Murder & The Secret Cave by Harman Dianne

Author:Harman, Dianne [Harman, Dianne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2015-12-08T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Marty parked in the last available spot in the coffee shop parking lot and walked in the door. She spotted Jeff sitting at a booth facing the door with two cups of coffee already on the table. She hurried over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Well, that’s a nice way to begin the late afternoon. What did I ever do to deserve that?”

“Just trying to keep your downtown image intact. I imagine you have women walk up to you all the time giving you a kiss,” she said as she laughed and sat down.

“Fraid not sweetheart, but any time you want to repeat that, you have my permission.”

“Jeff, I’m pretty excited. I was able to find a couple of clues, and I need your help.” She told him about going to Randy’s, and what she’d found.

“Marty, I really wish you hadn’t gone out there. I would have been happy to go with you. I’m glad it worked out, but that’s the kind of thing you do that drives me nuts. I’m a detective. I’m supposed to protect and help people. I’m supposed to solve crimes. What I’m not supposed to do is spend all my time worrying about you. Oh well, I can see that it’s hopeless,” he said in a slightly raised voice. “You are what you are. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

She took the Kleenex with the cigarette butts out of the side pocket of her purse and showed them to him. He spent a few moments looking at them and then said, “I saw the coroner’s report this morning. Did you know that Randy had lung cancer? These must have been his.”

“Randy had lung cancer? He didn’t tell me that, although I bet that’s the reason he wanted to sell his collection. He probably knew he was going to die. Wow!” She sat back in the booth and took a sip of her coffee. “Jeff, these aren’t his. The whole time I was with Randy he smoked one cigarette after another, and they definitely weren’t filtered cigarettes. These are filtered cigarettes, and they can’t be his.”

“Are you sure he didn’t smoke Desert Springs?”

“Is that their name? How do you know?”

“I had a partner who was a chain smoker, and that was his brand. There was always an ashtray full of them on his desk. It was when you could still smoke in the workplace. Glad it’s illegal to smoke in an office now. Anyway, those are definitely Desert Springs cigarette butts.”

“Jeff, I think they’re from the killer. I found them slightly behind the boulder to the right of the cave entrance. Someone could hide behind the boulder, and by peeking around it, have a straight view into Randy’s house. Remember, he left the door open for the breeze. Maybe he was even there before I left the first time and was waiting for me to leave. Anyway, can you run a fingerprint test on them?”

“That would be a little tricky, Marty. First of all, you need to turn these over to the sheriff.

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