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

I had nothing to say, really, but felt there was somethingodd about the condo that I couldn’t quite place my finger on.


Instead I decided to broach another area of interest.


“You didn’t say much in your statement to the cops.”


Horst stiffened, then frowned. “I talked to that nice woman cop. But that other one, the guy—” His lips tightened and he shook his head.


I nodded. “A bit of a jerk,” I agreed. “But I think you don’t like cops generally. Is that right?”


Horst shrugged and looked away, which gave the impression that there wassomething.


“The thing is,” I said, “the security camera in the hallway showed that no one came or left the apartment before my arrival. That’s got them puzzled.”


“And that’s why they think I did it.”


I nodded. “The autopsy showed death to have been caused by heart failure due to anoxia—oxygen deprivation.”


“So—what? He was strangled or smothered?”


“There are no bruises on the neck. But there were bruises on his face, around the mouth.”


Chapter 17