Tourquai

Read Tourquai for Free Online

Book: Read Tourquai for Free Online
Authors: Tim Davys
his knees, he was stiff and straight and had massive force in his wings. Deep inside he was thinking: If I top my forehand enough he won’t be able to return. But out loud he said, “Who’s going to serve?”
    An hour and a half later Falcon Ècu was sitting with Anna Lynx, having a sports drink at one of the four tables at the Tennis Stadium snack bar. Anna had brought the sports drinks with her, as the snack bar was closed as usual.
    “You really didn’t need to come,” said Falcon for the second or third time.
    “C’mon, listen,” Anna replied. “Todd is at a party, and we haven’t had a decent murder to investigate for several months—I’m curious.”
    Pedersen had won by a score of 6–1, 6–0. Falcon said he lost the grip on his racket in the middle of the second set, but anyone could have seen that he threw it in desperation.
    “Take it from the top, Falcon,” Anna asked. “Although I don’t really need to ask you to be thorough.”
    Falcon cleared his throat. He had received suitable taunts and then changed and left his colleagues out on the court. Many of them had another match later that evening; he would not be playing anymore today.
    “You’ve heard about Vulture?” Falcon began.
    “I talked with Larry,” Anna confirmed. “I have a handle on the first part. But then you and Pedersen stayed behind at Nova Park and questioned the personnel?”
    The snack bar was just to the right of the stadium exit. Two large potted palms marked off the area; the palm leaves hung down over four round metal tables and the chairs around them, small and rickety. Only Anna Lynx and Falcon were sitting there. From the food sack she had brought with her, Anna took out a prepackaged ham sandwich that looked positively inedible.
    “Yes, it’s a real mystery,” Falcon nodded. “You won’t be disappointed.”
    “Okay. And what do you mean by that?”
    “Oswald Vulture’s head has disappeared,” said Falcon. “Someone cut it off. Outside Vulture’s room on the sixty-second floor at Bourg de la Villette sits his secretary, Emanuelle Cobra. To get in to Vulture, you have to go through Cobra’s office. And Cobra hadn’t left her office all morning.”
    “C’mon, you don’t need to be a genius to realize that it has to be Cobra who did it,” Lynx stated.
    “That’s a very hasty conclusion,” Falcon said. “Cobra was seriously shocked when we found her boss. I’m pretty sure the superintendent and I both had the same feeling. She wasn’t pretending. She didn’t know what had happened.”
    “Good-looking?”
    “What?”
    “Is she good-looking?” Anna repeated. “Cobra.”
    Falcon blushed.
    “C’mon,” said Anna, “anyone could fool you testosterone-ruled males.”
    “Since you already know who’s guilty, perhaps there’s no point in me continuing,” said Falcon, deeply offended.
    “Go on,” Anna smiled. “Tell me everything you know.”
    “Well, when we talked with Cobra, we got a pretty good idea of the victim’s morning. He arrived at work at the usual time, right after the Morning Rain, and behaved exactly as usual. He began the day by going over his calendar with his secretary. He had meetings all morning, and in the afternoon he planned to go to an auction where his wife was interested in a vase.”
    “C’mon, he lied about the vase.”
    “Yes, probably. There was no vase. Whatever. The first meeting in the morning he had with Leonard Earthworm. Earthworm is one of the partners and sits in the office closest to the elevators. But they had their meeting in Vulture’s office. Earthworm stayed an hour, perhaps a little less. I talked with Earthworm, he told me about their conversation, though I can’t say I understood that much. They were working on some big business contract.”
    “What does Nova Park do?” asked Anna.
    “It’s a financial company. They buy into companies they believe in, and then sell when they can make a profit. There are twelve stuffed animals in the

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