Some Like It Hawk (36 page)
Authors: Donna Andrews
“What baffles me is Mayor George’s return,” Randall said. “He could have holed up in Mexico forever—why would he come back on his own?”
“Because he was worried that the whole phony contract business would blow up in his face,” the chief said. “Evidently, it was making him nervous, watching from afar Hamish’s bumbling efforts to fix things, so he came home to keep a closer eye on the situation.”
“And perhaps to confer with his buddies at FPF,” Festus said. “Some of whom may be indicted themselves on Federal corruption charges.”
“Ah,” the chief said. “I expect that’s why the FBI were so keen on having a chance to interview Mr. George Pruitt.”
“So do you think all of this will be useful?” I asked Festus. “In getting our courthouse back without selling anything to the developer?”
“Useful?” Festus exclaimed. “FPF will be lucky if we don’t end up owning
them
! Talk about a smoking gun! I confess, for a while I was worried the FBI would offer him a deal to rat on his cronies at FPF. But the closer we can tie him to the murder, the less chance of that. You’ll have your courthouse back, no strings attached, and sooner than expected.”
And with the courthouse safely back in Caerphilly’s hands, our passionately antidevelopment county board would have no reason to cooperate with anyone’s plans to seize our land for a golf course.
“Speaking of FPF,” Randall said. “Did I tell you I got a call back from my contact at the Department of Criminal Justice Services? Apparently the Flying Monkeys were not operating legally in the state of Virginia. It may be minor compared with what the FBI has in store for them, but FPF’s going to have a lot of explaining to do on that front, too.”
“And more legal charges, most likely,” the chief said. “And furthermore—are we keeping you up, Ms. Langslow?”
I hadn’t been able to stifle a particularly broad yawn.
“It’s been a long day,” I said. “I’m delighted to hear that none of our local future felons are still running around loose, and I’ve got a million more questions, but they’ll keep. Michael, let’s grab the boys and go home.”
ALSO BY DONNA ANDREWS
The Real Macaw
Stork Raving Mad
Swan for the Money
Six Geese A-Slaying
Cockatiels at Seven
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
No Nest for the Wicket
Owls Well That Ends Well
We’ll Always Have Parrots
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos
Murder with Puffins
Murder with Peacocks
About the Author
D
ONNA
A
NDREWS
has won the Agatha, Anthony, and Barry Awards, a
Romantic Times
Award for best first novel, and three Lefty and two Toby Bromberg Awards for funniest mystery. She spends her free time gardening at her home in Reston, Virginia.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
SOME LIKE IT HAWK.
Copyright © 2012 by Donna Andrews. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover art by Maggie Parr
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Andrews, Donna.
Some like it hawk : a Meg Langslow mystery / Donna Andrews. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Thomas Dunne book.”
ISBN 978-1-250-00750-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-0193-6 (e-book)
1. Langslow, Meg (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3551.N4165S66 2012
813'.54—dc23
2012005476
eISBN 9781466801936
First Edition: July 2012