The Short Drop (Gibson Vaughn, #1)

by Matthew FitzSimmons

zeitgeist—dissected

circle de rigueur

but there would still be a modicum of justice if they managed to catch this guy. Not for Bear—there was no justice for the dead, Gibson knew. But perhaps for the living it would restore some sense of balance.

“Mr. Musgrove’s sister repainted,” Billy said, “but that’s about it. She packed all Mr. Musgrove’s personal stuff, all the family things, and stored it up in the attic. That’s why it’s so creepy coming here. I mean, it’s the same furniture and everything, just other people’s pictures. Like their lives were just a coat of dust, and someone took a cloth and wiped it away. But that’s how life is, right? You think a place belongs to you, but it doesn’t. You’re just biding time. And time comes someone will box up your stuff too, like you were never here. Man, I hate coming out here.”

inchoate.

“It means that no one thing reveals a man. Never be so arrogant to think you know a man from just his shoes.