Read Online Caffeine & Killers (A Roasted Love Cozy Mystery Book 3) by Cam Larson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cam Larson
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don't think so. Of course – I guess
the drug dealers down in the rough part of town have to be
considered. Even though, no, I still don't think John was an addict."
The truth was that I did have a few others in mind
that I hadn’t looked into yet, but it wasn’t time for Daniel to
know about that.
"I will say, though, that Councilman Calvin
Carpenter still nags at me. He and Ronald Larch seem like the most
likely suspects. They could have teamed up to have John murdered and
hired someone to kill him. It's not that hard to do."
"I wouldn't know," he said giving me a
funny look. "Just remember – the drug world is not the world
you know. Speculating is fine, but I don't want you to do anything
more than that. Just leave the investigation to the cops."
He gave me a kiss as he left to go home. But, I
knew I couldn’t just drop what I had started in John’s case. My
next plan was to scout out the councilman’s headquarters after
closing.
# # #
The next night, I waited until nine o’clock and
headed to the building that housed Carpenter's campaign headquarters.
I arrived just as the last light was going off – I could see that
it came from his office – so I circled around again to avoid him
when he came out.
I gave him time to get in his car and leave, and
then I drove back to the side door. I parked in a shadowed area
between the streetlights and got out the bent bobby pin I'd prepared
earlier.
I wasn’t sure how easy the side door lock would
be to pick, but I'd noticed, when I left Carpenter's office after my
visit there, that the side door only had an ordinary lock. There was
no deadbolt on it.
I had no luck with the hairpin, so I tried the old
credit card trick. Within a few moments I was rewarded with the door
opening quite easily for me. I walked inside and shut the door behind
me.
Adrenalin surged through me. I'd made it! I had no
idea what to look for, but I felt sure that if "it" was
there I would know it.
I headed for Carpenter’s office. The door opened
right up. His desktop was stacked with various folders and I shuffled
through them, but nothing there concerned homeless people.
Next was his desk drawer, which I rifled through.
The first thing I noticed was the dark golden liquid in a small
half-filled liquor bottle. There were a few family photos and a Twix
bar among scattered pens and miscellaneous keys. Wrappers that had
once held dark chocolate were wadded up and stuffed in the back of
the deep drawer.
I sifted through a few scribbled notes. They
seemed to be just reminders of significant dates coming up, all of
which dealt with Carpenter's campaign.
On the credenza behind his desk I found more
folders. I picked one up and saw that it was financial accounting for
possible future plans to run for the Senate. He was ambitious, if
nothing else.
Just as I was ready to close the folder, a few
receipts fell onto my lap. The tabs revealed that they came from a
night club in New York City. One was dated the same day John had died
and was signed by Carpenter. It sure provided an alibi for the
councilman and I decided I was ready to give up on Carpenter as a
suspect. My findings were too thin to hold any water.
Then I froze. From the corner of my eye I saw a
shadowed figure in the darkened hallway outside the councilman’s
office.
I had no weapon with me or anything for defense,
unless I counted the heavy paperweight on Carpenter’s desk.
" What are you doing here? " The
voice was loud and demanding, but the face in the shadow was even
more frightening – it was that of Councilman Calvin Carpenter.
He flipped on the fluorescent office lights. In
the sudden harsh glare, his face appeared grotesque from the rage
that twisted it. "This is breaking and entering. I can bring
charges against you right this minute! What are you doing here?" he repeated.
If I thought I'd seen anger on the day I'd visited
him, it was nothing compared to the fury he displayed at this moment.
I stood up and faced
the drug dealers down in the rough part of town have to be
considered. Even though, no, I still don't think John was an addict."
The truth was that I did have a few others in mind
that I hadn’t looked into yet, but it wasn’t time for Daniel to
know about that.
"I will say, though, that Councilman Calvin
Carpenter still nags at me. He and Ronald Larch seem like the most
likely suspects. They could have teamed up to have John murdered and
hired someone to kill him. It's not that hard to do."
"I wouldn't know," he said giving me a
funny look. "Just remember – the drug world is not the world
you know. Speculating is fine, but I don't want you to do anything
more than that. Just leave the investigation to the cops."
He gave me a kiss as he left to go home. But, I
knew I couldn’t just drop what I had started in John’s case. My
next plan was to scout out the councilman’s headquarters after
closing.
# # #
The next night, I waited until nine o’clock and
headed to the building that housed Carpenter's campaign headquarters.
I arrived just as the last light was going off – I could see that
it came from his office – so I circled around again to avoid him
when he came out.
I gave him time to get in his car and leave, and
then I drove back to the side door. I parked in a shadowed area
between the streetlights and got out the bent bobby pin I'd prepared
earlier.
I wasn’t sure how easy the side door lock would
be to pick, but I'd noticed, when I left Carpenter's office after my
visit there, that the side door only had an ordinary lock. There was
no deadbolt on it.
I had no luck with the hairpin, so I tried the old
credit card trick. Within a few moments I was rewarded with the door
opening quite easily for me. I walked inside and shut the door behind
me.
Adrenalin surged through me. I'd made it! I had no
idea what to look for, but I felt sure that if "it" was
there I would know it.
I headed for Carpenter’s office. The door opened
right up. His desktop was stacked with various folders and I shuffled
through them, but nothing there concerned homeless people.
Next was his desk drawer, which I rifled through.
The first thing I noticed was the dark golden liquid in a small
half-filled liquor bottle. There were a few family photos and a Twix
bar among scattered pens and miscellaneous keys. Wrappers that had
once held dark chocolate were wadded up and stuffed in the back of
the deep drawer.
I sifted through a few scribbled notes. They
seemed to be just reminders of significant dates coming up, all of
which dealt with Carpenter's campaign.
On the credenza behind his desk I found more
folders. I picked one up and saw that it was financial accounting for
possible future plans to run for the Senate. He was ambitious, if
nothing else.
Just as I was ready to close the folder, a few
receipts fell onto my lap. The tabs revealed that they came from a
night club in New York City. One was dated the same day John had died
and was signed by Carpenter. It sure provided an alibi for the
councilman and I decided I was ready to give up on Carpenter as a
suspect. My findings were too thin to hold any water.
Then I froze. From the corner of my eye I saw a
shadowed figure in the darkened hallway outside the councilman’s
office.
I had no weapon with me or anything for defense,
unless I counted the heavy paperweight on Carpenter’s desk.
" What are you doing here? " The
voice was loud and demanding, but the face in the shadow was even
more frightening – it was that of Councilman Calvin Carpenter.
He flipped on the fluorescent office lights. In
the sudden harsh glare, his face appeared grotesque from the rage
that twisted it. "This is breaking and entering. I can bring
charges against you right this minute! What are you doing here?" he repeated.
If I thought I'd seen anger on the day I'd visited
him, it was nothing compared to the fury he displayed at this moment.
I stood up and faced
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