Read Online Three Witches and a Killer: Wicked Western Witches Book 1 by Kendra Ashe - Free Book Online Page B

hand. “I’m working with the police.”
    One of Jane’s brows shot up. “If that’s true, why don’t you already know what’s in the autopsy report?”
    She had me there. It took a minute to come up with a way around her question. “Buck has been busy so I haven’t had a lot of time to go over the case with him.”
    It was an outright lie but there was no helping it. I was quickly discovering that lying seemed to be part of a PI’s job.
    Jane shrugged. “Okay then. It’s funny you should ask because Canton Petrova’s cause of death was not drowning. He died ofexsanguination.”
    “What does that mean?” Pax turned to me.
    “It means he died due to loss of blood,” I explained.
    “How could that have been overlooked in the initial examination?” I asked her.
    “Easy. The puncture wounds that he was bled from were beneath his upper arm and would have only been visible if you were looking for them.”
    “So, you are definitely classifying Canton Petrova’s death as homicide?” I asked.
    Jane nodded. “The Petrova family is fighting me on this, which is why the findings haven’t been made public yet. But yes, it will be classified as a homicide.”
    Before I could ask more questions, a small radio in Jane’s pocket came alive.
    “Unit One to ME One. Do you copy?” Buck’s voice came on the radio.
    Jane pulled the small radio from the pocket of her white coat. “This is ME One.”
    “You’re needed out at Winterbane Hall, immediately.” Buck’s voice was somewhat distorted by all the white noise.
    Jane turned back to me. “I guess our discussion is over. It’s time to get back to work.”
    “No problem. I understand,” I told her and then quickly added, “If this is another strange death, which I suspect it is, could you let me know as soon as possible?”
    “Of course.” She nodded. “As long as it is okay with Buck.”
    When we were outside, Pax turned to me. “So now it’s the Trevil family. I guess there really could be something to this mysterious client’s theory.”
    “I think so too.”
    “So, do you feel like being an ambulance chaser?” he asked.
    Although chasing down ambulances and morgue vans wasn’t exactly my idea of an ideal way to spend the day, this time it was probably necessary. At least it was necessary if we wanted to know what was going on.
     
    * * *
     
    Winterbane Hall was every bit as grand as Draven Court, as was the Trevil family. While the Petrova family had made their fortune from real estate and the tourism industry, the Trevil family fortune was made during the Industrial Revolution. Nowadays the Trevil factories produced everything from computers to cheese and butter.
    When we pulled up to the massive red brick colonial mansion, I was fully expecting to see yellow crime tape around the perimeter, but that wasn’t the case. All the commotion seemed to be in the woods, behind the house.
    Bringing his VW to a stop, Pax opened his glove box and pulled out a pair of binoculars. “Use these and see if you can tell what’s going on,” he instructed.
    I didn’t have to be told twice. As soon as I put my eyes to binoculars, I could make out the yellow police tape near a clump of trees, several hundred yards behind the house.
    “There appears to be some kind of crime scene in the woods,” I informed him. “We need to get a closer look.”
    Normally, Pax might have argued with me since he didn’t really like getting into trouble with the police, but he didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow at my suggestion. I couldn’t blame him. After all, if there was anything to my client’s theory, his own mother was at risk.
    Fortunately for us, Winterbane’s gates were still open, probably due to the police traffic that was making their way on and off the property.
    Instead of pulling into the driveway, Pax continued down the road about a hundred yards and then parked his VW in a patch of trees.
    “This should keep us hidden,” he announced.
    “Yeah, now