Patent Pending and Death by Patti Larsen

Author:Patti Larsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy murder mystery, cozy mystery series, private investigator cozy mystery, pug mystery

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Chapter Seventeen

We huddled in the back hallway of the lodge near the emergency exit leading to the ski lift. I’d had a rather unpleasant encounter with this part of the resort before, though it felt a lifetime ago and was a far different time of year. Still, I couldn’t help the goosebumps that traced up my arms while Dad glanced up to make sure we hadn’t been followed.

“Should we be worried about this Lance guy, John?” Crew’s level tone of voice did nothing to hide the pulse of his heartbeat jumping on his neck nor the faint rise of another vein in the center of his forehead, sure sign my husband’s temper was on the incline.

“I spoke to my contact,” Dad said, deep voice low and quiet, contained only to us, “on the PI board. Turns out Lance is a new hire, looking to make a name for himself after a string of failures of his own. Robert must have gotten to him.” My father shook his head, sighed. “Poor kid, I really did like him once. But, not my problem he couldn’t keep a deputy job. Kept screwing up, and not small stuff, either. From what I hear, his last termination came from a chain of evidence issue that ended in a murderer walking.”

Yikes. “So, this is going to fire him up,” I said.

Dad didn’t comment on that specifically. “We need to play by the book.” He didn’t sound happy about that. “My contact was pretty clear that someone is looking for a reason to shut us down, and not just Fee.” He had been right. Dad didn’t seem worried, at least on the outside. “We’ll sort it out. For now, though, its all hands on deck until the convention is over and Lance makes his ruling Monday morning.”

“Good thing Liz’s case wrapped.” Crew nodded. “Everything else can wait, right?”

Dad didn’t answer right away, faint frown creasing his forehead, but he finally just shrugged. “It’ll have to,” he said. “The big issue, from what I understand, is that Fee’s two years of experience is being questioned.”

“Despite her track record as an investigator,” Crew said.

“An unproven track record.” We’d missed him sneaking up on us. Lance didn’t seem aggressive or anything, but he’d clearly come to cause trouble, hands in the pockets of his too-large overcoat, his face set and determined. Dad stepped aside to allow him to join us which he did after a brief moment of hesitation. “Ms. Fleming was never officially an investigator.”

“The fact you’re leveling unfair scrutiny on her that you didn’t on the rest of us sounds like someone has it in for Fee,” my husband said. “Your friend Robert isn’t doing you any favors here, you know.”

Lance’s lips twisted into a grimace like he already knew that. “The fact remains both you and Sheriff—Mr. Fleming are trained law enforcement and have many years of experience under your belts. You were both granted full licenses without the sixty day trial period out of respect for your decades with both federal and local police forces.

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