A Luring Murder Read Online Free PDF

good-natured chuckle and clapped me on the shoulder. “Welcome to the small town grapevine, Detective. A good story travels faster than a bad cold.”
    “You should ticket the resort owners for not having their dog on a leash.”
    “I would, but they don’t have a dog. Must be a stray.” He hitched up his pants then adjusted the bill of his hat. “Well, should we get going?”
    “Where too?” I asked.
    Louise hobbled by me toward Sheriff Anderson’s cruiser. “We need to get Digs set up behind the sheriff’s office so we can start analyzing what we’ve found. Then we start pounding the pavement.”
    Just another day at the office.
    The sheriff meandered his cruiser through the streets of the sleepy town. Cute saltbox houses with front porches and well-tended gardens filled every block. Each person we passed in the street waved and smiled.
    I looked back to make sure we hadn’t lost Digs at our breakneck speed of thirty miles per hour. Digs was barely visible over the dash of the cube van. He bounced around behind the wheel singing and air drumming the steering wheel.
    “Tell me about the victim,” Louise said. “Has he lived here long?”
    “All his life. Warren went to school with my son. They played football together.” His voice broke with emotion. “They went to the championships that year.”
    The Sheriff cleared his throat and then adjusted the vents in front of him. He regained his composure after a few seconds.
    “It’s a real shame. Warren didn’t deserve to die that way.”
    “No one does,” I said.
    He nodded. “I supposed I’ll have to call his parents in Arizona. I’m not really looking forward to that phone call to tell you the truth.”
    No, I wouldn’t want to make that call either. Breaking the news of the son’s death was the worst part of the job. Doing it over the phone would be even more difficult. They couldn’t see the concern on your face. You couldn’t place a comforting hand on their shoulder or touch their hand.
    “Sheriff?” Louise’s gentle tone drew his attention away from getting caught up in the memories that threatened to send him into a crying jag.
    “Do you know why Warren was at the resort last night?”
    “Truth to tell, that sort of makes me wonder. He doesn’t really have any business there.”
    “Unless someone called him to the resort,” I said.
    Sheriff Anderson locked eyes with me in the rearview mirror.
    “It’s possible, but I couldn’t tell you who.”
    We pulled up outside a small polished granite building that looked like it had just stepped out of a scene from the Wild West. There were bars on the windows and door, which added to the old west effect. The small wooden rail that separated the sidewalk from the street looked suspiciously like a hitching post. Only tumble weeds rolling across the street could have made the look complete. I gazed up at the solid tan piece of granite over the door in which the word jail had been chiseled.
    “This is it,” he said and jammed the cruiser into park.
    “You know, I never would have guessed,” I said.
    The Sheriff chuckled. At least he had a sense of humor. There’s nothing worse than a dower police chief.
    Louise and the Sheriff got out of the front seat. Sheriff Anderson directed Digs to Park alongside the building, while Louise popped the back door to let me out.
    I helped Louise to the door, and then tried the handle.
    “It’s locked,” I said.
    “Well of course it is.” He took keys from his coat pocket and opened the door. “There are weapons inside. It would be dammed irresponsible not to lock the door.”
    “Maybe this isn’t Mayberry after all,” Louise whispered.
    “I didn’t mean to be ignorant Sheriff, it’s just that there’s always someone in our office. In case there’s an emergency.”
    Which frankly was about every fifteen minutes in our office.
    “We don’t have the staff to keep the office open.” He removed his baseball cap and tossed it on the desk next to