The Bald Pate
By Pen Avram
()
About this ebook
Kroupa is convinced that a serial killer is on the loose. A series of deaths by poison cannot be a coincidence, but what links them all? A woman who doesn’t exist? Or the Sydney underworld?
Or both? Kroupa and Hendrych have their work cut out for them, but when they decide to take the law into their own hands, they start down a path with fatal consequences.q
Pen Avram
This one-time piano mechanic turned Master of Applied Science (Critical Enquiry/Social Ecology) fled to the West from the former Soviet bloc, finally finding his home in Australia. Growing up in a family touched by the horrors of the holocaust and communism, Pen Avram has spent his life studying what drives people of different faiths around the world to act the way they do. His insights now inform the mysteries investigated by the intrepid team of Kroupa and Hendrych. And Sara is a real dog, blood an bones.
Read more from Pen Avram
The Death in Parliament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Enemy Within Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMembrane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Short Plays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Return from the Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Seaside Clinic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho Killed Don Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Literary Triptych Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoletus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Baby Jane Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery of the 'E' String Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lovers' Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gag and the Centrefold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSt. Emilion's Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Confession Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Blue Mountains Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fires and the Bullets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Golden Cigar Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beautiful Lady Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe League of Free Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Isleworth Smile: Part 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Brain Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Isleworth Smile Part 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Woolworth's Massacre Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tales of an Uneven Mind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Junzi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Missing Patek Philippe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsthe Cemetery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOff the Rails Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Bald Pate
Related ebooks
The Brain Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Golden Cigar Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beautiful Lady Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Baby Jane Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Woolworth's Massacre Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Missing Patek Philippe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOff the Rails Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gag and the Centrefold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNietzsche's Illegitimate Son Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Return of Mr. Campion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFan Mail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lovers' Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow Shall I Tell the Dog?: And Other Final Musings Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The League of Free Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Murder of Nora Winters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKilling Me Softly Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove Letters (Soaked in Blood) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVertical Lines: A Compilation of Sarcasm. Word Play, and Witticisms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouse of Bells Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cajun Doctor Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Lone Hand: 'He was popular, as most extravagant men with a sense of humour are'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEight Books Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMurder Row (A Private Detective Mystery Series of crime mystery novels Book 1 ) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCalder's Last Gasp Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFellow Mortals & Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Orchids & Blood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings7 best short stories by Don Marquis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Monet Murders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rudyard Kipling - Six of the Best Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Mystery For You
The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5None of This Is True: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: Inspiration for the 20th Century Studios Major Motion Picture A Haunting in Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Short Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pharmacist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in a Blue Dress (30th Anniversary Edition): An Easy Rawlins Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The People Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summit Lake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Reacher: A Mysterious Profile Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Club: A Reese's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kept Woman: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Side: A Collection of Mysteries & Thrillers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Bald Pate
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Bald Pate - Pen Avram
THE BALD PATE
A book by Pen Avram
PUBLISHED BY:
Pen Avram on Smashwords
Smashwords Edition License Notes:
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Copyright 2015 Text-Author-Pen Avram
Copyright 2015 ArtDesign Author-Pen Avram
The author and the artwork designer assert the moral rights to
be identified as the author and designer of this work,
Contact: mailto:pen.avram@gmail.com
Chapter 1 - THE PROTAGONISTS
To those who have not met previously Kroupa, Hendrych and Sara in their adventures, let me redress this misfortune and introduce the trio.
Kroupa and Hendrych shared a similar build and both were middle aged. Detective Chief Inspector Kroupa was a few years older. His pink cheeks were sagging and he was going bald. Every criminal, who encountered him, feared him. His simple interrogation technique was well known in every police academy -‘He never answers a question with an answer, but always with another question.’
There was a popular anecdote circulated about him. A suspect had asked Kroupa, Why do you always answer with a question?
Kroupa replied, Why shouldn’t I?
However Kroupa had a weakness – which also proved to be his strength at times – and it was known only to Hendrych. Kroupa always followed his intuition.
Kroupa had worn the same black, horn-rimmed glasses for over twenty years, since he had become aware that his eyesight was deteriorating. He liked the old-fashioned look and they also served as a memento of Rome. Therefore, he never replaced them. Instead, he simply had the lenses replaced every year. On the rare occasion when a smile crossed his face, his cheeks touched the bottom of his glasses.
Kroupa wore tweed. Usually rusty Harris tweed, comfortable moleskins trousers, dark brown, soft flat shoes, and a dark green woolen necktie. Whenever he went outdoors, regardless of the weather, he sported a Baxter Tartan cap – of course, he’d had the pompom removed. It looks more ‘classy’, and it matches my car,
he liked to say. The car in question was a dark-brown Rover SD1.
He liked classical music and art, his favourites being old Dutch Masters. However, he also had a penchant for Picasso and Dali, and Miles Davis was often his choice of music, but not for too long at one time. Philosophy was another of his hobbies and his library included everything from Plato to Wittgenstein, but also many Russian writers. He had no time for poetry or Dickens. But always had time for a pint of cold beer. It helps me think,
he liked to say. Sometimes, more often than not, the thinking did for him his beloved dog Sara. Nobody has ever known how these two found each other, but there have been inseparable, making Hendrych jealous. He thought that too much credit went to Sara - which he thought he deserved.
Kroupa’s friend Hendrych had been a freelance reporter for over 20 years. He’d written for major newspapers in Hamilton and when Kroupa had relocated to Boarsville, he moved too. Amongst his major publishers he counted Boarsville Morning