Dead Parrot by Trapper Westing

Author:Trapper Westing [Westing, Trapper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Beach Mystery
Publisher: Blue Bonobo Books
Published: 2019-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“Miles C. Burris does have a record,” Stella told Charlie on the drive back to Curious Beach. “A lot of traffic, drugs, petty theft, burglary, but no felonies at all. Clyde isn’t listed as a middle name or a known alias. A lot of the entries are blank though, so that may not mean anything.”

“What about Smoochie?” Charlie asked.

“Smoothie Manoose is a known associate of Miles Burris,” she said. “Same kinds of charges. Definitely not murder charges. Other known associates are Leeroy Frontenac, Jefferson Hyde, William Lurl, Rory Washington, Carl Rodriguez.”

“I guess we could talk to some of them,” Charlie said, “if you think it would help.”

“I’m tired of people.”

“This trip was your idea,” he said. “My head hurts because of your idea.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m going to text Paige,” he said, “and see if she wants to go to the beach tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“We can ask around and see if anybody has seen Billy.”

“Just business.”

“Why wouldn’t it be just business?”

“I don’t care.” Stella watched the city lights brighten on the horizon again. She looked out the window at the vanishing stars. “Just there’s a murder to solve is all.”

“It’s not our murder to solve,” he said. “The actual Federal Bureau of Investigation is on the case. it’s not our problem.”

“It doesn’t feel right,” she said.

“It doesn’t feel right? Murder investigations don’t care about your feelings.”

“It’s not just feelings,” she said. The stars were completely gone now, but the moon was still visible. “It’s my head. It’s figured something out. I just don’t know what it is yet.”

“You come to the beach tomorrow too,” Charlie said. “Give your brain a chance to figure out what it’s thinking.”

“Fine,” she said.

* * *

Charlie knocked on the door of room 212 at 10:10 a.m. the next morning. It was the first time he’d seen Coconut Bay Motel. He wondered how much it would cost to live in a place like that full-time. He liked how close the detective agency was to the ocean, though. The motel was too far from the ocean to walk without wasting precious beach time.

Paige wasn’t answering the door. Charlie tried the handle just in case, knocked again, and then yelled her name. Someone down the hall looked out their window.

“Maybe she misunderstood and she’s already at the beach,” Charlie said when he returned to Stella in the Pathfinder.

“Did you check her room?” Stella asked.

“That’s an invasion of privacy,” Charlie said. “And illegal.”

“Want me to do it?” she asked. “I don’t mind.”

“Not yet.” He waited for a Camry to drive past before he pulled out onto the road. “Let’s just go to the beach. She’ll show up. She needs me to find her boyfriend.”

“You say the word ‘boyfriend’ like you hate him,” Stella said.

“I don’t even know him.”

“Okay.”

“It’s just...,” Charlie started, and then searched for the right words, “it’s just a really nice car, Stella.”

“You hate him because he stole a really nice car,” she said.

“I do. I really, really do.”

They stopped at the detective agency and added Duke to their party before walking to the beach.

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