Death at the Door by Carolyn Hart

Author:Carolyn Hart [Hart, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, General, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2014-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

9

Overhead, long-necked, black-wing-tipped southward-bound ibis shared the sky with vees of geese. The morning was perfect for a stroll along the boardwalk overlooking the harbor, a pleasure Annie intended to enjoy before perfect October weather gave way to northerly winds and chilly rains. But rain might as well be slanting down for all the pleasure she could take in the day. As she drove, she glanced at the Broward’s Rock Police Station at the crest of the slope leading down to the harbor. The view from Billy Cameron’s office included the harbor with the Miss Jolene now at her berth and, on the horizon, the spread arms of a shrimp boat and a distant plume of smoke above a cruise ship on its way to Florida.

She felt confident Billy was in his office directing a careful and thorough investigation into the arson of the Martin house. Billy hadn’t returned calls or texts from Max, nor one from her. Did that mean he accepted the mayor’s conclusion that the fire was set in hopes of getting Tom Edmonds released? If so, suspicion was sure to settle on Frankie Ford. She was the only person who cared about Tom’s fate. How could Billy believe Frankie set fire to a house occupied by a sleeping woman? The thought was sickening.

But someone splashed gasoline in Paul’s study and tossed a burning rag through the garden window into the house with Lucy upstairs.

Annie drove past Fish Haul Pier, turned left into a pine-shaded road that led to the three-story apartment complex on the other side of woods that bordered the Harbor Pavilion. In midmorning there were plenty of empty parking spaces. She slid out of the car and walked fast toward the outer steps of the apartment house. She and Max and the Intrepid Trio might be the only hope for Tom Edmonds. They would do their best.

• • •

Mavis Cameron pushed through the door from the corridor into the working space behind the front counter of the police station. Her angular face reflected distress. “Billy expects to be tied up all day.” She didn’t look toward Max. Instead her gaze slid away to the window with its view of the sparkling harbor.

Max was equable. “If he has a moment, ask him to give me a ring. He has my cell number.”

She stared at the countertop. “I’ll tell him.”

Outside, Max went down the steps quickly. Mavis had obviously felt uncomfortable. Why? There were several possibilities. Billy agreed with the mayor and believed Tom Edmonds to be guilty and the fire a diversion. Or Billy was simply too involved in his duties to deal with Max today. Or Billy had decided to play a lone hand. If he came out in public disagreement with the mayor, the mayor was quite capable of sending Billy on short notice to a faraway conference or, in a worst-case scenario, placing Billy on unpaid leave for insubordination. Whatever, Mavis obviously felt constrained to keep her mouth shut with Max, even though she and Billy were longtime friends of theirs.

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