Evelyn David - Sullivan Investigations 02 - Murder Takes the Cake Read Online Free PDF

question isn’t it? Besides the obvious, who question I mean. Why try to hide it? The cops are going to think it’s an inside job.”
    Rachel opened her mouth to voice a protest, but Jeff kept talking.
    “Of course it’s not an inside job. No one here could have known ahead of time that I’d get the call about the Senator’s funeral. They couldn’t have known no one would be here when the delivery truck arrived.”
    “ Why don’t I call the casket company? See if they know anything?”
    “ Okay, but don’t make a big deal out of it. Keep it casual; like we’re trying to fix a data entry error or something. I don’t want Dalton finding out we’ve got a problem.”
    “ Dalton Funeral Homes?”
    “ Don’t forget the ‘Inc.’ on that name. Those guys are determined to buy me out or turn me into a satellite operation. Fletcher Dalton wasn’t happy with my lack of enthusiasm for his grand plans. I don’t want them to smell any blood in the water about this missing casket thing.”
    “ You seriously think they have spies at our casket supplier?” Rachel laughed. “Surely, they’re not that crooked.”
    “ Think pretzel and add another twist.”
    “ Fine.” She sighed. “I’ll try to quiz the casket company about four caskets they delivered without letting them know there’s a problem. They’ll think I’m nuts.”
    “ They probably think that anyway.” Jeff chuckled. “You work for O’Herlihys. Okay, for the moment, forget who stole the caskets. Let’s talk about why they hid the theft.”
    “ They work here and wanted to keep their job…and the merchandise?” Rachel ventured, knowing she was the logical suspect. Lord knows, she needed money for Sam’s tuition since his father had failed to come though on his promise to help. She had another payment due in a week and didn’t have a clue where the money was going to come from.
    “ The only ones smart enough to make it work would have been you and me, and since you’re the one telling me about it, I can’t see you being the thief.”
    “ Thanks.”
    Jeff stopped pacing and turned to look at her. “Unless you’re very clever and this is part of an elaborate scheme you’ve worked out to first confuse me, and then throw me off the scent.”
    “ I can prove I was in Philadelphia,” she squeaked. “Football game, thousands of people saw me.”
    Jeff grinned. “Right. That leaves me then. Maybe I set this all up to collect the insurance money. I’m having an affair and needed the extra cash for a clandestine trip to Hawaii or Mexico.”
    “ They’re insured?” Rachel let out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t know that.”
    “ Except they’re not.” He lost his grin. “If I can’t prove I took possession, then my insurance won’t cover them.”
    Rachel rubbed her head again. The throbbing had turned into a full-fledged headache. “So you wouldn’t have had a reason to steal them.”
    “ You didn’t buy the affair?”
    “ You’re head over heels in love with Kathleen. No sane person would believe you’re having an affair. Plus if Kathleen found out, she would kill you and bury you in one of those caskets.”
    Jeff nodded. “Yep. My darling wife does have a temper. So if neither of us did it; you didn’t have the opportunity and I didn’t have the motivation, that means a stranger went to a lot of trouble to delay discovery of his or her crime. If you hadn’t been so good at your job, it could have been months before we knew the caskets were missing. Why did it matter to them? Why did they care?”
    The words were out of her mouth before she even fully processed the thought. “They plan to come back for more?”
     
    ***
     
    “Do you think he’s coming back?”
    JJ stared at the dust generated by the Harley heading down the country road. She and Edgar had searched one barn and were in the process of moving towards another of the three outbuildings on the farm, when they heard the motorcycle start up.
    “I don’t think