The Ghost of Mistletoe Mary by Sue Ann Jaffarian

Author:Sue Ann Jaffarian
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-11-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

“I have a hunch that’s Mary Dowling in the dryer,” Jeremiah said to Aaron who’d arrived on the scene shortly after the patrol cars. An EMT was working on Jeremiah’s shoulder, cleaning and bandaging it while he sat on the edge of the back of the ambulance.

“Any idea who was shooting at you?” Aaron asked.

Jeremiah shook his head and repeated what Granny had told him. “Just that it was a guy in a field jacket with a knit cap.” Then he remembered something else, something Granny didn’t hear or know.

“What else?” asked Aaron. “You look like you just remembered something important.”

“It could have been a woman,” Jeremiah suggested. “At one point that other container got stuck and I heard grunts when the shooter pushed it loose. Thinking back, the sound didn’t seem low enough for a man.” The EMT finished with the bandaging and Jeremiah slipped back into his shirt and jacket. “There was also a homeless guy sleeping off a drunk when I first came down the alley. Maybe he saw something.”

Aaron wrote something down in a small notebook. “Could he have been the shooter just posing as a sleeping bum?”

Jeremiah shrugged. “Maybe, but I doubt it. He was wearing a dirty plaid jacket. The shooter was wearing either a field jacket or something more military looking.”

“Lot of homeless vets down here looking to make a quick buck and a lot of them wear old field jackets,” Aaron pointed out.

Jeremiah nodded in agreement. “Tell you one thing, whoever was shooting at me knew how to use a gun. Could be military trained or it could be a criminal posing as one of the vets.”

“But outside of the jacket and cap, you saw nothing else?”

“Afraid not, Aaron. Just an average-height guy in a field jacket and knit cap.” Jeremiah stood up. “You going to be handling the investigation?”

His friend shook his head. “I’m technically off today. I saw Bud Ornelas and Audra Wilcox inside. He’s fairly new but a good detective, and Audra’s been at it awhile. You’re in good hands.” Aaron tapped his notebook. “Did you tell them this stuff?”

“Yeah, everything but my hunch about the shooter. I know Audra. She questioned me a bit while Ornelas went inside to check out the stiff. I’m sure they’ll have more questions.”

“What hunch is that?” asked a tall black woman in her forties. The two men turned to see Detective Audra Wilcox slip out the door behind the Dumpster. On her hands were latex gloves. “You holding out on me, Jeremiah?”

Jeremiah smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Audra.” He indicated to Aaron. “In talking to Aaron here, I remembered that the shooter grunted while moving that trash bin. I think it’s a woman.”

Audra Wilcox pursed her full lips as she considered the possibility. She was a handsome woman with coppery skin and high, chiseled cheekbones. Her slightly slanted eyes gave her face an intelligent, feline look—a feline used to hunting and catching her prey. She kept her thick wiry hair clipped closed to her head.

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.