Kirk Russell - A Killing in China Basin

A Killing in China Basin — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "A Killing in China Basin" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...55

Further Titles from Kirk Russell

The John Marquez series

SHELL GAMES

NIGHT GAMES

DEADGAME

REDBACK *

The Ben Raveneau series

A KILLING IN CHINA BASIN *

* available from Severn House

A KILLING IN CHINA BASIN

A Ben Raveneau Thriller

Kirk Russell

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

First world edition published 2011

in Great Britain and in the USA by

SEVERN HOUSE PUBLISHERS LTD of

915 High Street, Sutton, Surrey, England, SM1 1DF.

Copyright 2011 by Kirk Russell.

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Russell, Kirk, 1954

A killing in China Basin.

1. Detectives California San Francisco Fiction.

2. Serial murder investigation California San

Francisco Fiction. 3. Detective and mystery stories.

I. Title

813.6-dc22

ISBN-13: 978-1-78010-082-1 (ePub)

ISBN-13: 978-0-7278-8054-3 (cased)

ISBN-13: 978-1-84751-358-8 (trade paper)

Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental.

This ebook produced by

Palimpsest Book Production Limited,

Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland.

ONE

W hitacres salt-faded Buick faced the Golden Gate Bridge from a corner of the Marina Green lot, a blue handicap placard hanging from the rear-view mirror. Whitacre brushed the placard aside as he reached to open the passenger door for Raveneau.

That door doesnt shut easily, pull it hard.

As Raveneau did, Whitacre said, Im sorry its so hot in here. The chemo drugs mess with my body temperature. Im always cold now, but I am winning this fight, Ben. Last scan, the tumors had shrunk by fifty percent. Ive got another this morning and if its as good as the last one I think theyre going to tell me I can go back to work next month.

Everybody in the office is waiting to hear that.

But Raveneau saw that far from gaining weight, Whitacre was losing it. He watched him struggle to unfold a piece of paper and looked out at the bay, dark blue and windswept this morning, the bridge bright orange, whitecaps running toward Alcatraz.

He drives a late model white Lexus SUV. These are his plates.

Whitacre handed him the piece of paper. He could have sent a text, email, or called it in yesterday. He was on medical leave but was still very much a San Francisco homicide inspector, same as Ben Raveneau, and could easily have picked up the phone and had the license plates run. He also had much closer friends among the inspectors than Raveneau, any of which would be glad to help him.

After a liver cancer diagnosis late last spring Whitacre used up his sick time, comp time, and vacation pay, then applied to the Catastrophic Illness Program. The program allowed San Francisco Police Department officers to donate time to each other and Raveneau donated half of this years vacation time. Maybe that figured into Whitacre calling him.

Raveneau glanced at Cody Stoltzs plate numbers. Stoltz was out of prison, had been for several years, and possibly he held a grudge against the homicide inspectors who took him down, Ted Whitacre and Charles Bates, but usually once out of prison they moved on.

Whats your old partner think?

Whitacre tried to smile, didnt get far with it and said, You know how Charles is.

Raveneau wasnt sure he did and waited.

Charles thinks the cancer drugs are affecting my mind. My seeing Stoltz is a hallucination or something like that. He doesnt believe any of this, but Im telling you, Ben, it was definitely Stoltz who followed me last Saturday.

Whitacre coughed, cleared his throat, and said, Thats not completely fair. Charles did watch him last week. Stoltz lives in a guest house on his mothers property in Los Altos. Hes working again. Hes still a Silicon Valley whiz-kid. Charles sat on the house, followed him, and said all Stoltz did was go between work and home.

Whitacre paused. He turned and stared.

Stoltz wrote us all those letters. Do you remember?

Not really, but hed pulled the case files after Whitacres call yesterday. In the files he found letters to Whitacre but none to his long-time partner, Charles Bates. He looked over at Whitacre and confirmed, Bates told you he sat on Stoltz for two days?

Yes.

Bates was retired. He had his pension but was also doing work for the Alameda County DA. If hed taken time off to put Stoltz under surveillance, he would have checked out Stoltz other ways as well.

Other than me, youre the only one left who knows how to knock on a door, Ben. All the rest are modern guys. Theyll file a report.

Did Bates knock on his door?

Charles thinks its got to come from an active inspector to have any weight.

Raveneau nodded. So thats what this meeting was about.

Heres what I can do. Im on-call this week with my new partner but Ill go see Stoltz Monday or Tuesday. Youre sure hes living with his mother?

Two-story guest house, painted yellow with a big rose garden behind it, and thank you. I cant tell you how it affects me to know Stoltz is following me and feel I cant do much about it.

Walk me through again what happened when you saw him.

Whitacre seemed agitated by the request but did it anyway. He had spotted Stoltz in a parking lot outside a Belmont hardware store not far from where he lived. Stoltz was watching the front doors and Whitacre came out a side door after buying grape stakes to repair his fence. Stoltz wasnt watching the side of the building and Whitacre got close enough to confirm it was him and get his plates. After recounting this he didnt wait for any more questions.

Ive got to go. This thing is at the med center in half an hour.

Raveneau called in the plates on the drive back to the Hall of Justice, and then phoned Bates and asked if Stoltz drove a white Lexus SUV.

He does.

The plates I just ran are registered to a San Jose corporation.

I dont know about that, but I spent two days on him. He went back and forth from work in a white Lexus RX350. I can read you the plate numbers if you want.

Go ahead.

Bates did and then asked, Did Ted tell you he saw Stoltz three or four other times last week, and that one of those times was when I know Stoltz was at work in Palo Alto? Did he tell you that? Ill bet he didnt. I saw Stoltz go into the building where he works an hour before Ted called me. I could see his Lexus in the lot as Ted was talking to me.

He talked about the hardware store. Hes certain it was Stoltz.

Bates sighed.

Look, lately hes calling me in the middle of the night. I mean, two, three oclock in the morning, anxious and panicked, and it isnt really about Stoltz. Its about dying. Its about needing someone to talk to. With me hes focusing on all the old cases, all the cold ones, and those we screwed up or didnt solve. Hes trying to tie up the loose ends. But you saw him this morning so you probably already know what Im going to tell you now, though you keep this to yourself. Theyve given him three months max. The priest at his church is counseling him, but you know Ted, he just wont accept it. Hes fighting it all the way in.

Next page

1234567...55

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «A Killing in China Basin»

Look at similar books to A Killing in China Basin. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

Hans Lahlum

The Catalyst Killing

Stevan Mena

Transience

Qiu Xiaolong

A Case of Two Cities

Qiu Xiaolong

Hold Your Breath, China

Wilber

A good month for murder: the inside story of a homicide squad

Charles Todd

The Confession

Qiu Xiaolong

A Case of Two Cities: An Inspector Chen Novel (Inspector Chen Novels)

Jonnie Jacobs

The Next Victim (Kali OBrien Mysteries)

Thomas Perry

Nightlife

Mark Pearson

Blood Work

Ian Rankin

The Black Book (Inspector Rebus)

Discussion, reviews of the book A Killing in China Basin and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.