A Deadly Dealer by J. B. Stanley & Ellery Adams

Author:J. B. Stanley & Ellery Adams [Stanley, J. B. & Adams, Ellery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
Goodreads: 645507
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2007-08-07T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Tom Barnett’s room did not have the balcony overlooking the lush gardens as Molly and Clara’s did. The interiors were identical, but his view was of the outside grounds and the soothing white noise of the waterfall did not permeate within.

As with most dealers, Tom had reserved the room for four nights: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. By Monday morning, he had planned to be on the road, heading back to Blacksburg, Virginia. Glancing inside the closet, Molly noted two pairs of pants; one black and one khaki, and two button-downs. One was a crisp white and the second was a buttery yellow with narrow blue pinstripes. A pair of black loafers was lined up beneath the pants and a black belt hung from one of the hangers like a limp asp. In addition to the clothes, Tom had slung a navy windbreaker over one of the pant hangers.

“Do we know what the inventory book looks like?” Molly asked.

Charity, who was examining the zippered compartments of Tom’s suitcase, paused in her search. “It’s actually a three-ring pocket binder. It’s impossible to miss because it’s neon orange. Tom bought a few cases of them years ago. He chose that color so that he’d be able to find the book immediately if a client or one of his assistants had a question about one of his items.”

“What information did he keep on each item?” Molly queried, opening the small safe inside the closet. It was empty. There was no orange book hidden within the pile of extra pillows or stashed behind the ironing board either.

“Oh, let’s say he bought a table from your mom’s friend, Lex Lewis,” Charity answered. “Tom would keep the receipt from the auction as well as the item’s description from the auction catalog. He would mark down the new Country Doctor sale price, the discount he was willing to offer, and how much it eventually sold for. He would also write the date of sale and the method of payment.

Shoot, he practically kept a FBI profile on each customer.

Basically, no detail about that table was too small to exclude.”

“Must’ve gone through a lot of orange binders,” Clara said, riffling through the drawers beneath the TV cabinet.

“He made a new one every quarter. The old ones are all in boxes at the shop.” Charity sighed. “Nothing in the suitcase. I’ll check the nightstands.” Molly moved over to the desk. Tom had put nothing personal inside its drawers. The only object that belonged to him was a hardback copy of John Updike’s latest novel, Terrorist. She headed into the bathroom as Clara and Charity began to peer under the mattresses of the two queen beds.

“Check the toilet tank,” Clara ordered.

“Are you serious?” Molly said in disbelief but one look from her mother had her easing back the porcelain lid. “No notebook, Ma, but I found a kilo of cocaine and a wad of hundred-dollar bills stashed inside a Ziploc.”

“Very funny,” Clara grumbled. “Where else could he have hidden it?”

The three women looked around the room.

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