Rock, Roll, and Ruin by Karen Pullen

Author:Karen Pullen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down & Out Books

Elvie sank onto the sand to watch the waves roll in and out. She leaned back on her chaise, also known as the large hiking backpack that held all her belongings. “Why would someone kill a beloved beach grill owner? No forced entry, and his family said nothing seemed amiss. He had nothing on his calendar, and we have old-fashioned nothing to go on,” she said, and wished for a pillow as she fidgeted uncomfortably. The beach was her temporary home, as rents were high and server tips were low. Friends offered their couches, but they didn’t always like her having Sherlock in tow. Elvie couldn’t leave him.

“Hey, Sherlock. I have a joke for you. A dog limps into a bar. The bartender says, what’ll it be, Dog? Dog says, I’m looking for the man that shot my pa…w,” she drawled.

Sherlock stopped licking his paws and looked up at her with gentle, hound-dog eyes that said he listened to her every word.

“Aww, Sherlock, my cutest and only listener. Get it? Pa…paw? So, Beau’s business roared with success, according to his posh accountant who blabs all at the diner. But a couple of things stood out at his house: He’d stopped reading his mail and taken up eating a lot of boxed pastries. Did something stress him out? I mean, I have definitely taken a bad day out on a box of Little Debbie Honey Buns. I get that.”

Elvie kicked off her shoes, and digging her toes into the white-and-black-flecked sand, smoothly sashayed a one-two, three-four, five-six count, switching from right to left with the waves as her dance partner. The memory of being in Wally’s arms kept invading her thoughts, but that dance had been a lifetime ago—or rather, three years ago for her, when she had been a starry-eyed police recruit with another future.

Sherlock barked, and Elvie suddenly felt watched. A white SUV had pulled up in the front row of the beach parking lot. Elvie turned away and pulled up her hood. She threw Sherlock a kibble, the brown kernel skipping on the sand. Sherlock stopped the diligent cleaning of his paws, and dove for it, his long ears flapping back.

“You know, I think you could fly with those ears. And pace yourself, Sherlock. It’s a long week until payday, and who knows what kind of tips I’ll get.”

Sherlock whined, and went back to his dedicated paw-bathing.

As she dug in her overfilled backpack, a group of beach goers walked by, giving her a judgmental look.

“Ignore them, Sherlock. We may look like beach bums, but they don’t know us.” She pulled out her order pad and recreated the crime scene in her mind. Her memory’s attention to detail had landed her in police work beside Wally, and also landed her out of it. She’d remembered the right things about the wrong person.

“I didn’t disappear though, did I, Sherlock? I’m still here, putting the puzzle pieces together, even if it is through Wally.”

The alarm on her phone buzzed.

“Oh, time for

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