Circle of Influence (A Zoe Chambers Mystery) Read Online Free PDF

said. “Isn’t that Jerry McBirney’s car?”
    Oh, God, no. Jerry knew this area better than anyone. He would never have attempted the game lands road on a night like this. It would have been suicidal. And Jerry wasn’t the suicidal type.
    Ted’s words rang in her ears. Someone ought to just kill that guy and put him out of my misery.
    Ted, what the hell did you do?
    She broke into a jog toward the car, her heart pounding in her ears. Before she got to the open driver’s door, someone grabbed her. She looked up into Pete’s grave face.
    “Ted did not do this.” Her voice created a veil of mist between them. “He couldn’t kill anyone.”
    “He didn’t.” Pete slipped a supportive arm around her waist and walked the last few steps with her. “Are you going to be able to do this?”
    She barely heard him. The white mist of her breath enveloped her. Her eyes were playing tricks on her. She blinked to clear the fog. But the body behind the wheel remained the same.
    The body in the front seat of the Buick wasn’t Jerry McBirney.
    It was Ted.

    Pete feared Zoe might do something uncharacteristic, like faint, when she saw the victim. Instead, she renewed his admiration for her by taking a deep breath of cold air and shaking it off. Literally. Through layers of parkas and winter gear, he felt her tremor, but then she drew herself up even taller than usual.
    “I’m fine.” Her teeth chattered as she pushed away from him.
    “Good. Marshall’s at a fatality in Buffalo Township. The county detectives are delayed because of road conditions. It looks like it’s up to us on this one.”
    Behind them, Seth’s car, emergency lights flashing, eased around the ramp from the highway.
    “I’m ready.” Zoe exchanged her winter gloves for Latex ones.
    Pete wasn’t sure he believed her. “I’ve taken photographs and processed the scene as much as I can here. The snow has pretty much obliterated any evidence we might have found outside the car. I called for a tow—get this car out of the weather—but I suspect it may take a while.”
    Earl stood behind the car, hugging himself against the bitter wind and bouncing from one foot to the other. “Is there anything I can do?”
    Seth had parked his cruiser and was doing his best attempt to jog toward them in the deep snow. Pete motioned to him and said to Earl, “You two get the tarps out of the back of my vehicle. I want as much of the area around McBirney’s car covered as possible. The county crime scene guys will want to go over it once they get here.” 
    The pair headed off, and Pete turned to Zoe. “Let’s do it.”
    He held the flashlight while she leaned into the driver’s side of the Buick. She slid her fingers into the crease at Ted’s throat. After several moments, she pulled her stethoscope from one of her jacket pockets and listened to his chest. Pete knew as well as she did that she wasn’t going to hear anything.
    She slid a penlight from her shirt pocket, only to have it slip from her fingers and drop into Ted’s lap.
    Pete couldn’t make out the words she muttered, but had a good idea they weren’t suitable for polite company. He caught her hand, giving it a squeeze. “It’s okay. I’ve got it.” He retrieved the penlight from between Ted’s dead legs and passed it to her.
    What a night for the coroner to be stuck elsewhere.
    Zoe reached for Ted’s eyeglasses, but paused. “Did you already photograph his face?”
    “Of course.”
    She pointed at Ted’s eyes. “Did you notice that?”
    Pete moved in closer. Ted’s eyeglass frames were bent. Yeah, he’d noticed. But he’d missed what Zoe was pointing at. One of the lenses was missing. He turned his flashlight downward and leaned further into the car, searching Ted’s lap, the car seat, and the floor. Nothing.
    “He might be sitting on it,” Zoe offered.
    “We’ll find out.” Pete dug his digital camera from inside his coat and snapped several additional close-ups.
    Zoe gingerly