The Secret Ingredient to Murder by Terry Ambrose

Author:Terry Ambrose [Ambrose, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-28T00:00:00+00:00

30

Rick

Surrounded by the comforting smell of leather and old books, his new acquisition of The Old Man and the Sea on his desk, Rick considered the irony as he repeated his name and phone number for the operator at Pokerville General. Their search for Leslie Mendez, instead of being done with online databases and searches, was coming down to good old-fashioned phone calls and humans passing along written phone messages.

As he disconnected the call, Rick’s gaze flicked around the room. What had once been his grandfather’s library was now his. And growing. For some reason, he’d recently decided to continue Captain Jack’s legacy. It didn’t hurt that he’d always had a fondness for Hemingway’s writing. But until this minute, he hadn’t really understood why the urge to build the library had come upon him.

“You know, Adam, I think I’ve figured something out.”

“What’s that? You’ve got another angle to find Styles’s killer?”

“No. It has nothing to do with the case. I finally figured out why this urge came over me recently to add to Captain Jack’s library.”

Adam glanced around and frowned. “You mean your library.”

“I still like to think of it as his. In any case, it’s about engaging all the senses. A book like this…” He stopped, picked up the copy of Hemingway, and then laid it back down gently. “Something like that is tangible. You can see it, feel it, and even smell it. I think I’m hoping that Alex will someday develop the same sort of appreciation.”

“To each his own,” Adam said as he stood. “We should be getting over to the Inn.”

“The woman I left that message with said Leslie might be going on her break any minute. Maybe I should try again before we go.”

“Come on. The number you left was for your cell. That’s the beauty of modern technology. You can take a phone call anywhere.” Adam looked down at his notepad and then continued. “And since this sudden wave of nostalgia is washing over you and making you like the old way of doing things, we can canvass the Inn just like real gumshoes.”

Rick pushed back in his chair, stretched, and stood, “You’re a riot, Adam. Let’s get moving.”

Before they were out the door, Rick’s cell rang. He checked the number, saw it was not a local call, and answered.

“Mr. Atwood, this is Leslie Mendez. You left a message that it was urgent I call you?”

The woman’s voice held a tremor, betraying some sort of conflict. Rick wasn’t sure whether it resulted from fear, suspicion, or something else. Was it possible she’d heard about her ex? “Thanks for calling me back so quickly, Leslie. And please, call me Rick. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your ex-husband, Gideon Styles, is deceased.”

After a short stretch of silence, Leslie said, “Well, okay. How’d it happen?”

“There’s no delicate way to say this, but, um, he was murdered.”

“Hmmm. I’m not surprised. Given the life Gideon chose, it’s no surprise something like this would happen to him.

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