The Scent of Murder by Barbara Block Page A

unusual?”
    â€œNo. Amy was always fighting with Gerri and my dad. It made things very unpleasant.”
    â€œI can imagine,” I murmurmed, having come from a similiar household myself.
    Charlie nodded in the ferret’s direction. “So Amy just left him here?”
    â€œShe was in a hurry.” I picked Mr. Bones up and put him on my shoulder. He immediately ran down my arm and stuck his head up my sleeve. His nails scratched my skin as he worked his way in. They needed to be clipped.
    Charlie Richmond leaned forward and fixed me with an earnest gaze. “I have to find her.”
    I pulled the ferret out from my sleeve and returned him to his cage. “When she comes back, I’ll tell her you asked for her.”
    Richmond fidgeted with his tie. “You know the police are looking for her?”
    â€œThey were in here already.”
    â€œWell, now they have an APB out on her. Gerri says they think she had something to do with my father’s death.”
    I thought about last night. “Maybe she does.”
    â€œNo she doesn’t.” Richmond’s voice rose, indignantly.
    â€œHow can you be so sure?”
    â€œBecause I know her. Look,” Richmond said, “the girl’s a goddamned vegetarian for Christ sake. She’s practically a Buddhist. She wouldn’t kill a fly. Literally. She used to take them out of the house. I’m sorry, but there is no way in hell that kid would kill my father.”
    â€œSometimes even Buddhists lose control,” I pointed out.
    â€œNot like that.”
    â€œOkay. Let’s suppose for the moment that what you say is true.” I took out a stick of gum, put it in my mouth, and tried not to think about how much I wanted to hold a cigarette in my hand. Maybe if I just held it and didn’t light it. “But why do you care?”
    â€œI want to help her. She needs someone in her corner.”
    â€œWhat about her mother?”
    Charlie Richmond bit the inside of his cheek. “My stepmother and Amy don’t get along too well. As you’ve probably noticed.” He was silent for a moment, as he watched Mr. Bones attack the fur mouse I’d hung up for him.
    â€œIt’s kind of hard to miss, but what does all of this have to do with me?”
    â€œSimple. I want to hire you to find her.”
    I raised an eyebrow. “Me?”
    â€œI’ve read about you. You’ve done this kind of work before, and you’ve seen Amy. You know what she’s like.”
    I chose my next words with care. “I’ve seen her briefly—twice—but we haven’t had time for a heart-to-heart.”
    â€œThat’s better than nothing.”
    I drummed my fingers on the counter. “Maybe so, but you still haven’t explained why you’re so interested in all of this.”
    â€œI guess from the outside it would seem kind of odd.”
    â€œYou could say that.”
    Charlie Richmond frowned. A deep furrow bisected his forehead. “Amy and I... we grew up together. We weren’t close... but we liked each other. We covered for each other when Gerri and my dad were on the warpath. They didn’t do anything terrible,” he quickly explained, catching my look. “But they weren’t very nice to us, either. You could say we were just your typical dysfunctional, blended American family.” He gave a bitter little smile and began fiddling with his tie again.
    â€œAnd? ...” I prodded, when he didn’t say anything else.
    â€œShe’s like the family scapegoat. She always gets blamed for everything. It’s not fair.”
    I folded my arms across my chest. “Is she crazy?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen why does everyone say she is?”
    â€œShe had a bad acid trip and went into a depression, so my mother put her in Cedar View.”
    â€œExpensive place,” I commented. Cedar View was where the upper and upper middle class kids went