Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 143, No. 1. Whole No. 868, January 2014

Начало книги

Two-time Edgar Allan Poe Award winner Doug Allyn continues a series this month that was launched in our March/April 2012 issue with the EQMM Readers Award winning story “Wood-Smoke Boys.” Two further stories in the series, “Death of a Drama Queen” (EQMM September/October 2012) and “Borrowed Time” (EQMM September/October 2013) preceded series police detective Dylan LaCrosse’s return in this dark case set at the peak of the holiday season.

I smiled when I saw the dead girl. Just for a moment. Reflex, I suppose.

In Kabul, I once clawed through a busload of bodies after a bomb blast, desperately seeking any sign of life. Didn’t find it.

As a Detroit cop, I saw victims almost daily, and even after transferring home to Valhalla, on Michigan’s north shore, I’ve seen more corpses than I care to.

But never one like this.

The teenager was sprawled on the snow-covered lawn, her honey-blond hair wreathing her face like a halo. She was surrounded by lighted holiday figures, a laughing Santa in his sleigh, eight wire-framed reindeer, gaily winking and blinking. The girl’s white satin gown was dusted with ice crystals that reflected the flickering LEDs, making her glitter like the display’s centerpiece.

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