Humpty Dumpty: The killer wants us to put him back together again (Book 1 of the Nursery Rhyme Murders Series) Read Free Page A

moved out seven years ago. The only lead she had on the guy was his last place of employment. It seemed he worked at a dive bar in Chelsea. As a janitor.
    How in the hell did that happen?
    She’d read his file. Superb agent—worked on the Humpty Dumpty case thirteen years ago until the killer targeted his entire family. Took out his wife and three daughters before throwing them all in a wood chipper.
    It was a horrific story, but it didn’t explain Wright’s fall from grace to Sariah’s complete satisfaction. A year or two, or even five or six, of going through the wringer and flat lining, she could understand. But the fact that it had been thirteen years and the guy was working cleaning up toilets in a crappy bar in Manhattan? It just didn’t track.
    Her stream of thought was interrupted by an official presence at her elbow. A uniformed conductor cleared his throat.
    “Excuse me.”
    Sariah looked up. “Yes?”
    The conductor looked to be in his mid-to-late 50s, with silver hair that had receded back from a high forehead. It was clear he was uncomfortable.
    “I… ah, that is… we’ve had some complaints from some of the other passengers.” He gestured to Sariah’s tablet. “Something about you viewing material that was… er… inappropriate?”
    And just like that, the empty car took on a new meaning. They had all vacated due to her, or at least due to her choice of study materials.
    “I’m sorry. I’m going over case files for an investigation I’m heading. I didn’t mean to disturb anyone.”
    “You’re heading an investigation?” the man asked. He seemed to be trying to keep disbelief out of his voice. He was not succeeding.
    So many different reasons why he could be having a problem believing she was in charge. So many reasons Sariah could find to be offended. She was young, she was black, she was a woman. Or maybe there was just something about her that didn’t inspire confidence. Wasn’t like this was the first time she’d gotten this reaction. But with so many possibilities, it was hard to latch onto only one. So instead, she smiled.
    “Yes. Crazy, isn’t it?”
    “Oh, no… I didn’t mean—”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Sariah reassured the man. “And I’ll make sure I keep the more disturbing pictures off my screen for now. I apologize for any trouble.”
    “Thank you, Miss,” the conductor murmured as he moved off, down the aisle.
    Sariah waited until he had left the car, and then opened the file back up. She’d be more careful from here on out, but right now there was no need. There was no one here, so there was no one to offend.
    And she had work to do.
    * * *
    The suitcase was full to overflowing, and Officer Had Hadderly was trying to decide if it made more sense to jump up and down on it until he could close it, or to just grab two smaller bags. He was enough of a guy’s guy that taking two suitcases went against his grain, but it was his first trip to a big city. Cramming his clothes into the one bag was going to make everything come out wrinkled.
    Who was he kidding? This was a no-brainer. Had trotted over to his closet and pulled out a duffel bag and a small rolling carry-on. This was his first time to Washington DC. Hell, it was pretty much his first time out of Ann Arbor, unless you counted that time he went to Detroit as a kid, or the aborted trip up to Niagara Falls with that one girl. What was her name? Marion? No, Madeline. Man she had been hot. Crazy as all nine hells, but hot. Too bad she had been allergic to cats.
    Well, now that he had two bags instead of just the one, he could afford to pack a couple more shirts. Oh, and that pair of raw denim jeans he had just shrunk to fit. First time doing that, and the results had been awesome . Had had felt like such a hipster when he wore them out for the first time. You know, until he realized he was in Ann Arbor, and there were no hipsters anywhere to be found.
    Five more minutes of last-second additions, and Had