Private investigator Ian visits his friend unannounced, only to discover the man lying in bed, not asleep but dead. Ian resolves to find out how his friend died and, if he was murdered, to bring the killer to justice. But the details of the case are bizarre: the door of the condo unit is locked and the only other occupant is a bodybuilder, Horst, found sitting on the living room couch, half asleep or drugged. Ian calls 911 and the cops, when video footage showing no one entered or left the condo around the time of death, fixate on Horst as the most likely suspect. Ian is convinced Horst is innocent and offers his services to help the police solve the mystery of his friend’s death. But the situation is complicated, not only by the self-contradictory nature of the physical evidence, but by the fact that Ian increasingly finds himself drawn to Horst. Worse, the lead police detective shows increasing signs of interest in Ian himself. Love and death become strangely intertwined, their resolution not easily discovered. Is Horst as innocent as Ian believes? Can Ian help solve the locked-room mystery?

Bliss

Nevertheless, as the man stood there, my eyes traveled up and down him appreciatively. I just couldn’t help myself. The detective seemed aware of this scrutiny, for he looked down at himself. Rubbing the sleeve of one arm, he murmured, “I was just at a funeral.”


“Yes,” he said, rubbing the sleeve of the other arm now in a self-satisfied and most distracting fashion. “I guess I’ve gone a bit law enforcement today.”


“Yes. One of our own.” He seated himself opposite me.


“Sorry about that,” I said, and meant it. The death of a cop still does something to me.


He sat back, shifting his position in the chair. “Yes, it’s tough, but what can you do?”


I nodded, and then, because of the sensations provoked by this uniformed masculine presence in front of me, I couldn’t help saying, “Except, judging from your sartorial display, you might have said you had gone military.”


“Military?” He looked at me, puzzled.


Chapter 11