Vitamin Sea by Maia Ross

Author:Maia Ross [Ross, Maia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Humor, Amateur Women Sleuths, cozy, quirky, humorous, Mystery, Dark Humor, amateur sleuth, cozy detective mysteries, Humorous Dark Comedy, Amateur female detectives, cozy mysteries humorous women, Amateur female Sleuths, Crime Fiction, cozy books mysteries, Women Sleuths, cosy, cozy detective books
Publisher: Lazy Beaver Press
Published: 2020-12-15T22:00:00+00:00

Twenty—Irma

Frankly, I was not thrilled about all the recent odd happenings on my sleepy little island. I needed my town and everyone in it to be safe, especially since I was now retired and out of the game. I took a minute to smell the nasturtiums blooming near my little lair, to try to centre myself.

The man was too far away to identify, but his shoulders were tensed in a way that made adrenaline pulse through me.

I watched him for a while from my perch. Granted, if it was Boris, this was a terrible place to assassinate someone. But we were about half a mile from Frenchman’s Bay, and if we were having a little communications snafu—

“Irma?” Boris called out and I held my breath. I’d been counting on being able to spot him first if I came from this direction, so I’d probably been stomping around like an Albanian clog dancer.

Bugger. I stepped back from my shrubbery, stumbling a little. I could feel my hair being tugged out of place and I patted it down as well as I could, but as I stepped out of my hidey-hole, I noticed a nasturtium bud stuck in my hair. I tilted my head, the flower fell in my mouth, and I ate it. “Afternoon, Boris.”

“Having fun?” he said pleasantly.

“Always.” I tried not to comment on his horrific Hawaiian shirt: hula girls, turtles, and cocktails in eye-straining primary colours. I took a look at his hands; they were held away from his body and clearly empty, both of them snapped into latex gloves, which was a little sobering. No bulges that I could see around his waist, but who could really tell? I stepped forward carefully, trying to exude an aura of calm and relaxation. Boris responded with a jovial smile. I couldn’t tell if that meant I was being successful or not.

After a moment, I reached his side. Then I matched his gaze. And suddenly I was cold. A man lay on the ground, a bullet wound in the back of his head, a pool of blood surrounding him. He was dressed in a white polo and khaki pants, the office uniform of Club employees. The body lay on a blanket of pine needles and old leaves. It had been there for a while.

“I was going for one of my walks,” Boris said, like he was talking about the weather. “And I wanted to go, off-road, I think you would say?” He motioned at his feet, housed in hiking boots. “My nephew is trying to get me out in the great outdoors.”

“It’s nice to have family to look out for you.”

He leaned down and pointed. “See the stippling on the bullet wound? This man was lying down when he was shot at very close range with a small calibre weapon.”

“By someone he knew, maybe?”

He pressed his lips together. “It’s hard to say. I, myself, would refuse to get on my knees, let alone lie down and let someone kill me.”

I nodded grimly.

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