Night at Key West (A Simon Wolfe Mystery Book 1) by Craig A. Hart

Author:Craig A. Hart [Hart, Craig A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Northern Lake Publishing
Published: 2018-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

10

Back in Key West, I discovered that Arenberg had been busily trying to determine my whereabouts. I found him at the courthouse, and when he saw me coming, I knew he was both happy to see me and furious at the same time.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“Fishing,” I said. “Sorry, was I supposed to check in?”

He blustered for a moment, his frustration so that he was at a loss for words. Finally, he managed, “There’s an active investigation going on! What kind of detective are you anyway? You’re in the employ of the city now and I expect a bit more dedication to your position.”

As he made his case, I began feeling a bit sheepish. It had, I realized, been extremely foolhardy and irresponsible to simply disappear out to sea under the circumstances, but I also felt I could not be held entirely responsible. I had essentially been kidnapped by Hemingway and his Mob. I had initially thought the outing to be a leisurely afternoon, with no idea it would turn into a booze-fueled romp to the Tortugas. It could be argued that I should have anticipated such a development, as Hemingway’s reputation was well-founded, but I had been charmed by the man and his lifestyle. The situation had happened, nothing could change that, and what was more, I did not feel particularly repentant. It had been a hell of a good time. Not one I necessarily needed to repeat, but I was glad I had done it. In addition, the current experience was reminding me why I had disliked having an employer—they had expectations.

“Well,” I said, trying with little success to sound contrite, “I’m back now.”

Arenberg growled but seemed to decide to let the matter rest, at least for the time being. “I suppose there’s nothing to be done for it now, so I might as well get you up to snuff on things.”

“Something has happened?”

“You’d better believe it.” He reached out and pulled me closer by my shirt front, as if preparing to impart some top-secret information. In a lowered voice, he said, “I have an eyewitness who saw Mike Danby out in a dinghy last night.”

“So?”

“They also said he pushed something overboard. They heard the splash.”

“And you think the splash was Mrs. Danby?”

“It figures. The guy is under suspicion for murdering his wife, so he takes the body and dumps it into the sea.”

“What would be his motive? I don’t think that would complicate any sort of corpus delicti requirements. She was seen dead by several witnesses who would testify. A little late to dispose of the evidence, isn’t it?”

“To our minds, yes, but a cornered man does many a foolish thing in his hour of desperation.”

“Have you searched the area where the dumping occurred?”

“Naturally.”

“And?”

“The search party came up empty. Not that that’s any big surprise; you know how these currents are.”

Inwardly, I frowned. Now that Arenberg’s preferred verdict—suicide—had been demonstrated to be highly unlikely, he was left with murder. The best way to deal with murder in Key West was to get it off the books as quickly as possible.

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.