The Bay by Davis MacDonald

Author:Davis MacDonald [MacDonald, Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-05-14T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

9:00 PM Thursday

After a shower, fresh clothes, a polish of his shoes, the Judge felt considerably better. He rushed through a quick dinner with Katy, distracted, thinking about his date… err... appointment… with Sandy Wells. He’d bolted out of the bungalow at eight-thirty, telling Katy he had a late meeting, but wouldn’t be out long.

The Village Inn had been at the end of the small shopping street on Balboa Island forever, all wood paneling and padded red leather booths. Mostly a local’s hangout. The Judge was five minutes late. Sandy had already settled in on a red stool at the bar, her narrow frame lapping over the edges of the even narrower padded seat. It didn’t look very comfortable. But she had a nice butt.

She wore tight turquoise jeans under an ivory camisole that looked like it belonged in the bedroom, a V front descending down toward her navel, flirting with exposure of nipples hidden in its folds.

“Ms. Wells, how are you?” said the Judge, mugging his most smarmy formal self. He wasn’t sure why. He felt awkward, nervous, cautious, holding himself in check.

“It’s the Judge,” she cooed, swinging around on her stool. Reaching out, pulling him to her chest, smothering him with a big sitting hug that took his breath away.

She patted the stool next to her and offered to buy.

The Judge accepted. It’d been some time since a pretty girl had bought him a drink. He ordered a Bombay and tonic.

They settled down to business at once. Sandy relating her interviews of everyone around when Larry’s body was discovered. No significant leads.

The Judge started to talk about Larry’s apartment but Sandy held up her hand.

“Been there, Judge. Done that. It’s a dead end.”

“Oh.”

She seemed so smug the Judge decide not to mention the purple trash bag filled with Larry’s trash squashed into the Jaguar’s trunk. He’d gone through it quickly in his garage and nothing seemed very useful. But he wanted to take another look.

“How’s your love life, Judge?” Sandy asked, suddenly changing the subject, dragging the conversation in a new direction with a lurch. “Ready to expand your horizons?”

“Not yet, Sandy.” He gave her a soft smile. “But if I were, I’d be on your doorstep first.”

She beamed. Pleased. The Judge had an inkling she considered this ‘progress’.

“But Sandy, you said on the phone you had a surprise for me. You sounded like the cat who’d gotten the cream. What else you got?”

Sandy leaned back on her stool, enjoying her triumph.

“I’ve got the murder scene, Judge. The place where it all went down.”

The Judge leaned forward. “Where, Sandy?”

“A vacation rental. Just two blocks from here.”

“Here? On Balboa Island? Larry Holbrook was killed here?”

“Yep. Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it? No place is sacrosanct these days.”

“How’d you find it?”

"A neighbor complained this morning about the smell. It’s been vacant for some weeks.”

“What’s the scene look like?”

“Thought you might want to see Judge. That’s why I suggested meeting here. Let me get the check and we’ll go.”

Ten

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.