Inn-cantations & Alibis: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery by Corrine Winters

Author:Corrine Winters [Winters, Corrine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

17

“Why didn’t you tell me Julian was staying at the inn? I left you alone with a potential two-timing murderer, Lou!” Izzy’s eyeballs looked like they were trying to escape their lids.

Lou drove up to Donna’s house, having promised Julian she’d look in on his mother. Outside, a bevy of police were milling about. It was clear they were conducting a search of the house.

Detective Owen Marsh waved her car over. The look on his face was anything but friendly. It was grim. Lou rolled down her side window to speak with the officer.

“Hey, Lou. You can probably guess why we’re here.”

“Probably. Executing a search warrant on Julian’s belongings. Don’t you think this is going to be a bit much for your mother, though?”

“Yes, I realize that. I still have a job to do, though. Whether he’s my brother or not. In fact, because he’s my brother, it’s even more important that I seem to be conducting this by the book. You see that, right?”

“I suppose,” Lou admitted.

“Look, I’m not being heartless. We’ve calmly explained the situation, and a female community officer is in there with her now. She’s made her tea and a sandwich. She’ll be okay. I gave my boys an explicit order to search but do it quietly and to not trash the place. And she trusts me. I’m handling it as gently as I can.”

“Well, I guess that’s something.” Lou could almost feel the worry lines on her forehead.

“What was Julian like when you last saw him?”

“He seemed fine to me.”

“Right, like his lack of appetite wasn’t from gut-wrenching guilt. And since when would he leave Mom without someone to watch over her? I was shocked to get here and find him gone.”

“Julian explicitly asked me to check on her. That’s why I pulled up here today. I was about to do that very thing.”

Owen narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t aware you had made contact with him since he got back into town. Last time I talked to you, you had no idea he was even here.” He looked down at Lou’s bandaged wrist which was hanging over the window frame. “What’s this then?”

“Oh, I’m just a clumsy oaf. I cut myself, slicing up some carrots and apples for Moscow the other night. He lives for his midnight snacks.”

Two uniformed officers came out of the house and walked up to Owen. “Detective, bad news. We found what we think are blood stains in the bedroom.”

“Any other stains elsewhere in the place?” Owen asked with a deep sigh.

“No. Just in his room.”

“Okay, radio for the CSI guys and get it bagged, tagged, and sent away for testing. The usual routine. But try to keep as much of this away from my mother as you can, you hear me? Make them go in one at a time. As far as I’m concerned, you should act like it’s a church.”

The officers nodded and walked away. Owen saluted the women, signaling he didn’t have any more need of them, and waved Lou’s car on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.