Wipe Out: A fun and fast-paced private investigator cozy mystery/beach read (Maggie PI Mysteries Book 3) Read online

  After making my way back to my office door, I shoved the key into the lock. The sound of metal clanking against metal startled me. I jumped and clutched my chest. I scanned the area to locate the source of the sound.

  “Maggie, Maggie. What have you gotten into this time?” the sweet little voice asked.

  “Dorothy, I didn’t see you there.” I released a deep breath.

  My assistant was leaning against the stucco building. Her gray hair was piled high on her head in a beehive style. Dorothy bought hair spray in bulk. She wore a pair of white linen pants and a bright pink shirt. Her sandals had fuchsia-colored flowers on top. Dorothy feverishly worked the knitting needles in her hands. A ball of yellow yarn was on the ground next to her feet. Her toes were painted pink to match her colorful lipstick.

  I opened the door. “What are you talking about? And why are you standing outside?”

  “I’m standing outside because I locked myself out. Now don’t play innocent with me.” She pointed with one of the needles. “I saw the commotion out on the beach. It looked serious so I stayed away. But you just can’t stay away from trouble, can you?”

  My office was right on the beach. It was a tiny little space, with just enough room for two desks and a metal filing cabinet. My uncle Griffin Thomas had bought this space years ago. Now I had taken over.

  Dorothy had a big pocketbook draped over her arm and her knitting needles in the other hand. As soon as we got in the office she sat behind her desk and started knitting.

  “The dead guy had my name on a piece of paper in his hand. All in a day’s work, I suppose.” I placed the keys down on my desk.

  She plopped her ginormous pink floral handbag on top of her desk. “Aren’t you a tad bit curious why the man had your name?”

  The desks were across the room from each other, but with such a tiny space we could practically hold hands from behind each desk.

  I sat on the uncomfortable metal chair at my tiny desk. “A smidgen, yes. I suppose I need to do some research and find out who he is, right?”

  The smug look Abby Zahn had given me flashed in my mind. Not to mention the sophistication that had oozed from her. I grabbed one of the stale jelly doughnuts from the box on my desk. When I took a bite, the raspberry filling dripped down the front of my shirt.

  Dorothy grabbed her needles and sat behind her desk. “You don’t have to research the man, but I would if I were you. Don’t think you have to agree with me though. I can’t force you to do the right thing.”

  I wiped the stain on the front of my shirt with a napkin. That only made it worse. “No, but you can nag me until I do.”

  Chapter 2

  “So who was the gorgeous woman I saw standing with Jake out there by the beach?” Dorothy asked.

  “I thought you said you didn’t come out there,” I said.

  “I didn’t come all the way out there, but I might have taken a peek around the corner and spotted you all. She has legs for days.” Dorothy whistled.

  I groaned. “Thanks for the reminding me.”

  I didn’t have legs for days. More like a half-day. Nevertheless, I loved myself and the way I looked. If Jake didn’t that was his loss.

  Dorothy clacked her knitting needles together to get my attention. “So who is she?”

  I shuffled papers on my desk and ignored her question.

  “Oh, you’re jealous,” Dorothy said in a singsong voice.

  “Dorothy, I’m not jealous. I’m very confident in my body.”

  She shrugged. “You just have that funny look on your face. I’m just sayin’…”

  “It’s no big deal,” I said with a wave of my hand.

  “Well, if it’s no big deal then who is she?” Dorothy asked as she continued knitting her sock.

  Why was she knitting a sock when we were in Miami? It was hotter outside than the Devil’s waiting room.

  “Why do you need a sock?” I asked.

  “You never know when you might need a warm sock,” Dorothy said. “Before you know it winter will be here and it’ll be sixty degrees. You’ll thank me when you have warm fuzzies for your toes.”

  “She’s Jake’s new partner,” I said. “Abby something.”

  Dorothy stopped knitting. “Interesting. How do you feel about that?”

  “They’re just partners. It’s part of the job,” I said. “Besides, Jake and I aren’t a couple. We’re not dating. We had one kiss and that was it.”

  “Maybe one kiss, but there’s a lot more going on with him than that,” she said as she started knitting again.

  A scraping sound came from the front of the office. I knew it was outside. Dorothy stopped knitting and gave me a look.

  “What was that noise?” I whispered.

  Dorothy shrugged. The only sound that filled the air at the moment was the clacking of her knitting needles. I supposed I needed to get up and check on it. I was a teensy bit afraid of what I might find. I could handle it though. After all, it was the middle of the day, so what was the worst that could happen? Oh, other than being shot like the man they’d just discovered along the beach.

  It was probably a gang of seagulls trying to get in for more food from Dorothy. They couldn’t wait for me to get back out there so they’d decided to come inside. Maybe they were pecking at the window. I knew Dorothy was still feeding them.

  I got up from my desk and headed over to the door. Before opening, I decided to take a look out the window, just to be on the safe side. I needed to see who might be out there before opening up. As I moved over to the window, Dorothy grabbed something.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Just in case,” she said.

  I’d left my gun on the desk where I could easily reach it. Though a little scraping sound didn’t seem to warrant me taking my gun to check it out. Now Dorothy clutched the gun in her hands.

  I rushed over and took the gun. “Give me that.”

  “What? You think I can’t handle a gun? I can use them. I went to the gun range once before with my late husband.”

  “I hardly think that even qualifies you to hold the gun, much less fire it. You’re making me nervous.” I secured the gun.

  Dorothy held up her hands. “All right, I won’t touch it. Now go see who’s outside.”

  I got to the window and moved one of the slats on the blinds just a little bit so that I could see outside. There was nothing there, not even any seagulls. Maybe it was just noise from somewhere else and it had carried across the air.

  I went back to my desk and Dorothy resumed her knitting. I’d just reached for my laptop when a knock sounded on the door. I practically fell backwards in my chair. My arms whirled in the air as I regained my balance. Dorothy screamed as she tossed her knitting in the air.

  “What’s going on in there?” the male voice asked.

  I knew right away who it was. What was he doing back here? Had he forgotten something? Like arresting me?

  A knock rattled the door.

  “It’s open,” I called out.

  Jake walked in. He looked from me and over to Dorothy. “Is everything okay in here?”

  “What are you doing back here? Did something happen?” My stomach tumbled at the thought of being arrested. I had done nothing wrong, I reminded myself.

  “Just wanted to check on you again. I’m sorry if I upset you,” Jake said.

  I was acutely aware of Dorothy staring at us. I couldn’t help it if I had butterflies in my stomach while talking with Jae.

  “I’m fine. It’s part of my job,” I said with a wave of my hand.

  He moved around the room as if inspecting things. I guessed it was a detective thing, but it still made me nervous. “All right, if you’re sure.”

  That text from Abby was still on my mind. Jake hesitated, as if he wanted to say more, but he remained silent.

  I knew it was a long shot, but I had to ask Jake the question. “Do you have the victim’s name?”

  He studied my face and I could
n’t read what he was thinking. Either he thought I was crazy or he was getting ready to laugh. I was hoping for the laughter. I got neither one, but I did get a half-smile, so that was good enough. I’d take that.

  “Maggie, you know I can’t give you that information.”

  “Can’t or won’t?” I asked, giving him a little smirk. “Look, Jake, if he had my name it’s only fair that I know his.”

  He watched me for a moment longer before breaking out in laughter. That was the reaction I had wanted.

  “You know, you have a point.” He looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear our conversation. Thank goodness Abby had gone. “Okay, but you didn’t hear this from me.” His voice was now a whisper.

  I pretended to zip my mouth shut. “No, of course not.”

  “His name was Henry Archer,” Jake said.

  “I’ve never heard that name before,” I said.

  “Well, I hope that’s the truth, Maggie. Think hard and see if you can remember who this guy is. Did you set up an appointment with him?”

  “No, I have no appointments—er, for this morning,” I clarified.

  I didn’t want him to think that I was struggling to get business. I was doing okay, even though I’d just started the business. Well, restarted the business. Considering I was now potentially a murder suspect it wasn’t looking all that great, but other than that, I was okay. I’d solved a couple of cases… and big ones too. No one could deny that.

  Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped. Dorothy stood behind me with her hands on her hips. “Maggie Thomas, is there more to this story?”

  Dorothy liked to think of herself as my mother rather than my assistant. She was full of questions and trying to tell me the best way to do things. I mostly ignored her though.

  “There is no story, Dorothy. You should go back to your knitting.”

  Dorothy stepped around me and addressed Jake. “You know, Jake, I have some advice on investigating.”

  “Dorothy, Jake doesn’t want our advice.” I steered Dorothy away from Jake. “Jake, if I think of anything different I’ll be in touch,” I said.

  “This could be serious, Maggie.” He gave me a concerned look.

  “What does he mean?” Dorothy asked.

  “Nothing. He just has to be overly cautious. That’s his job,” I said, trying to ease her fears.

  Dorothy had become just as protective of me as she had been of my uncle.

  “Maggie, you really do need to watch out and not get yourself into these situations. I just don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” Dorothy pointed.

  Of course, I ignored her.

  When Jake’s phone rang he looked at the screen. “I’ll call you. In the meantime, please don’t get in trouble.”

  I gave a little salute. Jake soaked in one last look at me before answering the call.

  “This is Detective Jackson,” Jake said as he turned and walked out the door.

  Dorothy talked while she knitted. I sat behind my desk and pulled out my laptop. Uncle Griffin hadn’t owned a computer. Luckily, I’d managed to get one on my own. His business model consisted of just that old metal filing cabinet and a pad of paper and a pencil.

  I typed in the name Henry Archer into the search engine. Right away something interesting popped up. A woman in Miami had been murdered and the name of the person of interest in her death was Henry Archer. Interesting.

  Skye Clark had been last seen at a bar with Henry. That still didn’t explain why he’d been coming to see me. I had to find out more about the girlfriend’s murder case. I wondered if Jake had discovered this yet.

  There were quite a few articles about the woman’s murder. Apparently, Skye had been with Henry on the night she’d been killed, but he’d said she left the bar without him. Within a few hours, they discovered her body behind a nearby business. Henry had always maintained his innocence. There was a website set up in case someone wanted to send clues about Skye’s murder. I decided to send a message to see if anyone could give me more information. I’d have to track down her family.

  After sending the email, I sat at my desk, tapping the pencil against the yellow legal pad. Dorothy was still busy knitting and I was lost in thought. Mostly contemplating what had just happened. I’d searched for Henry’s home address, but I’d gotten several different ones. I wasn’t sure which was correct.

  “Will you please stop tapping that pencil? It’s driving me crazy. My OCD is in overdrive.” Dorothy grabbed a peppermint candy from the dish she kept on her desk.

  I smirked at Dorothy. “Well, the clacking of those needles isn’t exactly music to my ears either.”

  “Don’t you have some calls to make?” Dorothy’s gray eyebrows rose over the top of her little black reading glasses.

  I wasn’t even going to answer that question. Dorothy and I were both snippy. We were letting the heat get to us.

  The phone rang and Dorothy snorted.

  I picked up on the second ring. “Maggie Thomas, how may I help you?”

  “Maggie, I just got your email. This is Allison Hartford and I run the website for Skye Clark.”

  I shuffled a few papers around my desk so that it would sound as if I was busy. “Oh, great, thank you for getting back to me so soon.”

  “You have some questions for me?” Allison asked

  “I’m a private investigator,” I said.

  “Oh, were you hired to find Skye’s killer?”

  “Actually, I’m not sure.”

  “I’m confused. What do you want?” Allison asked.

  “Recently Henry Archer was found murdered.”

  She snorted. Maybe I needed to pay this friend a visit in person. She seemed a bit happy with the news of Henry’s death. I supposed that meant she believed he was the killer. This was what I wanted to discover.

  “I just wanted to know if perhaps you could tell me what you know about Skye’s relationship with Henry.”

  Allison paused as if she was suspicious. “What can I say? I didn’t like the guy. I thought she could do better.”

  “Was there violence in the relationship?”

  “Not that I know of, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t. Maybe she just didn’t tell me.”

  “Sure, but you were close friends?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m her friend,” she said defensively. “You might want to contact her sister.”

  “Do you have her information?”

  “Yeah, she lives in Georgia. I can give you her number.”

  That could pose a problem. I’d been hoping the sister would be in town and I could zip right over and talk with her. Nevertheless, I took down the information and called Penelope Clark right away.

  Chapter 3

  Coincidentally Penelope Clark had recently arrived in Miami. She’d said she’d be happy to meet with me. I didn’t ask why she was in town, but it was probably because of her sister’s murder. I supposed I would find out soon enough. I was going to meet her in the lobby of the hotel where she was staying.

  The only way that I had been able to get out of the office without Dorothy coming along with me was because she had a hot date with her boyfriend Morton Grant. They were going to the early-bird special at the seafood place down the street. Going on and on about the lobster and all you can eat shrimp, Dorothy had this planned for a couple of weeks. There was no way she was canceling just to go with me to talk with someone who might or might not have information about the case. Plus, I’d given her the rest of the day off. I forwarded my calls to my cell phone and headed on my way. Okay, maybe the phone rarely rang, but I digressed.

  I wheeled into this parking spot and made my way into the hotel lobby. I had no idea who exactly I was looking for, but I had told the woman what I looked like and I was hoping that she would find me. I sat down on the sofa in the lobby area and watched the people as they went by with their luggage. I searched each woman’s face to see if she made eye contact. So far no luck.

  “Are you
Maggie?” a voice from behind me asked.

  I spun around in the seat. The woman was leaning down, looking right at me.

  I pushed to my feet. “Are you Penelope Clark?”

  Her mouth arched upward slightly. It seemed like the most emotion she could muster. “Yes, that’s me.”

  “I’m happy to meet you,” I said.

  I moved around the sofa and was now standing right next to her.

  “If you want to go out and possibly talk in a more private location…” She gestured.

  “Sure, that would be great,” I said.

  We walked outside the hotel.

  “My car’s over there. Would you be willing to take me to the crime scene? Where they found your sister?” I asked. “I know that’s a lot to ask, but I couldn’t ever get a clear answer as to where this exactly happened. I didn’t get the name of the location, only the general area. I’d really like to get a better feel for the place so that maybe I can help somehow.”

  “I’ll do it. I’m willing to do anything if it means finding who killed my sister.”

  “My car is right over here.”

  We got into the car and I followed her directions over to the location. We found a parking space and walked over to the building.

  “Can you tell me everything you know about this?” I asked.

  “Well, really the only story we have is from the boyfriend,” she said.

  “But you don’t believe him?” I asked.

  “It’s hard to believe him since he was the last one seen with her. It just doesn’t make any sense. He says they left separately. I mean, what kind of guy would leave his girlfriend behind?”

  “I don’t know, but maybe he thought she wanted him to leave her alone?”