Read Online Thai Coconut Murder: Book 6 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning - Free Book Online Page A

at the table to help him sort through the mail. Most of it was what she considered junk mail—advertisements for internet and cable services, coupons for chain restaurants, and credit card offers. There were only a few envelopes that were addressed to Henry Atkins specifically, and the address was written in shaky cursive handwriting. The return address named a town that she vaguely remembered passing through a few hours ago.
    “If I had to bet,” he told her, “I would say these are the rent checks that Henry hasn’t been cashing.”
    “I don’t understand why he would have his renters send the checks here,” she said. “It would have been so much easier for him to cash them if they were sent to his address in Maple Creek.”
    “I’m not sure why he chose to have his tenants send the checks to the cabin either. He must have had a good reason—but chances are, that reason died with him. We may never know,” he said.

CHAPTER NINE
    They spent the rest of the afternoon going through Henry’s house and the pole barn, looking for anything that might prove that he had been there over the winter. The water had been turned off and the pipes emptied so they didn’t freeze over the winter, and the refrigerator was unplugged and hanging open. In the pole barn, a variety of boats were stored off the ground on trailers and stands. They were also full of dust and cobwebs and didn’t look like they had been used recently.
    They took one last look around the property as darkness fell. With his flashlight illuminating the forest edges, David led the way. The path through the brush that led to the lake was mostly overgrown. David sighed and turned to face her, careful not to let the light shine in her eyes.
    “Let’s call it a night,” he said. “The more I see, the more it seems like he hasn’t been here in a long time. I keep hoping I’ll see some clue that he really was up here earlier this year, but I haven’t found a single thing that might prove that Alice wasn’t lying.”
    “Do you think she really killed him?” Moira asked.
    “I don’t know. I don’t want it to be true, but it does look very suspicious that she’s been lying about his whereabouts for months.” He sighed, and she realized that he looked exhausted. Well of course he does , she chided herself. He drove for six hours, and then spent the rest of the day going through his dead friend’s belongings.
    “We should find a motel,” she said. “We can come back in the morning if you want to spend more time looking around the property.”
    “I think we’re done here, but I do want to ask the neighbor that brings in the mail if she’s seen him.” He covered a yawn, then continued, “We’ll do that tomorrow, though. A motel sounds great right about now.”
    Feeling bad for not taking a turn at driving earlier, Moira volunteered to drive them to the nearest motel, which her phone said was about twenty minutes east of town. The got a pizza on the way, and the scents of garlic and cheese filled the car as they drove, making her stomach rumble with hunger.
    The motel was tiny, but the woman at the desk was friendly and gave them a good price on two rooms across from each other. Moira followed David to his room and set the pizza on the table. The grabbed a few paper towels and settled down to their impromptu meal. It had been a long time since she had eaten pizza, and the gooey, cheesy slice was almost unbelievably good.
    A few minutes later, full and sleepy, she bade the detective good night, grabbed her overnight bag from the car, and went to her own room. Lying between the sheets, she felt sleep tugging at her. I really should check in with Candice and see how the deli is doing , she thought. She stared at her phone, which was charging on the nightstand. The thought of leaving her warm cocoon and getting up to grab it seemed like far too much effort. I’ll call them in the morning, she thought. Besides, if anything had gone wrong, they surely