Murder on the Cosplay Express: A Kent Bronwyn Mystery by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Author:Kevin Paul Shaw Broden [Broden, Kevin Paul Shaw]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, murder mystery, train, detective, san diego, train station, cosplay, comic con, costume play, cosplayers
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

~~~

"You recognize the conductor?" I asked without looking up.

"I don't know why I hadn't before. We all worked with him until last year," Jeanna explained.

"Ya, his name's Casey Bannister. He was our company's accountant. Been there before any of us joined," Eric added as he agreed with her story. "That is, until he got caught embezzling funds from the company. It was Mitchell who discovered it and ended up getting him fired."

"The company should have pursued charges, but they let it get swept under the rug," Jeanna added.

Carefully the three of us glanced down the aisle towards the other end of the car, past all the costumed and nervous passengers, to where the conductor had been ordered to remain and not let anyone leave the train car.

"Did you know he was currently working on the train?"

Jeanna shook her head with wide eyes as the implication struck home.

"You're absolutely certain that’s Casey Bannister?" I asked her in a whisper, needing to be sure before making any move

"Positive."

At that moment, the conductor looked our direction. I doubted he could hear us, but with us looking he must have known we were talking about him. Bannister realized he had been made. Grabbing the pole, he spun around and dove down the stairs towards the lower level of the train.

"Stop him!"

All the passengers looked my way, shocked and confused by my shout.

"What?" Crosby asked from his position only three rows from where the conductor had vanished.

"Hell!" I leapt from the seat, startling both Jeanna and Eric and went for the second set of stairs just behind us.

As I hit the bottom step of the stairs, the ex-Marine looked at me just as confused as everyone else but quickly recovered.

"Like I'm going to help you!"

I ignored him and looked about. There was a key chain hanging from the locking system and one of the outer doors was partially opened. Bannister had stepped out for a stroll. I grabbed the door and forced it open.

Once outside, I had to let my eyes grow accustomed to the darkness. The moon hadn't yet risen over the hills of the base, and the lights in the train didn't provide much help. Still holding the train's handrail, I stabilized my footing, for only inches from the tracks the ground slowed downward.

As I pulled out my smart phone and activated the flash light app, I realized Bannister had made a grave error or a very smart mistake. If he had opened the doors on the opposite side of the train car, he would have been facing the Pacific and only a few hundred yards from the busy freeway. He might have been able to grab a vehicle to escape in. However, he had gone out the inland side of the train. There's nothing on that part of the Marine base except shrubbery, loose ground, a few coyotes, and snakes.

Slipping my phone into the front pocket of my sports coat so the light continued to shine ahead of me, I carefully made my way along the side of the train, trying not to turn an ankle on one of the ties.

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.