Read Jamie Brodie 02 - Hoarded to Death for Free Online

the TV truck. "We've got coffee in the van if you want something warmer to drink."
    "Thanks." We watched Raven go back to the truck. Dr. Hayman arrived a minute or so thereafter. Stan was still pacing and talking on the phone, looking angrier by the minute. In about ten minutes, Jennifer and Susannah pulled in to the parking lot.
    "Sorry we're late." Jennifer glared at Susannah.
    Susannah glared back. She was dressed somewhat more appropriately today, in designer jeans, a black jacket, and high heeled boots. "Well, we're here now. Let's get started."
    Raven crossed to them. "We need your key, Jennifer. Wally hasn't shown up yet."
    "Um - okay." Jennifer fished her key out of her pocket. "Where is Wally? I need my other key back."
    "Oh, he'll be along. Stan is tracking him down now." Raven started walking toward the apartment. "Come on and unlock the door for us, then you all can relax for a few minutes while Greg gets a few shots inside. We've got coffee and donuts in the TV van."
    Jennifer and Raven walked up the stairs. Mike the organizer - I still couldn’t remember his last name - walked over to us. "Here's what I was thinking for today. Pete and Val, you can continue to help inside, but Jamie, to spare your lungs, I plan to have you outside to help Jennifer go through the books we bring out. She says that she thinks some of them may have some value, and I thought you'd be the best qualified of us to determine what books, if any, are worth passing on to an appraiser. And it will give you something to do which doesn't involve being in the dust and mold."
    "That sounds great ."
    "Cool ." Mike turned away. Jennifer and Raven were at Jennifer's doorway; Jennifer was opening the door. I had just unwrapped my second Egg McMuffin when Jennifer and Raven both screamed.
    Pete jumped off the end of the Jeep and ran for the stairs; I went after him. Pete was pounding up the steps, with me in close pursuit and Stan right behind me. Jennifer and Raven were pale as ghosts, clutching each other, on the balcony outside the door.
    "What is it?" Pete was panting.
    "There's a body!" Jennifer was actually slightly calmer than Raven, who seemed to be hyperventilating.
    Pete stepped into the apartment and I stuck my head around the doorframe. Even from the door, I could smell it.
    I'd spent enough time in emergency rooms after asthma attacks to recognize that smell.
    Blood.
    A lot of it.
    I backed up. Pete took another step in and looked, then backed out, closed the door, pulled his phone out, and dialed 911.
    When they answered, Pete said, "I'm with a friend and we've just found a body inside her apartment."
    He gave the rest of the information; while he was still talking we heard the sirens. Two patrol cars from Pacific Division arrived. They got things in hand quickly. One of the cops started talking to Pete, one to Jennifer, and one to Raven. The fourth cop went in the apartment, did a quick check, came back out and called the detectives and the crime scene unit.
    The detectives arrived in less than twenty minutes. Jonathan Eckhoff was tall and sandy haired, around my age, wearing jeans, desert boots and a leather jacket. Cesar Belardo was older, probably in his late forties, with the beginnings of a paunch. He was shorter and dark-haired, wearing rumpled slacks and a sport coat. They disappeared into the apartment for a while, then came back out. Eckhoff came to where Val, Pete, and I were sitting on the end of the Jeep again. He took our names; when I said mine, he looked at me closely, then said, "Are you related to Kevin Brodie at West LA?"
    "Yep. He's my brother. Jennifer Graham, whose apartment this is, is Kevin's ex-wife."
    Eckhoff's eyes widened. "No kidding."
    "No kidding."
    "Huh." Eckhoff looked back at Jennifer, who was talking to Belardo, then back at me. "Okay. What's going on here?"
    I gave him the whole story; Pete told him about looking into the apartment, seeing the dead guy, and closing the door to preserve the scene.