Murder 101
The twenty-second book in the hugely popular Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series from New York Times bestselling author Faye KellermanDetective Peter Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus have moved from the chaos of L.A. to upstate New York, to a quiet town that is home to elite colleges and pensioners. Semi-retired and faced with mundane call-outs at the Greenbury Police Department, Decker is becoming bored of life. So when he is called about a potential break-in at the local cemetery, he jumps at the opportunity to investigate.The Bergman crypt contains four intricately designed stained glass windows, one for each season, two of which are confirmed as definitely fake. Along with young Harvard graduate, Tyler McAdams, Decker must solve the mystery of the forgeries. His search leads him to Manhattan, although perhaps he should look closer to home: when a co-ed is brutally murdered at a local colleges, Decker must put his search for the art thief on hold. But not for long…
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Copyright © Plotline, Inc. 2014
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Cover photographs © Barrett & Mackay / Getty Images (campus); Susan Fox / Trevillion Images (woman)
Faye Kellerman asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780007517671
Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2014 ISBN: 9780007517688
Version: 2015-09-16
Contents
As he inspected the final work, holding it up to a bare bulb, he was blinded by the array of brilliant hues in every color of the rainbow. The opalescent glass was lovely, but it was the handblown clear glass in the emerald greens, the ruby reds, and the sapphire blues that gave the piece its pop, casting tinted rays of spectacular light onto his walls and furniture.
The stained glass was first-rate: the execution of the piece ⦠not so much. The caning between the shards was sloppy and the little painting that was on the glass was one step above Art 101. Not that anyone would notice the difference between the genuine and its imposter in its current dark and dank location. Certainly the moronic caretakers werenât a problem. And in this case, making the switch was a walk in the park because the work could be concealed in a briefcase. His toolbox was bigger and bulkier. But heâd done it before. He could do it again.
Sometimes he didnât even know why he bothered with the small stuff. Maybe just to keep his brain alive because this little bit of intrigue was nothing compared to his future plans. But to pull off something that big took time and he was fine with that. Heâd wait patiently.
The bells were tolling two in the morning: it was time. First, with a makeup sponge, he painted his face brown. Next, he called Angeline on a throwaway cell and told her to wait outside, that heâd be over in five. Carefully, he swathed the piece in bubble wrap and then slid it into his leather briefcase. His tools were already in the car.
He checked his watch again. Then he slipped on his black gloves and covered his head and face with a black ski cap. Next came the black scarf around his neck: good camouflage but also necessary in the cold. A last-minute check in the mirror and what he saw looked perfect. He was nothing more than an inky shadow floating through the night.
Just the way he wanted it.
Be careful what you wish for.
After three decades of police work as a detective lieutenant in Los Angeles, Peter Decker had always imagined a quieter existence in his sixties, something in between retirement and an eighty-hour workweek that had been his former life. He knew that with his active mind and his penchant for restlessness that he wasnât ready to hang up his shield just yet. In his brain, the ideal job was something with a regular schedule with nights and weekends off.
The good news was he now had a manageable desk job, fielding calls that centered on senior citizens with chest pains, missing pets, and controlling drunken teenagers following Saturday night binges. In the last six months, the closest he had come to real crimes were the calls concerning several house break-ins where the burglars pilfered electronicsâcell phones, laptops, and tablets. None of the thefts were surprising because Greenbury was a town that swelled with students in September and then cleared them out by June.
