Magnolias and Murder: A Witches of Keyhole Lake Witch Mystery (Witches of Keyhole Lake Mysteries Book 16) by Tegan Maher

Author:Tegan Maher [Maher, Tegan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Magical Words Publishing
Published: 2023-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Zeke lived out in the boondocks, so it took us almost thirty minutes to get to his place. Hunter had called him earlier to make sure he was there, so at least we knew we weren't making the trip for nothing.

"This looks like it," Hunter said as he slowed down near a dirt driveway.

An old metal mailbox on a rotting post had nothing but an address, but that was all we needed. As he turned up the driveway and neared the small but neat house, the feeling of being watched slithered over my skin. Sure enough, a burlap curtain stirred. Before we even made it out of the car, Zeke came out the front door and leaned against a porch post, arms crossed over his bony chest. Given his frame and that he was only about my height, he could have been mistaken for a woman if his face and hands were covered.

"Sheriff," he nodded as we approached. "Noelle."

"Hey Zeke. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me," Hunter said. "I'll try not to take up too much your time."

Zeke sighed. "I can save you a lot of that. I didn't kill the old bat over a couple hundred bucks. I did cross her off my client list though. I don't have time for that nonsense. My work was solid and there are plenty of folks willing to pay me for it."

I couldn't imagine Maude would have taken that well. She was the one who did the firing, not vice versa. "Had you told her that yet?"

He nodded. "Sure did. Swung by her house yesterday to give her one more chance to pay me, and when she didn't, I told her to find another handyman."

Hunter glanced at me then turned back to Zeke. "How did she handle that?"

He took his grubby John Deere hat off, scratched his dark hair, then slid it back on. "As far as I can tell, it don't much matter. I don't care who she was — I don't work for free. To answer your question, though, it put her in a snit. She told me if I redid the work, she'd pay me half. I told her I wasn't doing it even if she offered me double my money. She stomped off and I got back in my truck and left. She was a crabby old goat, and I happy to wash my hands of her."

"You know I had to ask where you were at when she was killed," Hunter said.

My gut said Zeke was telling the truth, so I hoped for both his sake and ours that he had a solid alibi.

“I wish I could say I was with somebody the entire evening," Zeke said, "but the truth is, I went down to the fair for a bit then came straight home and watched TV. If I’d known she was gonna up and get herself murdered, I’da done a little better job of covering my own backside."

"What did you wear to the fair?" I asked.

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