HELL'S HALF ACRE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2) by JACKIE ELLIOTT (diy ebook reader txt) 📕

Andi jerked her head up. Harry laughed.

“Good. Now, I’m going to pour you another glass of wine while you get all those photos and documents out and fire up your laptop.”

Andi looked at him in surprise.

Harry laughed. “What’s the matter? C’mon, girl, you won’t be happy until you’ve figured this thing out. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back to work.”

He filled her glass. “The way I see it is this: someone waited until Ricky’s body was discovered before he — or she — went on a killing spree, right? So whoever it is must either be fucking crazy or full of rage for something. Something that links the Havers and Nadine Dagg. And I don’t think it’s Lee Dagg. I went to school with Lee. And sure, he might regret marrying Nadine, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Katie. He might punch out Dennis in the pub after too many beers, but Lee Dagg wouldn’t snatch Ricky Havers and then kill Dennis and Sandra, and the mother of his daughter, no way.” He was emphatic.

Andi nodded.

“I still think Jade and Summer Thompson are connected to Dennis Havers in some way.”

“Unlikely that either of them killed Nadine,” Harry said. “Nadine wasn’t tiny, and she wasn’t a fragile little flower. She’d have put up a fight.”

Andi nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

“So, get out your stuff and let’s see what you’ve got. Maybe I know something that’ll help. And you know there’s somebody in this town who knows what’s going on. Vega can collect all the fingerprints he wants. My bet is there’s something in the past that set off these killings. All we have to do is work out what it was.”

“I think we can help with that.” Jim Peters stood in the galley doorway. Andi could see the figure of someone behind him. “Any more of that halibut left?” he asked.

“Sure. Who have you got with you?” Harry asked.

A woman stepped into the galley, holding rolls of paper. She had a shock of white hair and wore a long black skirt with a jacket made of some kind of animal hide.

“Hello, Clara,” Harry said. “Take a seat. Plenty of fish to go round.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Vega listened to Walter.

In his mind’s eye he could see the brand-new Mercedes E-Class sedan parked outside the motel room next to his. He’d even nodded at the owner, although Vega couldn’t remember anything about him, except he was dressed expensively. What had Peggy Wilson said his name was?

“Knight,” Vega said. “He called himself Mr Knight. Who do you think he is?”

Walter looked relieved.

“Art Whilley. He lived where Lee and Nadine — well, not Nadine now, I guess — he lived on that plot of land, but he lived in his parents’ cabin. He was supposed to have died in a fire years ago.”

“OK, Walter, I don’t know if this is significant or not, but I need to get a look at that photo and find out where Andi got it. Is she home?”

“No,” Walter said. “She’s staying with Harry on the Pipe Dream. Poor girl. She didn’t feel safe in the apartment.”

For some reason, Andrew Vega’s heart dropped when he heard that. Pushing the feeling to one side for a minute, and hoping it hadn’t shown on his face, he pulled out his cell phone and spoke to Andi.

“You have it with you? Great. No, I’ll come to you. I’ll be about half an hour, I’ve got a quick briefing first. Just hang on there.”

He shook Walter’s hand.

“Thanks for coming in.”

As he watched Walter leave the detachment, he turned to Matt.

“Call Peggy Wilson. No, go to the motel and see if Mr Knight has checked out, or if his car is still there. Get any information you can from Peggy Wilson — but swear her to silence. Threaten to arrest her if you have to. I can’t have gossip spreading and screwing up this investigation, got it? And Matt, do you know Clara Bell?”

Matt nodded. “I know who she is, sir. She was with Katie Dagg when they found Ricky. You want to speak to her?”

“Yes. Ask her to come in — I know it’s getting late, but tell her it’s important, OK?”

Matt nodded and hurried out.

Vega went into the office and called for attention.

Keeping it as concise as he could, he briefed his detectives on Walter’s information.

“I need everything we can find out about this ‘Art Whilley’. Can we connect Whilley or Knight, or whoever it is, to Jade Thompson? Anyone got anything?”

One young officer put his hand up.

“This might be something, sir. We went through the mayor’s office to see if there was any clue to her whereabouts — you know, a diary, a scheduled meeting or something, but there was nothing concrete. But we did find an envelope with what looks like a building or development proposal for the old fish plant. One of her staff heard Mayor Thompson and Nadine talking about it the other day. The company name on the papers is Knights Development Ltd.”

“OK. Good. So it’s possible Jade met up with Knight when she left the office? The fish plant is within walking distance.”

Vega looked round at the nodding heads. “But let’s not get carried away here. This ‘Knight’, or whoever he is, might just have the misfortune to look like a dead guy. He could genuinely be a real estate developer. And there’s nothing to connect him with any of the Haverses or Nadine.”

There was something else bothering Vega. He’d heard the name “Knight” before. He said this out loud, and Diane Fowler said, “That dirty little scumbag squatting in the bookstore, you remember? At the strip mall, near the Smoke Room. He claimed to be Ricky Havers’ right-hand man. He was going on