Free "N" Is for Noose by Sue Grafton

me, especially in the course of work. I've had to learn the hard way (as it were) not to mix pleasure with business.
    "My mom's not here yet?" he asked, pulling the towel from around his neck. He removed his knit cap at the same time and I could see that his hair was curling slightly with the sweaty dampness of his workout. His smile showed straight white teeth.
    "Should be any minute. I'm Kinsey. Are you Brant?"
    "Yes ma'am. I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself." I shook hands with him across the littered expanse of his father's desk. His palm was an odd gray. When he saw that I noticed, he smiled sheepishly. "That's from weightlifting gloves. I just came from the gym," he said. "I saw the car out front and figured you were here. How's it going so far?"
    "Well enough, I guess."
    "I better let you get back to it. Mom comes, tell her I'm in the shower."
    "Sure thing."
    "See you in a bit," he said.
    Selma got home at 12:15. I heard the garage door grumble up and then down. Within minutes, she'd let herself in the door that led from the garage into the kitchen. Soon afterward, I could hear the clattering of dishes, the refrigerator door opening and shutting, then the chink of flatware. She appeared in the den doorway, wearing a cotton pinafore-style apron over slacks and a matching sweater. "I'm making chicken salad sandwiches if you'd like to join us. You met Brant?"
    "I did. Chicken salad sounds great. You need help?"
    "No, no, but come on out and we can talk while I finish up."
    I followed her to the kitchen where I washed my hands. "You know what I haven't come across yet is Tom's notebook. Didn't he take field notes when he was working an investigation?"
    Surprised, Selma turned from the counter where she was putting together sandwiches. "Absolutely. It was a little loose-leaf notebook with a black leather cover, about the size of an index card, maybe a little bigger, but not much more than that. It must be around here some place. He always had it with him." She began to cut sandwiches in half, placing them on a platter with sprigs of parsley around the edge. Every time I buy parsley, it turns to slime. "Are you sure it's not there?" she asked.
    "I haven't come across it. I checked his desk drawers and his coat pockets."
    "What about his truck? Sometimes he left it in the glove compartment or the side pocket."
    "Good suggestion. I should have thought of that myself."
    I opened the connecting door and moved into the garage. I skirted Selma 's car and opened the door to the pickup on the driver's side. The interior smelled heavily of cigarette smoke. The ashtray bulged with cigarette butts buried in a shallow bed of ash. The glove compartment was tidy, bearing only a batch of road maps, the owner's manual, registration, proof of insurance, and gasoline receipts. I looked in the side pockets in both doors, looked behind the visors, leaned over and scanned the space under the bucket seats. I checked the area behind the seats, but there was only a small tool kit for emergencies. Aside from that, the interior revealed nothing. I slammed the driver's side door shut, glancing idly along the garage shelves in passing. I don't know what I thought I'd see, but there was no little black notebook within range.
    I returned to the kitchen. "Scratch that," I said. "Any other ideas?"
    "I'll have a look myself later on today. He could have left the notebook at work, though he seldom did that. I'll call Rafer and ask him."
    "Won't he claim the notes are department property?"
    "Oh, I'm sure not," she said. "He told me he'd do anything he could to help. He was Tom's best friend, you know."
    But not yours, I thought. "One thing I'm curious about," I said tentatively. "The night he died… if he'd had any warning… he could have called for help if he'd had a radio. Why no CB in his truck? Why no pager? I know a lot of guys in law enforcement who have radios installed in their personal vehicles."
    "Oh, I know. He meant to do that, but hadn't