had commented that, in
fact, many athletes were nimble dancers.
Martin could not stop defending his masculinity.
'There is nothing wrong with having a
wide variety of interests. I am interested in many
things. Very many interesting things.'
'Books?'
Martin smiled – a genuine smile. 'I love to
read.'
'What subjects are you most interested in?'
'Well, murder mysteries. Science fiction, but
more about social issues than space ships.' He
stared down as his hands, almost bashful. 'I'm
particularly fond of Kathy Reichs. Her main
character is very . . . alluring. She gets to the
bottom of things, like, you know . . . you.'
An felt her face flush. She never missed an
episode of Bones . Was he comparing her to
Tempe Brennan?
Bruce wasn't buying it. 'Come on, Reed. Dr
Brennan is a forensic anthropologist.'
'He's right, man,' Jergens agreed, seeming to
forget that Martin was his client. 'Andi is a
detective.'
'Anther,' Martin corrected. 'Detective Anther
Albada.' He kept his eyes on An as he pressed a
doughy finger to the legal pad where he had
written her name. 'Anther.'
An had started to chew her cuticle again. She
made herself stop. Things had gotten off track,
and she could not for the life of her figure out
how. She asked Martin, 'Do you read true
crime?'
'Definitely. But only Ann Rule – not the
Similar Books
Five Stars: Five Outstanding Tales from the early days of Stupefying Stories
Aaron Starr, Guy Stewart, Rebecca Roland, David Landrum, Ryan Jones
