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

and Sergeant Fowler. Fred Harding struggled to get up from his rocking chair. He looked Vega up and down, leaning on his cane, before holding out a withered hand.

Fred still had quite a grip, Vega thought, as he shook the old man’s hand.

Vega’s throat had constricted as soon as he entered the house. The mould must be at dangerous levels. Sue McIntosh and her father Fred seemed unaware, even though the old man was wheezing from the effort of leaving his chair.

Sue said nothing, watching them suspiciously, as Vega explained why he was there.

“You think one of us blew Mason’s head off?” Fred asked and cackled with laughter. “She could, you know,” waving his arm at Sue. “She’s a good shot.”

“Is that right, Mrs McIntosh?” Vega asked.

Sue met his gaze but fidgeted with the frayed cuffs of her faded plaid shirt.

“I just shoot deer, Inspector,” she said quietly.

“You knew that Pierre Mason was in town?” Vega asked.

“Jim Peters and some reporter girl came all the way out to tell us,” Fred snorted. “Why would we care? God took our Sarah. Ain’t nothing we can do about it now. And we wouldn’t waste a bullet on Mason, neither. He has to face God’s judgement now.”

Vega said calmly, “I understand, Mr Harding. But we have to check, you understand.”

“My Sarah had nothing to do with that man,” Sue blurted, looking up. Her voice was emotional. “Those were all lies! I know what they were saying, but it wasn’t true! She was just a child.” Fred Harding thumped his cane on the ground, as if in agreement.

“I understand, Mrs McIntosh,” Vega said gently. “We’ll leave you in peace.”

Thinking about Sue’s outburst now, Vega realized that Tara had been wrong. There was one other thing that the two women agreed upon, apart from their mutual dislike of Brian McIntosh. Neither of them believed that Mason had anything to do with Sarah’s death.

He drained the last of his coffee just as his phone started to vibrate.

“Vega,” he answered. The constable on the other end sounded excited. Vega listened for a minute, then realized that another call was coming in. He checked the phone display and quickly said to the constable, “I have to take this call. Good work. Get everyone together. Briefing in twenty.”

He then answered the incoming call from his headquarters.

“Vega here. I see. I’ll be there right away.”

Vega hurriedly gathered up his documents. He thought about checking out, and then decided to keep the room. Chances were that he’d be back here soon, maybe even tonight.

Another murder on the island? Coincidence?

As Vega locked his motel room door and walked back to the detachment, he reminded himself that he didn’t believe in coincidences.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“I definitely touched a nerve,” Andi said. “Roberts just lost it when I showed him the photograph.”

She and Jim had opted to meet at Andi’s apartment, and he was studying her story wall with interest. Andi made them both a coffee. Hephzibah’s café was busy, and Gavin with his team from the Vancouver Mail had taken Jim up on his offer of office space.

“How’s that sea lion story coming?” Gavin had asked in mock seriousness. There were giggles from the team of reporters, and Andi felt her face heat up. Jim stepped in before she could answer, showing them how to work the antiquated photocopier and writing down the Wi-Fi password.

Gavin’s new assistant, a sleek, meticulously dressed woman, wrinkled her nose and made a show of wiping down a desk and her seat before she set up her laptop.

Andi watched as Gavin stood over her with his hand on her shoulder and murmured something in a low voice that made his assistant beam up at him, showing perfect white teeth.

Andi recognized the move. She bit her lip as Gavin called his team around him and rolled up his sleeves. Andi had seen this countless times before. Gather the troops, make an inspiring speech and send them off to do the work he would ultimately take credit for. She knew she was being bitter, and she turned away to gather up the files she and Jim needed.

“OK, folks,” she heard Gavin say. “We’ll just need to make the best of it. I know you’re missing a decent cup of coffee and proper workspaces, but I’m sure we’re all grateful to the Gazette for making room for us and putting up with the disruption of a full-on investigation. And just remember folks, if you don’t do a professional job, this is where you’ll be if you fuck up. OK, what have we got?”

Andi heard another ripple of amusement from Gavin’s team and she wanted to punch him. She took a step forward and opened her mouth to call him out, tell them all what a lying treacherous bastard Gavin really was, but she felt Jim’s hand on her arm.

“Come on, we haven’t got all day,” he said kindly.

As they were leaving, Gavin’s assistant called out, “Oh excuse me, Andi?”

“’Fraid not,” Andi answered cheerfully as she could, when the assistant asked if there was a separate ladies’ washroom. “Just the one. And you’ll have to hum loudly while you’re in there because the lock doesn’t work.”

Feeling a little better, Andi had walked with Jim to her apartment. As she unlocked the door, she’d been relieved that for once, she’d cleaned up and remembered to get fresh milk. She told Jim to make himself at home and he’d dumped his box of files down in the dining room area that Andi had converted to her workspace.

“This is fascinating,” Jim said, taking a mug of coffee in one hand and gesturing to the story wall with the other.

“It’s all from your original files,” Andi said. “I just work better if I can see the story in front of me. I can’t