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

  “That doesn’t mean he couldn’t have helped her home and left right after.”

  At what point would he not be responsible for her though? I thought she’d told him to get lost—wouldn’t that be something he would have to do? The sister was upset though, so I wouldn’t push the issue.

  “I would like to speak with anyone who saw her last,” I said.

  “I’ve done that, and supposedly the police have too, but it just leads nowhere.”

  “So she was at the bar right down the street?” I pointed.

  “Yes, that’s where they both were.”

  “Maybe we can walk over there and talk with the bar employees.” I looked at my watch. “I would think they would be there getting ready for the evening.”

  “I guess we can give it a try,” she said.

  I understood her frustration, but for my own case-solving, I needed to cover all bases. Penelope and I went over to the bar and walked inside. Lights were still on and a couple of people were over behind the bar stocking liquor onto the shelves. I made eye contact with the guy behind the bar.

  “We’re not open yet,” he said.

  I flashed my wallet and walked over to the bar. Dorothy always got on me for doing that, but it had been her idea in the first place. And hey, I didn’t say I was a detective, I just showed my business card. It was his problem if he assumed I was a detective.

  “I have some questions about…”

  “The murder,” he said, finishing my question.

  So he wasn’t too happy to talk with me, but that was okay. I wouldn’t let that stop me.

  “What are the questions anyway?” he asked.

  “Can you tell me if you saw anything or what you’ve heard?” I asked.

  “I saw her talking with someone else that night. Like I’ve told the other detectives, she left with that person. I watched her myself.”

  “Are you sure about that? There has to be a lot of people who come in this bar.”

  “I even have video of her leaving with a guy.”

  I looked at Penelope. “Have you seen it?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve seen them. I’m sure Henry followed her after that.”

  “Can I see the video?” I asked.

  The guy motioned for me to follow him. We went back to the room. He had the videos readily available. I guessed he had shown them so often that he kept them close by. He pulled up the video on the computer. I watched the screen and saw her leaving with a guy who looked nothing like the boyfriend. When we got out of here I wanted to ask Penelope what she thought about this video. It seemed as if she had an excuse that put Henry back as the main suspect.

  “Thanks for letting me take a look,” I said.

  “Yeah, no problem.” He motioned toward the door and I took the hint that he wanted us to get out.

  As we walked toward the door I asked, “So you didn’t see where she went when she left here? What direction?”

  “No, I didn’t watch that long. Sorry.”

  “All right, thanks again,” I said.

  Penelope and I headed out of the bar and down the sidewalk toward my car.

  “So what do you think about that video?” I asked.

  “I agree that she didn’t leave with Henry and everything, but I still think that he was probably waiting out there for her. Once the other man walked Skye outside, he left her. That was when Henry attacked.”

  Now I had my suspicions. I supposed it was possible that it happened that way. “But what if Henry had just gone home and Skye left with the stranger? Would she have done something like that?” I asked.

  “I really don’t think she would’ve left with a stranger.”

  I knew Penelope was a bit upset with my question.

  “I didn’t mean to imply anything. I was just trying to get the facts.”

  We paused by my car. I hadn’t even talked to her about Henry and his death. I supposed it was time for me to bring up the subject.

  “When was the last time you were in contact with the boyfriend?” I asked.

  Since she was so angry with him perhaps that would give her motive for murder.

  “I made it a point to call him often, but I suppose it’s been a few days now. He won’t pick up my calls.”

  I stared at her for moment. “So, you know what happened to him?”

  “You know, I haven’t talked to him. I guess he got sick of talking to me. That just proves his guilt as far as I’m concerned.”

  “I have some news for you… Henry was found murdered.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? Well, I can’t say that I’m surprised. Do they know who did it?” she asked, staring at me.

  “No, actually we don’t, and that’s what I’m looking into.”

  Now that I knew that his girlfriend had been murdered I suspected that this was definitely related. Maybe the murderer had been looking for both of them that night. We got back into the car so that I could drive her over to the hotel.

  “How long has it been since you were in Miami?” I asked.

  “I guess a few weeks,” she said.

  She didn’t seem very confident in that answer. I felt like she was keeping something from me, but I wasn’t sure what. I pulled up to the hotel parking lot and she opened the door to get out.

  “Well, I hope that this helped you and that maybe you can solve this. No one else has been able to,” Penelope said.

  “I won’t stop until I know exactly what happened.”

  “I just need proof of it at this point. I know what happened.” She pushed her hair away from her face.

  “I understand,” I said.

  “I’ll talk to you soon,” she said.

  She closed the door and I watched as she walked away. I pulled away from the hotel, wondering what my next move should be. I just got the impression that Henry was innocent. Skye had left with someone else and there was no physical evidence that tied Henry to the crime. At least as far as I knew there wasn’t.

  Just the fact that he had been murdered right after Skye had made me think that they were related somehow. Unless of course Penelope had murdered Henry out of anger and in retaliation. She seemed completely convinced that he was the killer. I was sensing the exact opposite. I just felt like he was innocent. It seemed like there were just too many twists and turns to this case. Now I knew why it hadn’t been solved yet. What made me think that I could do it if everyone else who’d been working on it couldn’t?

  I knew that I needed to speak with his relatives. Or anyone who could give me some inside information. I needed to know what had been going on with his life since the girlfriend had been murdered. Maybe I was way off. Maybe he really had done it.

  Chapter 4

  Henry was a CPA. Not exactly a high-risk job. For that reason I doubted his murder had anything to do with his career. However, someone he worked with might have information that would be valuable to my investigation. I managed to find out where Henry had worked before his untimely death, so I made that the first stop on my list. Maybe they could tell me if he was at work before he was murdered, and possibly anything that was going on in his life. It was the best thing I could do until I could talk to any of his relatives or other friends.

  A short time later, I pulled up to the small office building and parked my car. As I was getting out of the car, I received a text message. It was from Dorothy. She wanted me to remind her to buy more yarn. Was she my assistant or was I her assistant? I didn’t even know anymore. I made a mental note to remember the yarn. Maybe I would just pick some up for her while I was out.

  When I tried the knob I realized the door was unlocked so I just walked on in. There were a few desks around the room. The place was bigger than mine, and I was slightly jealous. No one was sitting at any of the desks. They didn’t have a bell to ring or anything so I called out for someone.

  A man answered from somewhere in the back. “I’ll be right there.”

  I took this opportunity to look around. Everything se
emed to be orderly. The tall plant in the corner of the room looked like it could use a little bit of water, but other than that the place was nice.

  The man stepped out from the back room. He had salt and pepper hair, but he didn’t seem old enough. Actually, he was probably my age. Although I was probably right around the corner from using that hair dye on a regular basis.

  “I’m a private investigator. I just need to ask a few questions about an employee. His name is Henry Archer.”

  “I’ve already talked to the police,” he said.

  “I realize that, but I’m a private investigator looking into his death. I may ask the same questions, but if you’d be so kind as to help me out I would really appreciate that.”

  “He was my friend, so I’ll do anything I can to help find his killer. What did you want to know?” the man asked.

  “My name’s Maggie Thomas, by the way.” I stuck out my hand.

  After a handshake, he said, “Troy Snow. Nice to meet you.”

  “So, can you tell me a bit about the relationship Henry had with Skye Clark?” I asked.

  “He didn’t talk much about it, but I can tell you he was a nice man. He would never hurt a fly.”

  “So you have no idea who might have done this to him?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t see that he had any enemies, other than the family of the woman who was murdered.”

  Sadly, I was coming to that conclusion as well. The sister seemed so nice. I didn’t want to believe that she would be involved in anything that sinister. But I had to remain neutral and get the facts. I couldn’t let emotions or how I perceived someone on the outside sway the investigation.

  “He didn’t talk much about the relationship?” I asked.

  “He was kind of quiet over the past couple of weeks. Of course I’m sure it had to do with the fact that she was murdered,” Troy said.

  “He had a good relationship from what you could gather, even though he didn’t tell you much about it?” I asked.

  “They were seeing a lot of each other since she came to town.”

  “She wasn’t from around here?” I asked.

  “No, she wasn’t. She moved from Georgia to be with him,” Troy said.

  The phone rang and held up his index finger while he grabbed the receiver. I waited while the guy answered the phone. I looked around the room to see if I was missing a clue, but there was nothing there. I never knew when something might lead me to a killer. What if I didn’t pay attention and missed it? It looked as if one of the desks was empty, so I supposed that had been Henry’s. They’d already cleared it off.

  When Troy hung up the phone, he said, “Now where were we?”

  “What else can you tell me about Skye?” I asked.

  “I know they met online.”

  “So she specifically moved here to be with him?”

  “Yes, that’s my understanding.”

  “How long had they known each other when she came here?” I asked.

  “Maybe a couple of months.”

  That wasn’t a long time to get to know someone. Maybe she had some skeletons in her closet. And one of those came back to pay her a visit before ultimately murdering her. Still, it wasn’t looking good in Henry’s favor. Although Skye had left with a complete stranger at the bar. I was leaning toward the complete stranger being the murderer, but if that was the case who had murdered Henry? Unless the complete stranger really wasn’t a stranger and knew both of them. That was the key. I had to find out who this man was. However, finding him would be like finding a needle in a haystack. I had his description, but that wasn’t much. I guessed I could show people a shot of the video.

  The phone rang again and the guy motioned. “I should really get back to work.”

  I had taken up enough of his time.

  “Sure. Thank you again.” I pulled out my card and handed it to him. “If there’s anything else you think of would you please call me?”

  After reading the card, he said, “No problem. I’ll give you a call if I think of anything.”

  I wasn’t holding out hope that I would receive a call from him, but stranger things had happened. He could think of something and it could turn out to be the clue that led me to the killer. In the meantime, I had to find out more about the girlfriend and track down the man she had left with. But I couldn’t help but wonder if I was going in the complete wrong direction.

  Maybe I should be focusing only on Henry’s background and the people he knew. Everyone seemed to think he was such a nice guy and would never be involved in anything shady. People could be deceiving though, so it wouldn’t pay to ignore the little details. I had to look under the surface. I headed out of the office, trying to come up with my next move.

  Where should I go now? I got into the car and headed back onto the highway. I was constantly looking in the rearview mirror to make sure no strange cars were following me. Honestly, I expected to see one back there at any moment. Surely I wouldn’t go much longer without someone tracking me down.

  My phone alerted me to a text. It was from Dorothy.

  Bring lunch. Extra bread.

  No to the extra bread request. I knew what she wanted to do with it. I’d get take out for us. There was a restaurant right around the corner, so I could walk over there. Within a couple minutes, I’d reached the restaurant. Almost instantly after stepping foot in the building, I spotted Abby. She wasn’t alone at the table. There was a guy with her and I was positive it was Jake. Of course, I could only see the back of him. They were probably on their lunch break. Now I wanted to get out of there before Jake saw me. I didn’t want him to think that I had followed him here. Though it was so close to my office that I didn’t think it could be considered strange for me to show up there.

  Why had they picked this location? I bet they had been at the scene of the crime going over what clues they’d found. Oh how I wish I could have access to those clues as well. Jake was being tight-lipped about the crime. Before I had a chance to turn around and hurry out of there, I made eye contact with Abby. Jake must have noticed her watching someone because he looked over his shoulder. Great. He pushed to his feet and headed toward me.

  “Maggie, what are you doing here?”

  “Getting lunch.” I gestured.

  “Right. We were just having lunch too.” His eyes sparkled in the sunshine that streamed through the windows.

  We watched each other, like magnets that had no hope of staying apart. My stomach flipped when Jake flashed his gorgeous smile. I kind of wished he’d ask me out again for that old movie in the park. Movement caught my attention. Abby was headed toward us. How did she make plain black slacks and a white blouse look glamorous? I suppose it was her sleek curves and toned muscles.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but Abby interrupted. “Jake we really should be going. They’re waiting on us.”

  Jake didn’t respond or take his eyes of me, so Abby grabbed his arm. She had a cold charm. That would only last so long before the beguilement would fade and leave the aloof personality exposed for everyone to witness.

  “I need to get the food. Dorothy gets hangry,” I said.

  Jake laughed. “Make sure to get extra bread for the birds.”

  “I’ll see you soon.” I waved and walked away.

  There was no way I was turning around to watch them leave together.

  Chapter 5

  Every hour and day that passed without solving this case made me more determined. Henry had to have come to see me so that I could find Skye’s killer, which meant that whoever killed her might have killed Henry too. Jake had to be thinking the same thing. The cases had to be connected, even if it just meant that one of Skye’s relatives had bumped him off. I just couldn’t believe there had been no witnesses to the crime. Sure, it was early in the morning, but someone had to have been around the beach at the time. And, if Henry was coming to meet me, then why was he on the beach and not walking down the sidewalk toward my office? I supposed he just w
anted the beautiful view.

  Someone had to have been trailing him and used the perfect opportunity of an empty beach early in the morning to shoot him. There had to be places around here that had surveillance. Possibly they’d caught the killer on camera.

  I walked over to my car and tossed in my bag. I thought I would go out to the boardwalk and see if I could spot any cameras. When I reached the area, I saw a lot of people walking around. It would be hard to pick out someone on a video. Though it would help that it had been early morning.

  After searching down the boardwalk, I discovered a souvenir shop that had a camera outside mounted right in the direction where I thought that Henry would have walked on his way to my office.

  I doubted the camera had captured the murder because it was too far away, but it definitely might have seen someone following him. Now I just hoped that they would let me see the footage. I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull off the fake flash of a nonexistent badge trick. That would probably only work so many times before it blew up in my face. So Dorothy and I headed down the boardwalk to speak with someone at the shop. Fingers crossed that this would pan out. I really needed a break because it seemed as if this case was going nowhere. The time I’d tried to get info from Jake, his new partner had been there to stop him talking.

  After we entered it took a while for Dorothy and me to spot an employee. A younger woman was behind the counter staring at her fingernails.

  “Excuse me, is there a manager I can speak with?” I asked.

  After a couple seconds she looked up at me. “What’s this about?”

  Her sarcastic tone rubbed me the wrong way. Was that any way to treat a customer?

  “Surveillance video,” I said.

  She smirked as if she had no idea what I was talking about. This was going nowhere.

  “It’s in regards to a murder and I need to see the surveillance video right away.”

  Her eyes widened. “I can’t help you with that.”

  “That’s why I need to speak with the manager,” I said.

  She pointed out a middle-aged man toward the back of the store. “You can talk to him.”