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

“As for Sam—Detective Solomon—” I began.


He shook his head and put a hand over my mouth. I kissed it, but he kept it there, and finally I nodded.


After another minute or so, he sighed, and melted against me again.


Sometime later, I felt impelled to say, “Shouldn’t we talk about it?”


He pulled away from me, and looked at me seriously.


“Okay,” he said. “But I just want to say that I shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, you’re both cops, or you wereone, and you’re both smart—”


Now it was myturn to put a hand over hismouth as I glared at him.


“Don’t you ever,” I growled, “say that kind of thing again!”


“But—” he managed to say, despite my hand.


“No!” I said. “And don’t say it’s true. What I’msaying is, it’s just not relevant, okay?”


Chapter 33