Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“And much more,” he said and kissed me lightly.
I reached out for his hand, and he closed his around mine and gave it a loving squeeze. “I recognized the guy’s voice. It was one of the guys in the bookstore and he could be a biker or dressed like one.”
Ian looked puzzled. “What could he be doing here at the museum?”
“That’s what I’ve been wondering and what was he doing in the basement? And whoever did this to him not realize he wasn’t dead? Or did he intend to leave him to die and come back and get rid of the body?”
“That would mean the person has a key to the museum.”
“It would seem likely since the door was locked when I got here,” I confirmed and spotted one of the EMS workers approach my dad who was talking to a crime scene tech and shaking his head.
Ian had the same idea as me, moving closer to see what we could hear.
“Sorry, Sheriff, we did everything we could. He lost too much blood.”
“You guys always go beyond, Flynn. I appreciate it,” my dad said. “He didn’t regain consciousness by any chance, did he?”
Flynn shook his head. “No. He never spoke a word to us. He didn’t have a chance with that many stab wounds.”
“Thanks again, Flynn,” my dad said.
My dad and Flynn stepped aside as the man was rolled out on a stretcher, his body was covered with a sheet. I watched as the stretcher passed by Ian and me and noticed the man’s hand had fallen out from under the sheet to dangle off the stretcher.
I spotted something and yelled, “Stop!” I yanked Ian along with me as I hurried to the stretcher that had halted abruptly at my shout.
“Pepper, what is—”
I turned to my dad who came up behind me. “His hand. Look at his hand.”
Flynn stepped around the stretcher to look at the guy’s hand. “It looks like a dog bite, several days or possibly a week old. The coroner can tell you more.”
“I bet he’s the man who stole Mom’s purse,” I said as soon as Flynn was out of earshot. “And he’s also one of the men I heard talking in the bookstore. I recognized his voice.”
“The dead guy spoke to you?” my dad asked.
“Only two words. ‘Help me.’ But he has such a distinct gravelly voice that it was impossible not to recognize it,” I explained. “He looks like he could be a biker. You might ask Stone if one of his crew is missing—” I shut up when his face got that Dad look. Even at my age you did not ignore a Dad look and, of course you apologize even if you don’t know why you’re apologizing. “Sorry, Dad. You don’t need me telling you how to do your job.”
“No, I don’t, but I do appreciate your keen eye, especially since you got it from me,” he said with a bit of a smile.
“I take it that the museum is going to be closed off until the crime scene people finish their investigation,” I said.
“You’d be right about that,” my dad said. “Do you know who has keys to this place?”
“I assume certain members of the historical society. Mom could be more specific. Though, I wonder if a key was given to Professor Anderson when he was doing research on the history of Willow Lake for the book he wrote. Maybe he never gave it back,” I suggested.
“Professor Anderson, huh. I’ll need to have an official talk with him,” my dad said, his chest suddenly expanding.
I smiled and so did Ian. This was my dad’s chance to get a little payback for the professor attempting to kiss his wife and the fountain incident.
“I sent Josh to the hospital to get an official statement from Amy. I expect that’s where you plan to go now, so give Josh your official statement as well.” My dad’s phone rang, and he answered it. “Calm down, Sally, everyone is fine. No one got hurt. Yes, she found another body.” He shook his head and waved us off and I heard him say as Ian and I turned away, “No, Sally, I don’t think she’s cursed, she’s just too curious for her own good.”
Everything had gone well with Amy at the hospital. By the time I left, she and Beau were waiting for her discharge papers, and all seemed in order. Josh, as expected, had been his usual annoying self, joking that I was turning Willow Lake into a battlefield littered with dead and unconscious bodies. I ignored him.
Ian, unfortunately, didn’t get to stick around for long. He had to jump back into work, covering Beau’s business meetings and overseeing a couple of problematic photo shoots. The demands of his schedule left me with some alone time, and I wasn’t about to waste it.