Murder On Spirit Island (Niki Dupre Mysteries Book 1) by Jim Riley

Author:Jim Riley [Riley, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gumshoe - A Next Chapter Imprint
Published: 2020-09-14T22:00:00+00:00

Wednesday Afternoon

Zachary

Given the late hour of the afternoon, Niki decided the best plan was to follow one of the partners. Since Wayne LaBorde was vehemently singled out by Henry Welker as being the most capable of murder, she decided to find out what he might be up to on this tranquil Wednesday evening.

She found his home with no problem in the upscale golfing community in Zachary, only ten minutes north of Baton Rouge. Luckily for the investigator, the LaBorde residence was located a few blocks down the street from the Copper Mill clubhouse.

From the edge of its parking lot, Niki watched Wayne enter his driveway and pull his Lexus SUV into a triple garage a little after six PM. Only a few minutes later, she saw the expensive SUV leave the garage and turn toward Highway 64. Niki worried that she might lose him in traffic, but her concerns were unwarranted.

In less than three minutes, LaBorde steered the Lexus into the parking lot of Sammy's Grill, a popular seafood and hamburger restaurant with the locals. She followed the contractor into the eatery and watched the hostess escort him into a private dining area just beyond the restrooms.

Niki indicated to the hostess that she would eat alone and sat at a table with a good view of the door to the private dining room. Before she could order an appetizer, she watched Phillip Kemp enter the same room. While giving the waitress or order, she noticed another man follow Kemp. Trying not to be too obvious, she looked at him closely, but did not recognize the man.

She wondered if the last man was Oberlin Davis, III. She had no photograph of him as she did the other conspirators in the bid-rigging scheme. If so, she realized this was a meeting of the coalition that defrauded the state of Louisiana.

Niki ate the fried bits of alligator tail and ordered a small platter of fried catfish for the entrée. Seeing no one else move toward the room, she yearned to get closer. She inched toward the lady’s room, passed it up, and leaned against a private door, pressing her ear hard on the wood.

She heard one man say, "He's missing. I tell you, he is missing. I tried to reach him at his house, his office, his email account, and a cell. Gary is gone just like Henry. I'm getting nervous."

Another replied, "Calm down, Phillip. Maybe he took a few days off to consider everything that happened this week."

A third voice, presumably belonging to Davis, was barely audible. "How do you explain all of this, Wayne?"

Inside the room, LaBorde remained calm. "Something strange is happening, for sure. I'm not in a position to explain all of it but we need to hang together. At this stage, we can't start jumping on each other."

"A little late for that advice, don't you think?" Kemp replied open. "Somebody seems to be jumping on all of us and doing a good job of it."

"Look." LaBorde said in a reassuring voice.

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