Murder With Sarcastic Intent: (A Private Investigator Mystery Series) (Mary Cooper Mysteries Book 2) by Dan Ames

Author:Dan Ames [Ames, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Slogan Books
Published: 2014-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

20

Twenty

Mary made the call to LAPD, using her Bea Arthur voice. Not very sexy really. Kind of like a bull dyke with a cold and a killer hangover. She told the dispatcher she’d heard a scream and a gunshot. Mary gave them the address too and then hung up before they could ask any more questions.

Sol Landscaping.

Mary looked at the card again. It was decent quality, but not super slick, like the kind produced by a huge landscaping conglomerate. The card had a little bit more of a mom-and-pop-type-operation impression to it.

She debated about just calling the number on the card. But according to the address, it was only a ten-minute drive.

Mary gunned the Accord, anxious to put some distance between herself and her former client.

The sight of a dead body always unsettled her. Sure, Mary could function, think straight (like making sure she didn’t leave any fingerprints anywhere in the house) but there was always a delayed reaction.

Elyse Ramirez, even if that had not been her real name, had been a beautiful woman. Vital, with intelligence and poise. She had struck Mary as the kind of woman who had plenty of plans and the means to make them come true.

But not anymore.

It took Mary less than ten minutes to find the address attributed to Sol Landscaping without a problem. It was down a side street off Wilshire, then down another long dirt alley that opened up to reveal an industrial yard with a few sheds, open grounds featuring piles of dirt, gravel, and what looked like trashed landscaping materials.

Mary parked in front of an aluminum-clad building that was more of a shack.

She went to the front door but found it locked. Through the door’s dust-covered window, she could see a makeshift office with two steel folding chairs, a printer, and a coffeemaker tipped on its side.

The sound of a high-pitched motor coming to life sounded to Mary like it was coming from behind the building. She thumbed the auto-lock on her car then walked around the aluminum shack.

“Can I help you?” a man’s voice said.

Mary turned to see a short, stocky, Hispanic man in green coveralls, tan boots, and a black baseball cap. He had a weedwhacker in his hand. There was a gas can and a small bottle of oil on the picnic table next to him.

“This is Sol Landscaping?” she said.

“Yes,” he said, a slight accent to his voice.

“Oh great, I’m looking for a good landscaper and you come highly recommended,” Mary said, “by my friend, Elyse Ramirez.”

The man peeked at her from beneath his ball cap. His eyes were black, and there were dark smudges on his face.

“Let me get the boss,” he said. He set the weedwhacker on the table and went into the building.

Mary studied the back of the building. There was only one story, and next to the back door were several bright-red gas cans.

The sound of wheels spinning and an engine roaring reached Mary’s ears. She ran back to the front of

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