"Creighton, Kathleen - Eyewitness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Creighton Kathleen)

"Hey," said Mary, "sure I picked you. You guys are my friends." She
glanced in the rearview mirror. Daisy Pepper was already snoring away
with her head on Preacher's shoulder.

Preacher nodded, bumping her frowsy gray-blond curls with his beard.
"That we are. That we are."

"Friends," said JoJo solemnly.

Friends. Mary shivered and reached to turn on the heater. It was a
mild night, but she felt cold and frightened. Like a child walking
home in the dark, suddenly aware of the silence and emptiness around
her.

It was nearly one-thirty when Doug finally climbed the long flight of
stone steps that led to his front door. He could have taken the inside
stairs from the garage on the street level to the kitchen, and
sometimes did when it was raining and the steps were slippery with
bougainvillea blossoms. Most of the time, though, he took the long
way. He needed the exercise.

As he inserted his key in the lock he could hear what sounded like a
telephone ringing. "Stupid bird," he muttered He pushed the door open,
dropped the keys into his pocket and threw his jacket onto the back of
the couch. "Okay, knock it off, Maurice."

The ringing sounded again. Doug yawned and regarded the occupant of a
large wire cage on the table in front of the living room windows with
distaste. " " Cut it out, dammit. It's too late for this crap. You'll
wake the neighbors. "

Maurice the mynah bird cocked his head, fixed Doug with one beady black
eye and uttered a breathtakingly obscene remark just as the telephone
rang again.

"Hey, Maurice, that's really-" Doug began in genuine admiration. Then
realizing belatedly that ventriloquism was probably beyond even a mynah
bird's capabilities, he dived for the phone and snatched up the
receiver, swearing under his breath.

"MacDougal," he barked, then listened fox a while, asking a question
now and then. After he hung it up he stood for a minute with his eyes
closed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Dammit to hell," offered Maurice. Doug snorted. The mynah bird added
something impressively foul in tones of sympathy.

Which summed up Doug's sentiments pretty well. The murdered blonde's
car had just been found, parked in a turnout up on Angeles Crest
Highway. The missing boyfriend had been found, too. Sitting in the