Lucille Pfiffer Mystery Series (Books 1 - 5) by Tanya R. Taylor

Author:Tanya R. Taylor [Taylor, Tanya R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-09T22:00:00+00:00

8

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“Are you out of your mind, Lucille Pfiffer?” Sherriff Cooke barked as I sat on the opposite side of his desk, next to Merlene. We showed up there shortly after nine the following morning and without hesitation, he called us inside his office and shut the door behind us.

“I’m perfectly sane,” I answered. “Of course, I can’t swear for Merlene.”

Merlene cut her eye and she probably thought I didn’t see that.

Cooke leaned on the desk and interlaced his fingers. “What do I possibly have as evidence to be able to reignite a decades-old case?” he asked. “Let me put this correctly, so you’ll understand. Sir Clement Tucker’s case technically has never been closed. We never close unsolved murder cases. If, after a period of time, we don’t acquire enough evidence to convict someone or we’re out of leads, they simply go cold. That’s how it works. Is there an active investigation currently going on with regards to his death? No. And I can honestly say, there hasn’t been for the majority of the time I’ve been on the force—and I’m about to hit my thirty-fifth anniversary on the payroll next month.”

“If we were to give you something concrete, Sheriff, would you work on the case?” I asked.

He gave it a moment’s thought, then said, “Lucille, you’re asking me to awaken a cold case that has to do with perhaps the wealthiest man in Chadsworth at the time. In order for me to look into anything concerning that matter, the evidence pointing to a guilty party would have to be strong.”

“There he goes taking a backseat again,” Merlene blurted.

I’m sure Cooke perfectly understood her deep-seated resentment toward him and the Department, and didn’t bother to respond.

He kept his eyes on me. “What have you got?”

“This.” I placed the sketched out Tucker family tree, as well as the accompanying document that revealed Stuart, Luke Tucker’s, father’s adoption and the title deeds.

He picked them up one by one and had a look. For a few minutes, he said absolutely nothing, and perused the documents at least twice. Then his eyes met my blank ones again.

“Where did you get these, Lucille?”

“It doesn’t matter where she got them,” Merlene rightly answered. “What matters is what you read there.”

“Lucille, I asked you a question. Were you at Luke Tucker’s place yesterday with Merlene?”

“Why on earth would you think that, Sheriff?” I asked in the softest Chadsworthian accent I’d managed to muster up.

“You know that guy Raymond Allister said he’d been attacked by a little puppy—a Shih Tzu, to be exact.”

“Nonsense!” I exclaimed. “He must’ve imagined it all. What purpose would I have served being there and even worse, bringing along my sweet, little Nilla there? Besides, she hasn’t been a puppy in ages, so I have no clue what puppy he’s talking about.”

“Well, something bit the guy for sure. Those little teeth marks and scratches didn’t magically appear on him. Your friend here seems to have amnesia when questioned about that little detail.”

Merlene said nothing.

“Back to why we’re here detective.

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