Devilry and Deception (What the Cat Dragged In Cozy Mysteries Book 5) by Sara Bourgeois

Author:Sara Bourgeois [Bourgeois, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

After arguing over what to split and nearly missing the kitchen closing, they each ordered a late-night meal of their own. Lil ordered a Monte Cristo and Jen got the baked mac ‘n cheese. She felt like she needed some comfort food with all that was going on.

“So we’ve got ghosts still running around. We don’t know what they want. And we have no suspect in the assaults on the Lockharts,” Jen took the cloche off her cheesy pasta. The edges were perfectly brown and bubbly.

Lil did the same. She probed the sandwich with a fork. “Pan-fried,” she frowned. That didn’t stop her from digging in.

Jen sat on the bed with her food and a sketchbook. She randomly doodled while she ate. “There must be someone who has it out for the Lockharts.”

“Could be a business rival,” Lil stuffed some steak fries in her mouth. After chewing, she noted, “Real estate is a high-stakes game.”

“I have no idea who that would be,” Jen said. “Do you? You know a lot of people in town.”

“I have no idea who the players are. Honestly, I just threw the business rival idea out there because I don’t have any better suspects. The lodge doesn’t seem to be in competition with anything else. There are hotels and motels in town, but this is a different kind of place.”

Jen rolled her eyes at the taste of warm macaroni and cheese sauce. She thought over Lil’s words. “What if the rivals are contractors? Some other bunch of construction workers in town who have their eyes on the theater renovation?”

“Then I’d have even less of an idea who those people might be. At least with real estate types, they tend to plaster their faces all over bus stop benches and grocery store carts,” Lil said. “I’m in no way connected to big, city-sponsored renovations. Last one I remember is they turned a rundown bowling alley into an indoor-outdoor farmers’ market. For that, they used a specialist contractor from California. I imagine they’d do the same for the theaters, once they get the money.”

“Man. This is tough to crack. It can’t be random,” Jen said.

“No doubt. Two members of the same family. Both with axes.” Lil ate some Monte Cristo. “I’m not letting Mitch Dunaway off the hook. But that’s only because we don’t know of anyone else with a motive.”

“And when you think about it, killing your bosses isn’t a particularly good way of protecting your job,” Jen said.

“Probably not a good way to defend your pending marriage, either,” Lil said. “Nevertheless, who else have we got? Nobody. Mitch talked about some kind of property dispute. That might show up in the county records, or maybe a court docket.”

“That will have to wait ‘til Monday,” Jen said. “Andy’s good at that kind of research.”

“I might be able to convince him that whatever this property boundary thing is about, it could be related to the old axe murder case.” Lil ate the rest of her fries. “Might motivate him.

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