A Neighbour Is Dead by Tannis Laidlaw

Author:Tannis Laidlaw [Tannis Laidlaw]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tannis Laidlaw
Published: 2024-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty

Again, Jodie had to deliberately focus to get into work again. Maybe if she went back a few chapters and started re-reading what she’d written, she could do the first edit. Luckily it was a job she relished unlike many other writers she knew. Editing or re-writing was a different procedure from the composition process. Editing meant playing around to get the precise phrase or even single word that would brighten the prose or clarify meaning. Editing also meant cutting superfluous verbiage. If a writer was good at it, the process was fun.

The creative writing process seemed to come from a different part of her brain. Both were enjoyable – most of the time – for her, but editing was easier, probably because she wrote her first draft in a terse style which resulted in more additions than subtractions during the editing process. She hoped, by doing so, she’d rekindle some enthusiasm for continuing on.

Before a half-hour had gone by, the phone rang.

Rigo.

“Is this a good time?” he asked. “I figured you might be ready to call it a day by now.”

Jodie glanced at the time, surprised it was after five. “It’s fine, Rigo. How was your trip back?”

“Piece of cake. First, I went straight to the office. I owe the guys bigtime. So I’ve traded all the on-call evenings this week so I can come to Darkwater this weekend, except for storms, of course.”

A storm meant all hands on deck, as Jodie knew. “That’s good news. How’s the weather forecast?”

“Irrelevant so far out, but all my fingers and toes are crossed.” He paused a heartbeat. “Anything new?”

She filled him in on her two telephone calls.

“I bet you’re right about the identity of the blackmailer – if there is a blackmailer, that is. Raping a schoolgirl is a felony and certainly the sort of thing Stan would want to keep totally secret. But, getting back to the blackmailing scheme, Shez’s source of funds has now been cut off. So she’d be an unlikely suspect for the murder.”

“Depends on her motivation, Rigo,” Jodie said. “I agree with you if money is top. But if revenge for her sister is the real motivation, she should be in our sights.”

“Okay, fair point,” he said. “Importantly, if she’s untrustworthy, Chrystabel should beware.”

“I said as much to her.”

“And you need to take special care, too,” Rigo said. “Maybe you should discuss with the police the details you’ve discovered then bow out gracefully.”

Jodie didn’t like that last suggestion one little bit. She wasn’t sure she was confident the local police were asking the right questions if the past was anything to go on. And what with the rigid Sgt. Rhys Morgan? She had reason to think this OPP station was not in the most reliable hands. So, bow out gracefully? Hardly. “I’m not a graceful type, Rigo,” she said. “But maybe I should tell someone what I’ve gleaned – no conclusions, just what people have told me.”

She came off the phone having promised to do just that.

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