Read Online Marty Ambrose - Mango Bay 03 - Murder in the Mangroves by Marty Ambrose - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Marty Ambrose
Ads: Link
Isabel. “Can you give me any more information on Gina?”
“Here’s the brochure we give to potential clients. It has a
short bio on each of us”
I flipped open the glossy white document. Pictures of Gina
and Isabel dominated it, each posing on various lushly
colored pieces of furniture. “Distinctive photos”
“They were Gina’s idea. She always said that first impressions count”
“Thanks.” I gave her one of my cards. “Call me if you have
anything else you want to pass on”
She gave a brief nod.
I exited Island Decor to the tune of the tinkling chime. I
hadn’t found out much, except that, as I’d suspected that morning, Brandi might’ve been pretending to be Gina’s best friend.
Apparently she had coveted the Mango Queen crown.
Enough to want to kill Gina?
It was late afternoon by the time I returned to the Observer
office. For a few minutes, I stood outside the door in the suffocating heat and humidity, preparing myself for whatever unpleasantness would greet me once I entered. The words that
Dante wrote about hell in the The Divine Comedy came to
mind: Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.
I tossed my curls in defiance and pushed open the door.
This was no time to let my comparative-literature imagination run away with me. Maybe this wasn’t paradise, but it wasn’t
exactly the inferno, either.
Not yet.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. Uh-oh. The standard
office aroma usually contained a combination of odors from
Sandy’s burned low-fat popcorn, burned snacks, and burned
coffee. But a new, strange scent permeated the air. I sniffed, trying to pinpoint it: fish. Raw fish.
I looked at Sandy. She sported a miserable expression and a
too-tight T-shirt that read Hooked on Bait. Next to her desk sat
a large white cooler with the lid flung open.
“What’s going on?” I approached her desk, and the fish
smell grew stronger.
“Bernice’s new idea. Advertisers with the paper get to display their products here-she thinks we get enough foot traffic
from people coming in to pay for their subscriptions to make
it worthwhile. Danny from the Bait Shack bought a quarterpage ad, so Bernice said he could keep some of his best
shrimp bait here for people to sample.” She pinched her nostrils and groaned. “I’ve never had to smell something so vile.
What’s more, she’s got me wearing this hideous, too-small
T-shirt.” She pulled out the sides, but the thin cotton fabric
snapped back and outlined every generous curve. “I ate two
more candy bars since the cooler arrived, and I can’t seem to
stop. If I keep going at this rate, everything I own will be too
small pretty soon. I’ll be back to shopping plus women’s sizes,
and-“
“Sandy, calm down. That’s not going to happen”
She released her nose, then wrinkled it again as the odor
penetrated her nostrils. “It’s just so humiliating to sit here next
to shrimp bait. This is an office, for goodness’ sake”
“At least it used to be,” I quipped, trying not to step too close to the offensive source of the fishy smell. “Did you find out
anything yet on Anita’s whereabouts?”
“Nope. And now Mr. Benton seems to have gone AWOL
too. His secretary called back and said he took a sudden outof-town trip.”
“Benton?” I frowned. “He never leaves town. He’s worse
than Anita about taking vacations-too cheap for even a bus
trip”
“I know. Just when we need him, he takes off too”
“Keep trying Anita’s voice mail-at home and on her cell
phone. She’s got to check her messages sometime.”
“Do you think if I just left a scream on both, it would sound
too desperate?”
Inhaling the fish bait again, I staggered slightly. “Go for it.”
Sandy started to punch in Anita’s number, then paused.
“What did you find out about Gina?”
“Nothing concrete.” True enough. Everyone I’d talked to
today had given me only speculations as to the cause of Gina’s
death. I
“Here’s the brochure we give to potential clients. It has a
short bio on each of us”
I flipped open the glossy white document. Pictures of Gina
and Isabel dominated it, each posing on various lushly
colored pieces of furniture. “Distinctive photos”
“They were Gina’s idea. She always said that first impressions count”
“Thanks.” I gave her one of my cards. “Call me if you have
anything else you want to pass on”
She gave a brief nod.
I exited Island Decor to the tune of the tinkling chime. I
hadn’t found out much, except that, as I’d suspected that morning, Brandi might’ve been pretending to be Gina’s best friend.
Apparently she had coveted the Mango Queen crown.
Enough to want to kill Gina?
It was late afternoon by the time I returned to the Observer
office. For a few minutes, I stood outside the door in the suffocating heat and humidity, preparing myself for whatever unpleasantness would greet me once I entered. The words that
Dante wrote about hell in the The Divine Comedy came to
mind: Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.
I tossed my curls in defiance and pushed open the door.
This was no time to let my comparative-literature imagination run away with me. Maybe this wasn’t paradise, but it wasn’t
exactly the inferno, either.
Not yet.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. Uh-oh. The standard
office aroma usually contained a combination of odors from
Sandy’s burned low-fat popcorn, burned snacks, and burned
coffee. But a new, strange scent permeated the air. I sniffed, trying to pinpoint it: fish. Raw fish.
I looked at Sandy. She sported a miserable expression and a
too-tight T-shirt that read Hooked on Bait. Next to her desk sat
a large white cooler with the lid flung open.
“What’s going on?” I approached her desk, and the fish
smell grew stronger.
“Bernice’s new idea. Advertisers with the paper get to display their products here-she thinks we get enough foot traffic
from people coming in to pay for their subscriptions to make
it worthwhile. Danny from the Bait Shack bought a quarterpage ad, so Bernice said he could keep some of his best
shrimp bait here for people to sample.” She pinched her nostrils and groaned. “I’ve never had to smell something so vile.
What’s more, she’s got me wearing this hideous, too-small
T-shirt.” She pulled out the sides, but the thin cotton fabric
snapped back and outlined every generous curve. “I ate two
more candy bars since the cooler arrived, and I can’t seem to
stop. If I keep going at this rate, everything I own will be too
small pretty soon. I’ll be back to shopping plus women’s sizes,
and-“
“Sandy, calm down. That’s not going to happen”
She released her nose, then wrinkled it again as the odor
penetrated her nostrils. “It’s just so humiliating to sit here next
to shrimp bait. This is an office, for goodness’ sake”
“At least it used to be,” I quipped, trying not to step too close to the offensive source of the fishy smell. “Did you find out
anything yet on Anita’s whereabouts?”
“Nope. And now Mr. Benton seems to have gone AWOL
too. His secretary called back and said he took a sudden outof-town trip.”
“Benton?” I frowned. “He never leaves town. He’s worse
than Anita about taking vacations-too cheap for even a bus
trip”
“I know. Just when we need him, he takes off too”
“Keep trying Anita’s voice mail-at home and on her cell
phone. She’s got to check her messages sometime.”
“Do you think if I just left a scream on both, it would sound
too desperate?”
Inhaling the fish bait again, I staggered slightly. “Go for it.”
Sandy started to punch in Anita’s number, then paused.
“What did you find out about Gina?”
“Nothing concrete.” True enough. Everyone I’d talked to
today had given me only speculations as to the cause of Gina’s
death. I
Similar Books
