MM1 - Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels

Author:B.J. Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: eISBN 978-1-4268-3066-2
Publisher: Harlequin

~***~

HUD CALLED the judge’s number, a little surprised to learn that Kitty Randolph still lived in the same house she had shared with her husband. The same house where he’d been murdered five years before.

The maid answered. Mrs. Randolph had gone out to run a few errands and wasn’t expected back until after lunch.

Lunch. Hud felt his stomach growl as he hung up. He hadn’t eaten all day, but he knew a good place to get a blue-plate special – and information at the same time.

Leroy Perkins had been a cook at the Roadside Café back when Ginger had been a waitress there. Now he owned the place, but hung out there most days keeping an eye on his investment.

Leroy was tall and thin and as stooped as a dogwood twig. His hair, what was left of it, was gray and buzz-cut short. He was drinking coffee at the end stool and apparently visiting with whoever stopped by and was willing to talk to him.

Hud slid onto the stool next to him.

“Get you a menu?” a young, blond, ponytailed waitress asked him. She looked all of eighteen.

“I’ll take the lunch special and a cola, thanks,” Hud said.

She was back in a jiffy with a cola and a glass of ice along with the pot of coffee. She refilled Leroy’s cup then went back into the kitchen to flirt with the young cook.

Leroy was shaking his head as he watched the cook. “Hard to find anyone who knows anything about the grill. There’s a knack to cooking on a grill.”

Hud was sure there was. “Leroy, I was wondering if you remember a waitress who used to work here back about twenty years ago.”

“Twenty years? You must be kidding. I can barely remember what I had for breakfast.”

“Her name was Ginger Adams.”

Leroy let out a laugh. “Ginger? Well, hell yes. That cute little redhead? Who could forget her?” He frowned. “Why would you be asking about her? It’s been… how many years? It was the year we got the new grill. Hell, that was seventeen years ago, the last time I saw her.”

There was no avoiding it. Everyone in the canyon knew about the bones. Once he started asking about Ginger, any fool would put two and two together. “It was her bones that were found in the Cardwell Ranch well.”

“No kiddin’.” Leroy seemed genuinely surprised.

“You ever date her?” Hud asked.

The old cook let out a cackle. “She wasn’t interested in some cook. Not that girl. She was looking for a husband – and one who could take care of her.”

“Someone with money.”

“Money. Position. Power. And it didn’t matter how old he was, either,” Leroy said grudgingly.

“Like Angus Cardwell.”

Leroy nodded. “He was old enough to be her daddy, too. Guess she thought the Cardwell Ranch was his. Dropped him like a hot potato once she found out Mary Cardwell wasn’t going to let loose of that land though.”

“Know who she dated after Angus?” Hud asked.

Leroy chuckled and took a sip of his coffee before he said, “Sure do.

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.