A Locked Outhouse Murder (Alaska Campground Cozy Mysteries Book 3) by Julie Ecker

Author:Julie Ecker [Ecker, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

We walked over to Garfield’s RV. Miranda carried Barksley, while I looked under every RV and poked a stick into a pile of split birch next to the fire pit.

“What are you going to do if you find it?” Miranda asked, hanging well back with Barksley dangling unhappily in her arms. He vastly preferred walking to being carried, unless the ground was wet.

“Call Rochelle and Camille, I guess.”

The woodpile yielded no cobras. I kept hold of the stick as we headed to Garfield’s camper.

There was no one around, except for the Fortiers a couple of sites over, industriously putting up a plastic mesh fence around their campsite. At least Rochelle was as good as her word. I ducked quickly behind the RV before she could see me. Fortunately, the side with the door was on the opposite side from the Fortiers’ campsite.

I tested the door and found it locked. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

“How are you going to get in?” Miranda asked. “The campground office doesn’t keep a copy of campers’ keys, does it?”

“No, of course not. But most people have a key hidden somewhere.”

I looked around. Like most seasoned campers, Garfield had a variety of portable accessories to make his campsite prettier and more comfortable. There were a couple of plastic lawn chairs, a rug, and a canopy for shade. A wind-spinner stood in a pot of gravel. I stuck my finger in the gravel and lifted the edge of the rug with my stick. No keys.

“Keep a lookout,” I told Miranda. “If anyone comes by, we’re checking for, uh, campground rule violations.”

Getting down on my knees, I critically scanned the underside of Garfield’s RV. It was a nice Class A with a slide-out for additional living space. No cobras. No keys. The door steps were down. I waved my stick behind them just in case I’d overlooked a cobra in the shade, poked my fingers underneath, and then did a little investigation of the doorframe, at which point I found it in a magnetic key holder adhered to the back of the screen door’s frame. It was not only painted to match, but set into a slight recess in the frame. I was impressed with myself for finding it.

“Good job!” Miranda cheered.

“Any witnesses so far?”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

I looked around. The mountain bikers were leaving the shower house, but they were headed the other way, into the tent camping side of the campground. I quickly fitted the key into the lock, unlocked it, and opened the door.

“Uh-oh,” said Miranda, voicing my own thoughts.

Garfield’s RV was absolutely crammed with antiques. It was solid with them, on floor to ceiling shelves, held in place with crisscrossing bungee cords and tie straps to keep them from cascading to the floor whenever the RV moved. There was a narrow pathway that I guess went to wherever he slept.

I just stared at that for a minute.

“There is no way we’re going to find anything in there,” Miranda said, once again telepathically conveying my worries.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.