Read Online Murdered in Argentina: A Jack Trout Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman - Free Book Online

the sheet down and tried to avoid looking at Ray while he concentrated on his hands. Well, there’s the ring Lisa mentioned. This is not something I’m looking forward to, but I guess there’s no other way to do it. I’ll have to twist it and hope it comes off. That diamond is so big it’s not a far stretch to think that someone would cut off Ray’s finger to steal it . After what seemed like an eternity, he was able to get the ring over Ray’s knuckle. He pulled the sheet back up and turned away from Ray, feeling bile start to rise in this throat.
    Jack saw a large briefcase on the table and looked inside it. He found an inside pouch that appeared to be the document holder Lisa mentioned. He took it out and opened it. Inside he found Ray and Lisa’s passports, $2,800 in cash, and two credit cards.
    This is bizarre , Jack thought . It doesn’t look like anything has been stolen, so why was he murdered? If it was a random murder and a stranger had snuck into the lodge, surely he would have taken the passports, money, and the watch, even if he couldn’t get the ring off Ray’s finger. I have no idea what could have happened or why.
    He had just started towards the door when he remembered he’d told Ray to take his antique fishing gear up his room, so it wouldn’t be stolen. He looked around the room and didn’t see any of it. Jack began a closer examination of the closet, the bathroom, and the room itself. He even got down on his hands and knees and looked under the bed. Ray’s fishing equipment was not in the room.
    Maybe he gave it to one of the guides, so it would be ready for him in the morning, although that seems far-fetched. I’ll have to ask them, but it certainly is strange.
    He heard a car drive up, looked out the window, and saw two policeman getting out of a police car. Jack walked down the hall to the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed there was a blank space on the wall where the whip had been displayed.
    The whip that was used to murder Ray must have been the one that was hanging on the wall. It really doesn’t tell me anything about whether or not it was premeditated. Someone could have pulled it off the wall in anger just before killing him or knew it was there and planned on using it ahead of time.
    As he walked down the stairs he shook his head, not knowing what to think about the strange twist of events that had happened.
     

CHAPTER 13
     
    When Jack got to the bottom of the stairs he saw Carola sitting next to Lisa who was softly weeping. Santiago was talking to a man in a police uniform who Jack assumed was his brother-in-law.
    “Jack, I want you to meet my brother-in-law, Ramiro Gomez. He’s the San Martin chief of police.” They shook hands.
    “Santiago,” Ramiro said, “where is the body of Senor Martin?”
    “It’s upstairs in the second room on the left,” Santiago answered. The chief of police and his deputy walked up the stairs.
    Several minutes later the chief came down the stairs and said, “My deputy will call the mortuary and look for evidence. While he does that I’d like each of you to tell me what happened. Senora Martin, I’d like to start with you.”
    Lisa wiped her eyes with the Kleenex she was holding in her hand and began to speak. “Ray and I had an argument in our room after dinner. I thought it would be best if we stayed away from each other for a little while, so I left the room and came down here. I had a glass of wine and read a fashion magazine I’d brought with me. I was probably down here for two hours or more. When I walked back up to the room and opened the door, I saw Ray in bed. I thought he’d fallen asleep after taking his nightly sleeping pill, but then I saw the whip twisted around his neck. I walked over to him and realized he was dead. I turned around and ran across the hall to Jack and Carola’s room. That’s all I know. Ray’s dead,” she murmured through her tears.
    “Senora Martin, I am sorry for your loss. We