Page 34 of Always Murder

That was probably the truth; I suspected Ryan didn’t think about a lot of things.

“What else?”I said.

“That’s pretty much—”

“No, it’s not, because you started to tell us something and then you clammed up.”

Ryan made himself even smaller.He squirmed.He rocked.He did micro-spins from side to side, and the office chair squeaked under him.

“Fine,” I said.“Keme?”

Keme didn’t even move.

“All right!”Ryan’s voice held a note of genuine panic.“I’ll tell you.”

You should have seen Keme’s face.My general opinion with Keme is that he needs to be taken down a peg or two, especially when he thinks he’s really tough, like that time he pushed my head between the cushions on the chesterfield.But today, I figured he probably needed this, on account of the whole donkey thing.

Ryan wheeled the chair over to a filing cabinet.He unlocked it with his manager keys—he paused to tell us this—and opened a drawer.From inside, he drew out a stack of cash.And then another.And then another.

For several long seconds, I stared.

And then I said, “How much is that?”

“Ten thousand dollars,” Ryan said in what was practically a whisper.

“Where did you get it?”

He hesitated again, but only for an instant.“The trunk of our car.Where we keep the spare tire.”

“Why were you looking in there?”Keme asked.

“That’s where we keep our smokes.”In a rush, he added, “Don’t tell our mom.”

There was something to be said about men in their twenties who hid cigarettes, called themour smokes,and worried about their mom catching them.But I focused on the more pressing issue: “When did you find it?”

“This morning,” Ryan said.“I know what you’re thinking, but there’s no way this is Paul’s.”

“Why not?”

“Because he would have told me!”With an unexpectedly self-aware grin, Ryan added, “And we would have spent it.”

Maybe it said something about the company I’d been keeping, but strangely enough, I believed him.

Of course, that meant there was a much bigger problem.

First, the stolen packages.

Now, the money.

Someone was trying to frame Paul.

But for what?

And where in the world was he?

Chapter 11

I called Bobby.

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