A Holly Hands Cozy Mystery Bundle: Knockout (Book 1), Sucker Punch (Book 2), and Below the Belt (Book 3) by Mia Gold

Author:Mia Gold [Gold, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2021-05-26T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Back at the apartment, sitting at the kitchen table, laptop open in front of her, Holly had a bowl of ice cream, currently untouched, next to her. Pistachio—God’s gift and her temptation. Häagen-Dazs was her own little tree in Eden.

Holly poked at the two scoops of green perfection with a spoon, before sighing and lowering the utensil to click through the files Lucas had downloaded for her.

She waited as a split screen of multiple cameras appeared in front of her. The day of the murder, just like she’d asked. Lucas hadn’t had time to comb through it for her, so now it was up to Holly. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do with her time. Kinda like watching paint dry, or grass grow, or Freddie get to the point. Except on top of it, her nerves were firing in her gut, twisting and spinning. This was the only lead she had. For the first time, Holly realized what might motivate someone to sift through an entire pile of hay to find a stinking needle.

As her eyes darted across the screen and Frank rested his chin against her lap for head scratches, she gave in to temptation and took a mouthful of sweet, creamy pistachio goodness. She pressed down on one of the arrow keys, speeding up the videos in all the cameras. As she did, she reached the evening Mrs. Birch had been murdered. Her heart zipped around her chest.

Holly slowed the video again, took another mouthful of ice cream—more anxious eating than anything—and leaned in, her nose practically pressed against the screen.

Multiple cameras. Multiple angles. Her eyes scrolled across the screen, taking in what little she could from each of the security devices. A rolling number at the bottom of the screen showed the timestamp. Still four hours before Holly would stumble upon the yacht, and find the murdered Mrs. Birch.

She watched as some of the security guards moved about the house. She saw Ruddy Skin and his thick neck. She saw the guard who’d carried the Taser, and the other one who’d had the knife. She spotted a guard with his hand in a bandage, who Frank had introduced himself to. And she spotted the final man, who toppled over the edge of the ship. All of the security guards were accounted for. All five.

Not good. If anyone was sent to kill Mrs. Birch, she would’ve assumed one of the guards.

Mr. Birch still had an alibi. He didn’t appear on the cameras, but then again why would he? He was at the lodge. She’d already verified.

She scrolled through the video, pressing fast-forward again and keeping her eyes open, unblinking, watching for any movement or shifting space. Once, one of the security guards began waving at his face, trying to knock a fly away. Another time, two of the guards sat in a large, ornate dining hall, facing a floor-to-ceiling TV on the opposite wall above an actual koi pond.

But otherwise, no movement. No children either.

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