The Case of the Tormented Troll by Linda Mooney

Author:Linda Mooney [Mooney, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998532721
Publisher: Music And Press
Published: 2020-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

13

11:41 Am

“I didn’t see anything in those photos that looked suspicious,” Aura admitted.

“Neither did I, but it’s probably because we don’t know the full story,” Beldon deduced. “For example, what made those brothers go from tormenting Ragg to killing him?”

“Exactly. And why is Wilhelm trying to hide evidence?”

She started to say more, when a driver cut her off, forcing her to hit the brake to avoid hitting them. The car lurched at the sudden stop, and she quickly jammed the clutch down to the floorboard to shift gears.

“Hey, toad face! Didn’t anyone tell you about blinkers?” she yelled at the car.

Beldon turned his face away from her to stare out the passenger side window. They needed to talk again. He needed to tell her about the decision he’d come to. A decision he’d mulled over, worried over, and argued with himself about for hours last night, until he’d been forced to return to the bottle and drink himself into a stupor so he could get at least some semblance of rest.

Once they were on the Eighty-Second Street Bridge and crossing over into the south side of the city, Beldon picked up their thread of conversation.

“We don’t know for sure Wilhelm is behind the missing photos or those rolls of film.”

“Are you saying there could be a third person trying to clean up their act at your expense?” She cast a quick side glance at him. “If you’re right, that would be…”

“Another frame up. Yeah, I know,” he acknowledged, and sighed loudly. “Not my first. Probably won’t be my last. Okay. Let’s take a moment to chew over the facts, what we do know. Ragg was murdered.”

“Check.” Aura bobbed her head. “There were hoof prints at the scene of the crime. Most likely made by goats.”

“Check,” he answered, then snapped his fingers. “Damn. I forgot to ask if any of those prints were cast for future reference.”

“Five will get you ten they weren’t.” Her mouth dropped open slightly, and she raised a finger to make a point. “Bel, was that one photo you took the only one that showed those prints?”

He tried to think back, but a haze of pain continued to fog his brain. Pulling out the bottle of pills from his coat pocket, he downed one, swallowing it dry. “I don’t think so, but don’t quote me on it.”

“If it was, that could be why…” Her voice trailed off.

“Could be what?” he pressed.

“Nah.” She shook her head and made a face. “I’m grasping at straws.”

“Nothing’s off the table, Aura.”

“All right. Here goes. What if there is a cover-up of sorts, and you just got caught in the middle of it? What if the evidence that was kept was going to be used to push the blame on someone else, and the photos that were missing point to the real suspect?”

“I’m listening. Go on.”

“That’s it. I’m flat busted. I got no more to go on for the moment.”

“Let’s hope this visit to the factory will shed some more light on this investigation,” he commented.

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