Framed by a Forgery by Fiona Grace

Author:Fiona Grace [Grace, Fiona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy
Amazon: B086XLVX68
Goodreads: 53515825
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Published: 2021-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

They gathered together at the kitchen island, a fresh pot of coffee on hand to fuel them through the sleuthing session that lay ahead. Lacey grabbed her notebook and wrote Ronan’s name in the center of the first fresh page. Then she held the pen out, offering it to anyone who may want to chime in.

“All ideas. Any ideas. Nothing’s off limits.”

Gina peered at her skeptically. “You sure about that? Because the last time I offered a suggestion you bit my head off.”

Lacey twisted her lips. “That was before it was splashed all over the press. Things are different now.”

Tom leaned across the table and took the pen from her. “Let’s start with the facts,” he suggested. He wrote the word letter and connected it to Ronan’s name with an arrow, before adding three pound signs—£££. “We know, for a fact, that Ronan had come into a huge amount of money after selling the letter.”

Frank beckoned Tom to pass over the pen. He added forgery, and connected them both with an arrow. “And we know the letter turned out to be a forgery.”

A sudden idea hit Lacey. She took the pen from her father and added: fountain pen.

“Fountain pen?” Gina repeated.

Lacey nodded. “When I was at the crime scene, I overheard the cops say Ronan was stabbed with a fountain pen.” She shuddered as the horrible memories replayed in her mind. “Could that be a clue? A reference to the forgery?” She added a question mark after it.

“How do you kill someone with a fountain pen?” Tom asked.

“With brute force?” Gina suggested. “A lot of pent up rage?” She picked up the pen and mimed a furious stabbing gesture.

Everyone grimaced.

“Actually,” Lacey said, “there was only a single stab wound. The cop said it must’ve pierced his heart. There was very little blood at the scene, which suggests his heart stopped pumping pretty quickly.”

The two men bowed their heads solemnly at the somber news. Gina, on the other hand, added stabbed once to the diagram.

Tom took the pen from her and added the word: mistake?

“Mistake?” Lacey asked. “What do you mean?”

“Could’ve been an unfortunate accident,” he said. “Maybe the perp was holding the pen as a threat, to intimate him, and accidentally struck him in a fatal blow?”

Gina looked enthused. “Didn’t I say he was probably threatened! I bet they were pretending the pen was a knife in order to get his pin number off him!”

“OR,” Frank interrupted, holding his hand out for the pen. “It shows the opposite. A cold, calculated, preplanned killing. Think about it. What is more likely? The killer accidentally stabbed him in the exact manner that would cause death, or he researched it in advance?”

Lacey wasn’t sure if her father was just trying to contradict Tom, but it didn’t matter. It was a valid theory. She gestured to the paper. “Add it.”

As Frank wrote down his conflicting theory, Tom sat back in his chair and folded his arms. Clearly he assumed Frank’s suggestion was just to contradict his, because there was an unmistakable pout on his lips.

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