Cut and Run Read Free

happened—there’s ghosting of just the right size. That’s not all, though—I found this under the couch.” She held up a small digital recorder.
    â€œYou think our murder was recorded?”
    â€œDon’t know—battery’s dead. Could be because it was running for the last few hours—I’ll have Cooper take a look at it and see what he thinks. How about you—find anything odd?”
    â€œThought I’d check for backup files. So far, no luck.”
    â€œUsed to be a computer disk was fairly easy to spot. These days, though…” A sudden thought struck her. She glanced around the room but didn’t see what she was looking for. “Just a second, Frank.”
    Natalia returned to the living room and walked over to the stereo. An upright CD rack made of wire stood beside it; she ran her finger down the titles until she came to one that looked handwritten. “Ima Novella—Greatest Hits,” she said aloud. She pulled it out, revealing a gold CD in a clear plastic case. Scrawled across the front in Magic Marker were the words, DEATHLESS PROSE .
    â€œFunny,” she murmured. “But not exactly accurate…”
    Frank walked up behind her. “CD-ROM?”
    â€œYeah. I’m guessing this is a backup copy that he hid in plain sight. Sort of.”
    â€œIma Novella. Yeah, that sounds like Davey.”
    â€œI’ll take it back to the lab. I hope it isn’t encrypted.”
    Frank shook his head. “Knowing Davey, it might just be a collection of traveling salesmen jokes.”
    â€œGuess we’ll know soon enough.” Natalia slipped the CD into an evidence folder. “And if this doesn’t give us anything relevant, I guess the joke’s on him. ”
    Â 
    â€œMy name’s Joel Greer,” the driver of the white van told Horatio. “I crew for Mister Breakwash.”
    Horatio studied the young man with the unkempt hair who wouldn’t meet his eyes. The death of his boss had definitely upset Joel, but Horatio could tell there was more to it than that. “I see,” he said. “And what, exactly, does crewing a hot-air balloon entail?”
    â€œI don’t fly with him,” said Joel. He crossed his arms. “I just help get the balloon inflated and then pack it up again at the other end. And I drive the support vehicle.”
    â€œSo you were present when Mister Breakwash launched?”
    â€œYeah, of course. And when he…” Joel swallowed. “Came down again.”
    â€œWas there anyone else there?”
    â€œNo, it was just us.”
    â€œWhat about during the flight?”
    â€œI followed him at a distance in the van. He was over the ’Glades, so I couldn’t exactly pace him, but he was in sight the whole time. I followed the highway until—well, he was supposed to meet me over here.” Joel pulled a battered map out of his back pocket and unfolded it. “Right here in this field. We’ve done it lots of times. But this time—this time he just kept going.”
    â€œDid you try to contact him?”
    â€œYeah, we have a set of walkie-talkies for that. He didn’t answer. I just followed him the best I could after that, until he finally—” Joel broke off and looked away.
    â€œDid you see anything unusual during the flight? Did anything approach the balloon or leave it?”
    â€œI didn’t notice anything—but it was pretty far away, and I had to keep my eyes on the road. I called the FAA as soon as I knew something was wrong.”
    â€œYes, I imagine their investigator will want to talk to you, too.”
    â€œI didn’t do anything wrong, did I? I mean, this isn’t my fault, right?”
    Horatio eyed Joel calmly for a second. “I don’t think so, no,” he said. “But we’ve just started our investigation. Would you mind holding out your hands? There’s a test I need to