A Note Before Dying

Book One in the Mara Solomon Series

Adam Cole

Part five

(C) 2020 Adam Cole

Published by Nuncici Press, an imprint of Adam Cole Works LLC

Randle called the next morning, at a decent hour, as Mara was settling herself down at her desk.  The references for her newest article on Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum lay unchecked as she brought the phone to her ear.

“Dr. Solomon?”

“Yes?”

“This is Detective Randle of the Dekalb Police.”

“Oh…okay…”  Mara found herself caught between the compelling image of Handel’s score, singing at her from the page, and the somewhat imploring, somewhat awkward sound of the detective’s voice.

“Uh, Dr. Solomon.  I was wondering if you could come back down to the station some time today.”

“Today?”  Mara gazed worriedly at her article.

“If possible.”

Hanging up the phone, Mara looked up to see Soren entering her office with an armful of papers and a covered paper cup. Soren was her graduate assistant and was irritatingly punctual.  He was also as single minded about music as she was, and perhaps twice as shy.  He had been fetching her some coffee when the phone rang, and now he had returned.  She never asked Soren for the gift of the steaming cup, but he offered it each morning.

Mara spoke to him.  “Soren, I have to leave.”

“Where are you going?”  The young man with eyes like Bambi blinked sleepily at her as the steam billowed between his hands.

“It’s a long story.  Will you check the references for me on the Handel article?”

“No problem,” he said quietly, still holding the coffee.  Mara nodded, satisfied.  She liked Soren because he had nothing better to do in his life except thoroughly check her references.

She barely remembered to say thank you as she eased out the door, leaving Soren to drink her coffee for her.

Driving the ten minutes from Emory University to the police station, Dr. Mara Solomon contemplated her situation.  Professors of musicology were not often wanted by the police.  In fact, given the response to her latest publications, she was not often wanted by anyone.

Her mother wanted her.  Not that that counted in particular.  She had once been engaged to Tony.  He had wanted her…or so he said.

Mara sighed.  No memory of Tony seemed to announce itself when it came.  Just like him, it strolled in the door unannounced.

Just like the way he used to hijack her energy and focus, claiming it for his own insatiable need for attention.  Just like the way he used to keep her from finishing a paper, or apply for a grant.  His ghost stole her thoughts away from the question at hand so that she was thinking about him, only him.  She didn’t register where she was until her car pulled up to the police station.  

“It’s funny,” Detective Randle was saying.  “We were originally so uninterested in this bozo that we barely checked his story.  I still haven’t even seen his face.  He’s recording an album of some kind, and I had a rough copy in my player.  That’s what you heard yesterday.  I wasn’t even listening to it.  But when you suggested he might not have recorded it at the studio, we went back to talk to the engineer.  Well, it seems you were right.  The engineer became very nervous and decided to spill.  Seems he was covering for our harpsichord player.”

Again, Mara nodded, still having no idea what this was about.

“You see, Dr. Solomon, our suspect apparently recorded this lovely Purcell piece in his home on a fancy keyboard, and then asked the engineer to transfer it to a file in the studio at the appropriate time.”

Mara blinked.  “Why would he do that?”

The Detective smiled.  “Good question!  Other than the obvious answer, that he wanted to be two places at once, we don’t really know.  And we’re hoping you can shine some light on that.”

A wave of suspicion suddenly swept over Mara, and she narrowed her eyes.  “Wait.  Am I being accused of something here?  I don’t know this man!  I’m just interested in Baroque music.  Do I need a lawyer…”

“Calm down, Dr. Solomon!” the Detective said, extending his scar-covered hand to reassure her.  “You’re not under investigation!  We have no interest in your whereabouts on the night in question.”

“Then…” Mara said, leveling her gaze at the detective.  “What am I doing here?”

More about A Note Before Dying

Mara Solomon is a musicologist, not a detective.  She has no idea that she’s about to take on a murder case.  

In an unexpected visit to the Decatur Police Station she discovers that her estranged friend, the harpist Reanne Adastra, has been brutally beaten to death, her body left to rot in the South River.  The only clue to the movie seems to be a piece of music, scrawled by Adastra before her death and left behind.  The police have no idea what to make of that.

But Mara thinks she knows.

Adam Cole is the host of TruerMU where he interviews celebrities and up-and-coming musicians and creatives.  His guests have included Shawn Mullins, Liberty Devitto and Rick Beato, among many others.  A jazz and classical pianist, Adam’s numerous fiction and non-fiction titles engage readers with the truth about music.  Visit Adam at www.acole.net

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