A Map of Murder (A Seabreeze Bookshop Cozy Mystery Book 6) by Penny Brooke

Author:Penny Brooke [Brooke, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-10T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The next day we did a steady business at the store. In the few quiet moments when we could catch our breath, we shared our thoughts about the service.

Carole had ended up sitting next to Barney at the luncheon, and he had given her an earful about the day before, when two cops stopped by his house.

Always the optimist, the poor old man at first had misunderstood the nature of the “little chat” that they proposed. He assumed the guys were there to check on his well-being and seek out his ideas to keep the town as safe as possible for the senior population.

“Oh, no. He thought that, really?” Elizabeth winced and buried her head in her hands.

“Oh, yeah, he did,” said Carole, brushing some red curls off of her forehead. “He was confused when the officers began to just go on and on about that awful business with poor Eloise.”

“I can just imagine. That would frighten me to death,” said Elizabeth.

“Then the poor man imagined they must want his opinion on how to investigate a murder. Which would just be insane,” Carole continued with the story. “You know, Barney doesn’t even watch those crime shows on TV that are so popular these days. Happy endings are his thing. So what would an old bug man know about that stuff?” She paused, taking a breath as though she was preparing herself to utter her next words. “Then they asked him where he was when Eloise was killed. They even wanted fingerprints from Barney.”

“Oh, no.” Elizabeth covered her chin with her fingers. “I bet he was shocked.”

“He was appalled. He even went as far as to present them with a list of his community involvements and told them they were wrong about what kind of man he is. Then he asked them to leave.”

“That’s so odd,” I said. “No way was it Barney.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” said Elizabeth as she straightened up some books. “He used to come to my house four times a year to spray for bugs. And I honestly used to think the guy was too tenderhearted to even do his job. Once he had to spray to get rid of ants—and he apologized to the creepy little things. Said he felt like he was killing a whole town of bugs.”

Carole rolled her eyes. “Once I asked him to knock down a cobweb on my porch, and he just looked forlorn. Said it was a shame he had to destroy such a delicate endeavor.” Then she paused dramatically. “But…the cops eventually told Barney why they were really there.”

“Carole!” I set down my cup of tea. This story was like one of those maddening books that only gets exciting at the very end.

“Well, why did you save that part for last? Tell us what they said.” Elizabeth’s eyes were wide.

“They found a bloody shirt in the bed of Barney’s truck!” said Carole breathlessly. “While they were on the scene the morning of the murder! He had parked his truck behind the florist’s shop.

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