Tussinland Read Free

stabbed a spot next to his right big toe with a syringe-full of heroin. Miranda only snorted the shit occasionally and so far hadn’t even developed much of a habit with the drug. She needed to hold off today for sure because she had to edit the Mark and Tina murder video. Plus, she had a lot of shit to do all day. She moved the mouse with her index finger, switched over to a window containing a photo album of her and Logan fucking.
    “What’s your favorite?” Miranda stared at the screen. She clicked through the pictures. “What’s, like, the best one?”
    “That is so hard to say, dude.”
    “I know .”
    “It’s probably the anal one, right?”
    Miranda clicked backwards four or five times.
    “This one?”
    “Naw, one more.”
    “ This one?”
    “Yeah. That one’s a keeper.”

FOUR
     
    The first thing Paul saw when Mavis opened the door was a red-faced plainclothes policeman. He knew he was a policeman because he held out his badge about an inch from Paul’s face. Behind him stood a uniformed patrolman. Paul was barefoot and wore yellow sweat pants and a white undershirt. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Mavis subtly loosen the belt of her white silk robe to show more cleavage from the front of her pink teddy underneath. Mavis always had a certain attraction to law enforcement. It was no secret to Paul that his fifty-four-year-old mother—with her long blonde hair and great body—was still considered hot by most men (he’d recently heard her referred to as a GILF), and that at this point in their lives, she barely looked older than him.
    “Are you Paul Dunn?”
    He froze, not at all sure if he could even talk. His head felt thick and slow and he couldn’t focus his eyes.
    “Don’t fuck with me,” the policeman said. He put one foot across the threshold and brought his face up close to Paul’s. “We need to speak with Paul Dunn. Are you him?”
    “Yes I am. What’s going on?”
    Paul got a strong feeling that if he said the wrong thing (whatever that might be) that the policeman would hit him in the face and break his jaw or something.
    He moved behind Mavis.
    “I’m Detective Fagan and this is Officer Plant.”
    Detective Fagan was a big man. Reminded Paul of the wrestler and politician Jesse Ventura. He’d never seen such a large policeman.
    “Great, why are you here ?” Paul said, sure it had something to do with his purchases of DM all over town the last two years or so.
    “Do you have an ex-wife named Tina Dunn?”
    “Well, technically, we’re still married.”
    “She and her boyfriend Mark Pisko put out a restraining order on you last month? Because you threatened to kill them?”
    Mavis said, “Oh that’s just part of the typical divorce back and forth. You know how people can get, Detective. Paul’d never hurt anyone.”
    “Ma’am, both Ms. Dunn and Mr. Pisko were found dead just after one-thirty this morning.”
    “Oh shit,” Paul said. “God damn it. I warned her. I told her not to get involved with Mark Pisko. Fuck.”
    “Now watch your language, sweetheart,” Mavis said.
    “Mr. Dunn,” Detective Fagan said, “do you own a shotgun?”
    “I’ve never owned a gun in my life. I’ve never even fired one.”
    “This is silly,” Mavis said. “Paul’s been here all night, since around eight-thirty.”
    “We don’t have a time of death for sure yet but it was certainly several hours before they were found.”
    “Why don’t all of you come inside and have a cup of coffee and we can work all this out?”
    “Sorry, ma’am.”
    “It’s Mavis, Detective.”
    As Mavis offered her hand for Fagan to shake her robe opened a bit more. The Detective stared, his face growing redder.
    “I’m Paul’s mother.”
    “Uh huh,” Fagan said. He didn’t take Mavis’ hand. “Yeah, so … we’re going need your … uh, son … to come with us down to the station. He isn’t under arrest—at least not yet—but we need to talk to him.”
    Paul started to