Read Online Circle of Influence (A Zoe Chambers Mystery) by Annette Dashofy - Free Book Online

BOLO on it?” McBirney demanded.
    Pete didn’t need to be on the lookout for the Buick. He knew exactly where it was. He just wasn’t quite ready to play that card yet.
    The wind and snow had obliterated any signs of tire tracks. However, there was a trail of the white stuff leading into the bay as if someone had tracked it in. Pete knelt to study it. No discernible boot prints, only clumps. Traces of snow grew fainter toward the rear of the shed.
    “Did you have the car pulled in headfirst or backed in?”
    “Huh?” McBirney scowled. “Backed in. What the hell difference does that make?”
    “Probably none.” Pete stood up and strolled around the shed, taking in every detail. Nothing seemed out of place. The man was anal regarding his tools.
    A small flash of blue caught his eye. Squinting, he moved toward one of the nails hammered into the wall. No tool hung on it. But a miniscule scrap of blue fabric with frayed edges clung to it.
    “Do not move,” he ordered and headed back to his SUV.
    Marcy and McBirney appeared baffled by his actions. “What’s going on?” Marcy called after him.
    Pete hoisted a black nylon bag containing his evidence collecting gear from the back of the Explorer and trudged back to the shed. After digging his camera from the kit, he snapped a series of photos to show the location and size of the fabric and noted a description of each shot in his notebook. Then he pulled out another paper bag and a pair of tweezers, which he used to carefully remove the shred of blue. He dropped it into the bag and labeled it. “What the hell are you doing?” McBirney’s expression had shifted from perplexed to annoyed to outraged in a matter of seconds. “My car was stolen. Plain and simple. Get on the horn and report it, damn it.”
    Pete tucked his camera and the evidence back into the kit. “No need. Your car is back at the township garage.”
    McBirney’s mouth hung open, his brows furrowed into a sharp V with matching creases across his forehead.
    Marcy put a hand on her husband’s arm. “Pete, stop with the games. Just tell us what’s going on.”
    “Fine. Your car was found last night in the game lands.”
    “Great.” McBirney rubbed his hands together. “When I can pick it up?”
    “You can’t. It’s being held as evidence in a murder.”
    The color drained from Marcy’s face.
    “Murder?” McBirney grunted. “Whose murder?”
    “Ted Bassi’s. He was found dead behind the wheel of your Buick.”
    Marcy doubled over. Pete expected McBirney to reach for her, but instead he shot a look at her that Pete couldn’t quite interpret. Shock? Anger, perhaps? Whatever it was, it sure wasn’t loving concern for his wife.
    SIX

    Sitting in the McBirneys’ kitchen felt like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone . Pete recognized many of Marcy’s touches from his own kitchen and made a mental note to have his house redecorated. At the very least, he intended to toss the vintage advertisements for Coca-Cola and Campbell’s Soup. Similar tin signs hung on the backsplash in this kitchen as well. Funny. He thought he had been the one to pick those out.
    At least Marcy had finally left for that appointment of hers.
    “You can’t possibly think I had anything to do with this.” McBirney’s words cut through Pete’s reverie.
    “Why wouldn’t I? You and Bassi weren’t exactly friends.”
    McBirney leaned back against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed. He opened his mouth, but reconsidered whatever retort he had been about to make and closed it again.
    “You say you were here all last night?”
    “After the meeting, yeah.”
    “Alone?”
    “No, of course not. Marcy was with me.”
    Pete jotted a note to verify that with her later. “Do you have any idea who might have wanted Ted Bassi dead?”
    “Bassi was an asshole.”
    Sylvia would have snapped McBirney’s head off for that one. “Just because he didn’t appreciate you having his mother arrested?”
    McBirney raised a