BODY BLOWS
BODY BLOWS
A Joe Grundy Mystery
Marc Strange
Copyright © Marc Strange, 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Project Editor: Michael Carroll
Copy Editor: Allison Hirst
Design: Courtney Horner
Printer: Webcom
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Strange, Marc
Body blows : a Joe Grundy mystery / by Marc Strange.
ISBN 978-1-55488-390-5
I. Title.
PS8637.T725 B63 2009 C813’.6 C2009-900497-6
1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09
We acknowledge the support of The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
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contents
chapter eight
chapter nine
chapter ten
chapter eleven
chapter twelve
chapter thirteen
chapter fourteen
chapter fifteen
chapter sixteen
chapter seventeen
chapter eighteen
chapter nineteen
chapter twenty
chapter twenty-one
chapter twenty-two
chapter twenty-three
chapter twenty-four
chapter twenty-five
chapter twenty-six
chapter twenty-seven
for Karen
As much as I might like to think that I accomplish these things on my own, it is essential that I thank the following people: Fred Petersen, Sarah Strange, Lisa Murray, and Ian Sutherland, without whose continuing support and encouragement very little would ever be completed.
To a large extent, a series such as this is a leap of faith, and it is of immeasurable help when one isn’t the only person who thinks it’s worth doing.
The fifty-million-dollar renovation of the Lord Douglas Hotel is complete, only nine months behind schedule and twelve million dollars over budget, which, I’m told, isn’t all that bad these days. With the scaffolding gone, the venerable inn once again faces the public with dignity and grace. An elegant awning shelters the arriving guests, a new red carpet paves the way to the famous brass doors (not new, always gleaming), and it’s even better inside. All the SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE signs have been removed, the Gabriola Ballroom has been reopened, Floor Eleven has a new floor, the Champagne Baths swimming pool, spa, fitness, and pampering centre is now fully operational, PROVIDING RELAXATION AND REJUVENATION — 24 HOURS. The elevators are swifter, the rooms are Internet-friendly, and the Lower Mall has added a six-screen Multiplex, a Gap, a dojo, and a chiropractor. The Lord Douglas has reclaimed her time-honoured reputation as a bastion of refinement while adding those embellishments so vital to the modern traveller. That’s a direct quote. There are brochures everywhere.
It is in recognition of this effort that Leo Alexander will receive the Hotelier of the Year Award — an honour that isn’t necessarily bestowed every year. The tribute is overdue but Leo keeps a very low profile and has managed to avoid personal publicity for some time. This evening’s arrival at the Royal Lotus Ballroom on the other side of town will mark his first public appearance in eight years, at least as far as I know. Wallace Gritchfield is happy to point out that I don’t know everything, but if Gritch has other information, he isn’t saying. On the subject of our boss we all tend to be discreet.
There is a Toronto woman, very stylish, name of Hiscox, who’s been trying to get some of the staff to open up about Leo Alexander. She claims to be writing a biography.
“Authorized?” I ask her when she finally tracks me down.
“It’s meant to be a surprise,” she says. We’re