Ninth Grave (A Writer's Retreat Mystery Book 9) by Kathi Daley

Author:Kathi Daley [Daley, Kathi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kathi Daley Books
Published: 2019-06-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Friday, May 10

As we had for dinner, we ordered breakfast from room service the next morning. After we’d eaten, I took Kizzy out for a walk and then we loaded Jack’s car and drove to our first destination for the day, the gas station minimart where Patricia Fields had worked and from which she had disappeared. As it turned out, Bob Jordan, the man who had worked with her on the night she was last seen, not only still worked there but had been promoted to manager and was there today.

Jack introduced us to him, and Bob invited us into his office.

“I’m not sure that I have anything to add that I haven’t already told the police,” Bob said.

“That’s okay. We are just trying to get a general feel for what happened. Can you start by telling us what you remember about that night?” Jack asked.

“It was busy. Patricia and I were both supposed to get off at eight, but the third person who was supposed to work that night and was scheduled to close never showed up. I stayed until nine thirty and Patricia agreed to stay until closing, at ten. Looking back, I realize I should have stayed and let Patricia go, but I had a date and she volunteered to cover, so I let her.”

“Was it standard practice to have two employees close?” Jack asked.

“No, but the boss always scheduled a male employee to close. He didn’t want any of the females to be left here alone. I can see now that his policy made sense.”

“I understand there were several people acting suspiciously before you left,” Jack said.

Bob nodded. “There were, but we get a lot of eclectic people here, especially later in the evening, so I wouldn’t say that anyone was unusually odd. I never for a minute thought that Patricia might be in any sort of danger. Like I said, we get our share of odd eggs in here. I guess it is just part of the job. The police officer asked me to describe some of the customers we had that night, and I picked out a few whose behavior stood out.”

“If you had to guess, which of them would you most suspect of being responsible for Patricia’s disappearance?” Jack asked.

Bob paused. “I guess the man in the trench coat. Not because he necessarily seemed threatening, but he was still hanging around outside when I left.”

“You mentioned to the police that he was middle-aged and balding and kept asking the same question over and over,” Jack said.

Bob nodded. “That’s right. The guy was on something. I don’t know what, but he was really out of it. I asked him to leave, and he did, but when I was on my way out, I noticed him sitting on a bus bench not far from the store.” Bob shook his head. “You have no idea how badly I wish I had done things differently that night.”

“Other than the man wearing the trench coat, can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Patricia?” Jack asked.

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