“I used to draw my way out of it. These days I don’t think there’s a name for what I’m doing. Oh, wait, yes there is. It’s called crap.”
“Have you got your drawing pad in your trunk?”
“Always. Why?”
“Because she’ll want to look at it.”
She frowned at him suspiciously. “Who will?”
“Susan Vail, that professor from the art academy. She’ll be here in…” He glanced at his watch. “Thirty-seven minutes. We have a drink date.”
Her pale green eyes widened at him. “Who has a drink date?”
“You, me and Susan. I took matters into my own hands.”
“Meaning what?” she demanded. “Did you two conversate about me?”
“Okay, now you’re just trying to piss me off.”
She stared at him in that the stiff-necked way of hers that never failed to remind him she was, and always would be, the Deacon’s daughter. “Mitch, what did you say to her?”
“That your shit’s fucked up.”
“And what did she…”
“That you’re the most gifted talent she’s ever encountered and she’d be honored to work with you one-on-one.”
“I told you I can’t afford that.”
“It’s all taken care of. I’m giving some guest lectures at the academy on the subject of visual composition in the cin-e-ma. You know me—I can flap these receding gums for hours about Gregg Toland’s deep-focus camera work in Citizen Kane. And the way Robert Siodmak lit the opening sequence of The Killers? Totally film noir meets Edward Hopper. Hell, I can go on for weeks.”
“Are they paying you for these lectures?”
“Well, no.”
“So you’re volunteering your time?”
“Well, yeah.”
She showed him her huge wraparound smile. “Have I told you recently that I adore you? Oh, hey, I almost forgot.…” She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a fresh package of Stim-U-Dents. “For a job well done. I couldn’t have cracked the Lance Paffin case without you.”
“I think you’d have been better off without me on this one.”
“And I think you couldn’t be more wrong. I’m lost in the tall grass without you. Don’t you know that?”
He hefted the Stim-U-Dents in his hand, peering at her. “I seem to recall that you hate these things.”
“True that. And if I catch you chewing on one in public I’ll make you eat it on the spot. But a man’s got a right to do whatever he pleases when he’s in the privacy of his own island.”
Mitch tore open the package and stuck one in the corner of his mouth, chewing on it contentedly. “So anywhere on Big Sister is okay?”
“Anywhere on Big Sister. Anywhere at all.” She gazed at him through her eyelashes. “Anywhere except for the sleeping loft.”
Mitch gazed back at her, grinning. “I can live with that.”
ALSO BY DAVID HANDLER
FEATURING BENJI GOLDEN
Runaway Man
FEATURING BERGER & MITRY
The Snow White Christmas Cookie
The Blood Red Indian Summer
The Shimmering Blond Sister
The Sour Cherry Surprise
The Sweet Golden Parachute
The Burnt Orange Sunrise
The Bright Silver Star
The Hot Pink Farmhouse
The Cold Blue Blood
Click to Play
FEATURING STEWART HOAG
The Man Who Died Laughing
The Man Who Lived by Night
The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Woman Who Fell from Grace
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
The Man Who Cancelled Himself
The Girl Who Ran Off with Daddy
The Man Who Loved Women to Death
FEATURING DANNY LEVINE
Kiddo
Boss
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID HANDLER is an Edgar Award winner and a Derringer, Anthony, and Dilys Award finalist. He has written extensively for television and films. David lives in a two-hundred-year-old carriage house in Old Lyme, Connecticut.
Visit his Web site at www.davidhandlerbooks.com.
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.
THE COAL BLACK ASPHALT TOMB. Copyright © 2014 by David Handler. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover illustration by Hugh Syme
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Handler, David, 1952–
The coal black asphalt tomb: a Berger and Mitry mystery / David Handler. — First ed.
pages cm.
ISBN 978-1-250-04197-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-3918-2 (e-book)
1. Berger, Mitch (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Mitry, Desiree (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 4. Mystery fiction. gsafd I. Title.
PS3558.A4637C33 2014
813'.54—dc23
2013032877
e-ISBN 9781466839182
First Edition: March 2014