"Gischler, Victor - The Royal Crown Killer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gischler Victor)

on the ground. The picture snapped into focus. Decoy.
I sprinted back toward the room, gun in hand.
At the room's open door, I stopped and lifted my weapon. The maid stood over
Naomi, legs spread, arms pulling tight a pair of pantyhose around Naomi's
throat.
"Stop." The word crawled out of my mouth, a sad little croak. I said it again
with authority. "Stop right now!"
The maid let go. Naomi dripped from her grasp like cold water, and pooled
around her ankles in a lifeless puddle. Naomi's eyes were locked open, looking
at nothing. Her mouth a surprised O pleading for breath.
No.
I pulled the trigger six times fast, drew a line of wet red dots across the
maid's chest. When her body hit the ground, the gray wig came off. It was
Laurie from the front desk. The Royal Crown Killer had killed her last.


Frank Morgan found me on the bathroom floor sitting with my back to the tub.
The place swarmed with uniforms. They took Naomi away in a body bag.
Frank held up an RC can, flicked it with his middle finger to hear the clank.
"They found seventy-two of these in the lady's Firebird. All empty. Can you
believe that shit?"
"I'm sorry," I said. "I screwed up. Naomi's dead, and it's my fault."
Frank shook his head. "No, Conner, she ain't. I stashed Ms. Spain in a hotel
in Mobile. The lady here was a hooker named Maureen Price. She agreed to be a
decoy in exchange for a reduced sentence. We picked her because she looked
enough like Spain to be her sister."
The look on my face must have worried Frank because he hurried to explain.
"Turns out the guy on the take was the district attorney himself. I tell you,
Conner, all hell's going to break loose downtown. I couldn't prove it until
now. Sorry I couldn't tell you, but this was a strange one. We didn't know who
the bad apple was until the last minute."
"I'm not very happy with you right now, Frank."
"I know, Conner, and I'm sorry. Call me. I owe you a drink."
I didn't look at Frank as he left. I put my face in my hands, trying to burn
the image of Naomi's dead eyes out of my head, trying only to remember her
warm and asleep.