COFFIN COVE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 1) by JACKIE ELLIOTT (books for new readers .TXT) 📕

Andi stared back at his disappearing figure. She was getting tired of people investigating her.

She checked her phone. She didn’t feel like going to the office just yet. The interview with Inspector Vega had left her feeling unsettled. He had an unnerving way of looking through her, she decided. She hadn’t exactly been untruthful, she’d just omitted a couple of details, and it wasn’t her job to do their investigation for them.

She needed to clear her mind, so she went back to her apartment to work on her story wall.

She had two victims now. Two violent deaths in the same town, and connections between the two victims. Even if Mason hadn’t killed Sarah, he was seen with her before her death, and she had been to the forestry protests at least once, according to Hephzibah.

Andi pinned up the picture that Mason sent her. Why would Mason send her a picture of Harry’s boat? She squinted at the picture again. He’d obviously scanned an old photograph, because the edges were ragged and there were crease marks through the centre. But Andi could see not two, but three distinct vessels. They knew that one was the Pipe Dream — they would have to identify the others.

Talk to Harry re: picture, she scribbled in her notebook.

Ask Hephzibah/Jim about Brian M.

Talk to Tara McIntosh.

Check Mason’s background — Black OPS.

Find out about Hades.

She thought for a minute and then wrote:

Find out about Slippery Steve.

She had a weird feeling in her gut about that guy.

* * *

Jim wasn’t alone at the office. Andi could hear his voice and another man’s, a voice that was vaguely familiar, when she pushed open the door.

Fuck, she nearly said out loud.

Instead, she forced herself to smile.

“Gavin. What brings you here?”

Jim smiled at her — sympathetically, she thought. Gavin got up and strode towards her, and for a second, Andi thought he might try to hug her. She stiffened, but he held out his hand.

“I’m here for the murder,” he said cheerfully. “How are you, Andi? You look well. Small town life must agree with you.”

Andi took the outstretched hand, and as she felt the warmth of his skin and looked into his eyes, the last months fell away. She remembered how much she’d missed his touch.

“I’m fine,” Andi muttered, not wanting Gavin to detect how she was feeling.

“How did it go at the detachment?” Jim asked, to Andi’s relief.

“You’ve been talking to the police?” Gavin asked. “Find out anything about Mason?”

Andi sighed inwardly. Jim didn’t know how devious Gavin could be when he was after information. She straightened up and shot Jim a look which she hoped would stop him divulging any information.

She needn’t have worried. Jim just shrugged. Of course, Andi thought. Jim was a professional. He wouldn’t fall for Gavin’s charm. She gave herself a mental kick.

She’d wondered what she would feel if she ever saw Gavin again. And now she knew. Disgust. With herself, for practically swooning like a teenager, just because he touched her hand. How ridiculous.

“Just returning some lost property,” she managed, and then turned to Jim. “Do you have that DFO contact? For the sea lions?”

Jim looked at her, not understanding.

“I’m going to interview the DFO officer about those dead sea lions,” she explained.

“Dead sea lions?” Gavin laughed. “Sounds important. Don’t let me hold up the investigation.”

He reached out and took Andi’s hand again. “It really is good to see you. I’ll be here for a while, following up on Pierre Mason’s murder. Perhaps when you’ve done with your wildlife piece, we could get a drink?”

Andi pulled her hand back.

“We’ll see,” she said.

Jim scribbled a number on a piece of paper and intervened with perfect timing.

“Here,” he said to Andi, “DFO contact.” He turned to Gavin. “Nice to meet you. Feel free to use a desk if you need to during your stay.”

Gavin politely acknowledged Jim’s offer and, to Andi’s relief, left the office.

“Sorry,” Jim said. “Didn’t have a chance to warn you. Seems strange for an editor to cover this story. You’d have thought he’d send a staffer.”

Andi shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “But he won’t be getting any information from me.”

“Certainly not your sea lion scoop,” Jim said, with a straight face.

Andi laughed.

“How did it go with the RCMP?”

Andi told him about her interview with Inspector Vega, not telling him she had withheld details, or that Vega had done some checking up on her.

“We’re not likely to get much information from them,” Andi said. “Although I do have a connection with the investigation.” She told Jim about Terry, the photographer.

“Good. But let’s try not to get him fired,” Jim said.

Andi pulled a face and then showed him the list of questions and interviews she’d put together earlier.

“OK, add to that list an interview with the DFO,” Jim said. “Come and have a look at this.”

On Jim’s laptop screen was a grainy but enlarged image of the picture Mason had sent Andi.

“See,” Jim said, “that’s the Pipe Dream for sure. That’s a packer and I’ve got the first three letters of the name, K-I-N. But that there,” he said, pointing at the screen, “is a DFO vessel. I can’t see the name but I’ve got a registration number. And now you have a contact. According to my friend at the department, Gerry Roberts was the enforcement officer in charge on that vessel around the time the picture was probably taken.”

“How do we know the time frame?”

“To a certain extent, it’s just a guess. But if you look at the photo of the Pipe Dream, you’ll see the wheelhouse is above the cabin? Harry built that, but only had a couple more