Read Online Resorting to Murder (A Darcy Sweet Mystery Book 11) by K.J. Emrick - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: K.J. Emrick
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it. Jon had never been big on tea.
But Donnie shook his head. "Nope. Lost that one. By a landslide." He laughed at the memory. "Oh, I gave it my best shot but sometimes there's just no beating a local favorite like Carson Middlemiss."
"Wait," Darcy said as she sat up straighter. " Carson? You mean, the Carson Middlemiss who runs the bookstore here in town?"
"That's the one. I take it you met him? Author, local merchant, all around good guy. Trouble is, good guys don't always make the best town leaders. No, you have to be able to make the tough decisions like raising taxes for the good of everyone. Carson never could do that. So, after he'd been in for four years I ran against him again. And won. Now I've been mayor for two years and I see why my pop had to work so hard, God rest his soul."
He nodded and leaned back in his chair, tossing his hands in the air. "Not everyone likes me, but I thought everyone respected me."
A memory nagged at Darcy's mind. What had Carson Middlemiss said about the mayor? That he had raised taxes, and now Carson might lose his business. Yes. That was it. Would that be a reason to want Mayor Wasson dead?
While that thought was growing in Darcy's mind Donnie stood up and went to his front window. He pulled back the red curtains covering the glass to peer outside. "Two weeks ago, I got an anonymous letter in the mail. It told me to step down as mayor of Bear Ridge or there would be consequences. I didn't take it seriously. I mean, my pop had gotten any number of threatening notes back when he was mayor. There's always somebody upset at you no matter what you do. Figured it was no biggie, right?"
He sighed and let the curtain fall back into place. "Then last week I get this."
Turning to a bookcase next to the window he picked up a piece of folded paper from one of the shelves. He brought it over to Jon, and he unfolded it to reveal a note made from cut out letters, glued to the page.
" YOUR A DEAD MAN."
No signature, and without asking Darcy knew there would have been no return address. Maybe a better sleuth than Darcy could have looked at the way the letters were cut out and know that the suspect was left handed or nearsighted or walked with a limp and had a chimpanzee named Bonzo, but this wasn't a plot from some murder mystery. This was real life. The only clue she could gather from the note was that whoever had sent it wasn't a very careful speller. It should have read "YOU'RE," not "YOUR."
They handed it back to Don nie and he looked at it with a grimace. "When I got this I figured it was a good time to send my wife and son to go see her mother. It's a days' ride, but at least I know they're safe. Something about this note just gave me a bad feeling. Nice to see I wasn't being paranoid, I guess."
"Sir," Jon asked him, "can you think of anyone who would really want to hurt you? Have you upset anyone? I mean, more than usual? More so than the usual small town politics would account for?"
Now that Darcy had spent a little time talking to Donnie, she could see how stressed he was behind that smile he kept turning on and off. He sat down in his chair again and ran his hands through his short, dark hair, thinking about Jon's question and finally shaking his head. "No, actually. I can't. I mean, I've tried to do good things for Bear Ridge. I authorized the land use study that the town council has been begging the Mayor's office for since back in my dad's time. I even gave the go ahead for a new road up the backside of the mountain to decrease traffic for the peak of tourist season in the wintertime."
He stood up again, pacing, using his hands to illustrate his points. " Did I raise taxes? Sure. Did that make some people mad? I suppose so. But I can't advance the town without funds and in the off season, like now, there just isn't that much tourist revenue. We need to come together as a
But Donnie shook his head. "Nope. Lost that one. By a landslide." He laughed at the memory. "Oh, I gave it my best shot but sometimes there's just no beating a local favorite like Carson Middlemiss."
"Wait," Darcy said as she sat up straighter. " Carson? You mean, the Carson Middlemiss who runs the bookstore here in town?"
"That's the one. I take it you met him? Author, local merchant, all around good guy. Trouble is, good guys don't always make the best town leaders. No, you have to be able to make the tough decisions like raising taxes for the good of everyone. Carson never could do that. So, after he'd been in for four years I ran against him again. And won. Now I've been mayor for two years and I see why my pop had to work so hard, God rest his soul."
He nodded and leaned back in his chair, tossing his hands in the air. "Not everyone likes me, but I thought everyone respected me."
A memory nagged at Darcy's mind. What had Carson Middlemiss said about the mayor? That he had raised taxes, and now Carson might lose his business. Yes. That was it. Would that be a reason to want Mayor Wasson dead?
While that thought was growing in Darcy's mind Donnie stood up and went to his front window. He pulled back the red curtains covering the glass to peer outside. "Two weeks ago, I got an anonymous letter in the mail. It told me to step down as mayor of Bear Ridge or there would be consequences. I didn't take it seriously. I mean, my pop had gotten any number of threatening notes back when he was mayor. There's always somebody upset at you no matter what you do. Figured it was no biggie, right?"
He sighed and let the curtain fall back into place. "Then last week I get this."
Turning to a bookcase next to the window he picked up a piece of folded paper from one of the shelves. He brought it over to Jon, and he unfolded it to reveal a note made from cut out letters, glued to the page.
" YOUR A DEAD MAN."
No signature, and without asking Darcy knew there would have been no return address. Maybe a better sleuth than Darcy could have looked at the way the letters were cut out and know that the suspect was left handed or nearsighted or walked with a limp and had a chimpanzee named Bonzo, but this wasn't a plot from some murder mystery. This was real life. The only clue she could gather from the note was that whoever had sent it wasn't a very careful speller. It should have read "YOU'RE," not "YOUR."
They handed it back to Don nie and he looked at it with a grimace. "When I got this I figured it was a good time to send my wife and son to go see her mother. It's a days' ride, but at least I know they're safe. Something about this note just gave me a bad feeling. Nice to see I wasn't being paranoid, I guess."
"Sir," Jon asked him, "can you think of anyone who would really want to hurt you? Have you upset anyone? I mean, more than usual? More so than the usual small town politics would account for?"
Now that Darcy had spent a little time talking to Donnie, she could see how stressed he was behind that smile he kept turning on and off. He sat down in his chair again and ran his hands through his short, dark hair, thinking about Jon's question and finally shaking his head. "No, actually. I can't. I mean, I've tried to do good things for Bear Ridge. I authorized the land use study that the town council has been begging the Mayor's office for since back in my dad's time. I even gave the go ahead for a new road up the backside of the mountain to decrease traffic for the peak of tourist season in the wintertime."
He stood up again, pacing, using his hands to illustrate his points. " Did I raise taxes? Sure. Did that make some people mad? I suppose so. But I can't advance the town without funds and in the off season, like now, there just isn't that much tourist revenue. We need to come together as a
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