Case of the Unlucky Emperor by Jeffrey Poole

Author:Jeffrey Poole
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dogs, cozy mystery, small town mysteries, mysteries with humor, mysteries with dogs, animal sleuths, cozy murder mystery series, alaska mysteries
Publisher: Columbine Publishing Group, LLC

SEVEN

Fortune was smiling at us? Pssht. Whoever came up with that phrase should be shot. It certainly wasn’t smiling at me. On the contrary, I think it’s been giving us the bird, and by that, I mean, one of the flightless variety. Moose Pharmaceuticals? It’s defunct. It went out of business two years ago. But, just for kicks and giggles, we decided to go by the address where the drug store used to reside.

It was now a jewelry store.

And the dogs? They fell asleep in the back of Shannon’s car. Sherlock and Watson snoozed on as we drove by the former business, and didn’t bother cracking an eye open when we stopped so I could get out for a better look. I think it’s safe to say that Moose Pharmaceuticals was just a freak coincidence.

“What about the person who owned it?” Shannon asked, after I returned to the van. “Maybe we should be focusing on the person rather than the business?”

“We already thought of that,” I glumly reported. “Or, more like, she did.”

“Mr. Jahan Narayan,” Jillian read, looking at her phone’s display. “Passed away two years ago. No immediate family. The shop was put up for sale, but there were no interested parties. It says here the property was sold nearly four months later, to one Alexandre Deschamps. He turned it into a jewelry store.”

“Now him I know,” Shannon said, smiling. “He’s a bachelor who doesn’t like to cook. Or doesn’t know how, I guess.”

“How do you know this?” Jillian wanted to know.

“I don’t eat out that often, but it seems like I’m always bumping into him wherever I go.”

Interested, I reached for my notebook. “Really? Wouldn’t that behavior be reminiscent of a … I don’t know, a stalker?”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Shannon assured me. “He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”

“How long has he been living in Sitka?” I asked.

“Ten years, at least.”

I looked at Jillian. “Well, scratch that. I don’t know, my dear. I’m starting to think we’re barking up the wrong tree.” Both corgis turned to look at me. Sherlock even had the gall to head-tilt me. “No offense, guys. We’re still trying to link everything together. Go back to sleep. What if we’re going about this all wrong? What if … what if fishing, or crabbing, has nothing to do with it?”

“But, moose and bananas do?” Shannon argued.

“Push that aside for now,” I ordered. “I think we need to come at this from a new angle.”

“Such as?” Jillian asked, batting her eyes.

I placed a hand over her eyes, blocking them from view, and continued.

“I’m thinking we should start looking at all businesses who have failed in the last year or so.”

My wife sobered. She pulled my hand off her face, gave it a quick peck, and then smiled.

“You have an idea, don’t you? Let’s hear it.”

I cleared my throat. “Well, someone is clearly not a fan of CCCP. We were thinking that it had to be someone who was unhappy about the water rights Dr.

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