Deadly Nightshade Read Online Free PDF

mid-June to Labor Day?”
    Howland nodded. “Two and a half months.”
    Elizabeth whistled. “Not bad! Forty thousand a month.”
    “From what I see so far, he's probably right. The harbor seems to be taking in about that much extra this year.” Howland opened one of the desk drawers and started to put his foot on it. He looked in and shut the drawer quickly. “Good heavens! You know what's in there?”
    “No. Let me see.” Elizabeth leaned forward to look. Howland opened the drawer a crack, and she saw a loose pile of twenty-dollar bills.
    “Yeah. We have to take that to the bank tonight. Would you put it in one of the green bank bags? Second drawer down on the left side.”
    “No,” Howland said. “I don't work here, remember? I don't want my fingerprints on anything.” He shut the drawer again. “What were you saying?”
    “I was going to say, before he took over the harbormaster job, the town had a sloppy way of keeping records.”
    Howland raised his eyebrows. “Oh?” He opened the drawer.
    “No, really. That money is all accounted for with receipts and paperwork. When your program is up and running, we can turn it over to the town accountant, but Domingo wants all the data entered into the computer before we do.”
    “In the meantime, we have how much in that drawer?”
    “I think it's about fourteen thousand dollars.”
    “What!” Howland choked. “Fourteen thousand, you think? In a drawer? Loose?”
    “No one's going to take it.”
    “They're eviscerating people right and left, and yet the money is safe in that drawer?”
    “Don't remind me of that.” Elizabeth turned to her work.
    “We've got to enter that into the computer right away, even though the program isn't foolproof yet,” Howland said. “Domingo suspected something funny was going on here at the harbor even before Bernie was killed.”
    “You think Bernie's death is related?”
    Howland nodded.
    “How?” she asked.
    “Domingo seems to think the hundred thousand is, or was, a payoff for someone to keep quiet. He thinks he's a threat to somebody, and he's not sure who.” Howland turned to look out the window. “How were they handling the money before?”
    “The dock attendants would bundle up loose cash and loose checks and take the whole mess, uncounted, over to Town Hall.”
    “So between the time boaters paid their money and the treasurer counted it, no one had any control over it?”
    “That's right. And a lot of the money was cash.” Elizabeth straightened papers on the counter.
    “The computer program will seal up most of the loopholes,” Howland said. “Once we have all the boat names and owners' addresses entered, it will be easy to track the money. I'm not sure this is going to help Domingo, though. It's as though some town officials hope he fails, as though they're setting him up.” He looked out the window again toward the parking lot. “Here he comes now with Victoria.”
    Elizabeth put the broom back behind the door and glanced out the window. Domingo was parking his white convertible in the harbormaster's slot. Victoria sat on the left side of the front seat, her face shaded by a large floppy straw hat.
    “Look at that car of his!” Elizabeth said. “If that isn't conspicuous consumption!”
    “Rolls-Royce Corniche,” Howland said. “Right-hand drive. He claims it fell off a truck when he was a New York cop.”
    “He's driving it for my grandmother's benefit. He usually drives Ernesto's pickup truck.”
    Domingo got out of the right-hand side and slammed the door shut with an expensive thunk. He reached into the backseat and retrieved a manila folder and a basket covered with a Black Dog napkin, walked around the back of the car, looked at the rear tires, walked down the left side, and opened the passenger door.
    “Look at that, will you?” Elizabeth put both hands on the desk and leaned forward for a better look. “He's pretending he's a gentleman. Watch this!”
    Domingo had taken off his