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Amazon
Category:
Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Avalon Books, New York, N.Y.
ISBN-10: 0803498284
Type: Fiction
Pages: 262
Copyright: April 24, 2007
ISBN-13: 9780803498280
Jack Elton was having a rough time dealing with his unfair banishment from the Vancouver Police Force and trying to settle into the lonely life of a P.I. until the morning the dead body of a young, pregnant Asian woman is found stabbed to death in the offices of Biggs, Wilberforce, Hutton and Small. The police and the employees of the firm are mystified at the murder--no one seems to know who she is, or why she was in the building that night.
All evidence points to Brendan Biggs, a partner in the advertising firm, but Biggs insists he has never seen the girl before. The police are putting the pressure on, so in an act of desperation, Biggs calls on his old friend Jack to help out.
A job accepted grudgingly to help out a friend turns into an adventure for the aspiring private eye, as he must determine the victim’s identity, that of her assailant, and the motive for the gruesome crime, while delving into the unfamiliar and closed-to-strangers Asian community of Vancouver, Canada.
Excerpt
The rising sun sent its rays into the windows of the high-rise buildings in the centre of the city. In the eleventh-floor offices of Biggs, Wilberforce, Hutton, and Small, a bright beam slowly traced across the room, illuminating work stations, desks, the green carpet, and the body of a woman surrounded by an impressive pool of drying blood. The digital clock across from the reception desk read 7:59. In less than one minute, the day would have a completely different start than anyone could have imagined.
Abba deBie came briskly to the office door, as she did every day at this time. Clutching a bundle of file folders to her chest, she felt in a coat pocket. She pulled out her hand and squinted at the key ring, selecting the one with the red plastic cover on the end. Abba had learned before now that, when you are in a hurry, it is frustrating to have to try a whole series of similar keys before you can get in. She leaned on the door for support and was surprised to discover that it opened.
“How did that get left unlocked? Most surprising, indeed,” she thought.
When you enter the Biggs, Wilberforce, Hutton, and Small office, a reception counter prevents a clear view of the area. This, of course, is intentional. Customers coming and going to the advertising firm do not need to see the activities, or absence thereof, of the folks who ordinarily occupy the desks.
Abba placed the files on the counter and slipped off her coat. She hung it on the rack behind the counter, walked around to the work area, and was immediately confronted by what had once been the life blood of whoever had taken up occupancy of a portion of the floor. Her scream of alarm gave notice of the discovery up and down the hall.
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