Real Estate and Murder (A Port Grace Cozy Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

investigator you hired to help with my husband’s case?”
    “Yes. This is Ryan Yates. He normally works in New York, so he’s had lots of experience.”
    “Please come in,” said Victoria with a closed-lip smile.
    She ushered them into a TV room with a giant flat screen inside a dark wood armoire, a large L-shaped sofa, and an easy chair.
    “Would you like to sit in here or on the patio? It’s shaded.”
    “I think my friend here might roast if we sit outside,” said Georgia. “Making him take off that trench coat is like making him cut off a limb.”
    Ryan wrinkled his brow at Georgia and shook off the coat to reveal a white button-down.
    “The patio sounds grand,” he said.
    “It’s a miracle!” said Georgia.
    “Okay, well, follow me,” said Victoria, looking a little perplexed.
    The patio had an awning to shade the palm-tree woven patio furniture. Georgia leaned back in one of the chairs and enjoyed the slight breeze on her neck.
    “It’s very kind of you, hiring a New York private investigator for my husband,” said Victoria, folding her hands primly over her crossed legs.
    “Your husband was a good friend of my father’s. It’s the least I could do.”
    “These local cops are flailing about like buffoons,” said Victoria. “That Chief Harris kept asking me the same thing over and over, just in different ways.”
    “What was that?” said Ryan.
    “About why I asked those two girls to have drinks with me, Cynthia and Delia. I told him over and over that I was fed up. Bruce was married to his work as much as to me. I can’t tell you how many times he cancelled our plans to stay late at the office. When he stood me up again that night and wouldn’t answer his phone, I’d had it. I saw those two girls and I said to myself, ‘Teach him a lesson, Victoria. Have some fun without him. Make him wonder where you are and what you’re doing. Then maybe he’ll pay attention again.’ I knew Cynthia casually from stopping by the Bruce’s office, so I asked them to go out for drinks with me.”
    “So, Bruce had changed since you first got married? He’d started neglecting you a little bit?” said Ryan, his lips pulled down in a pitying look.
    “I know it’s because he’d been having problems at work,” said Victoria, getting teary, her soft voice shaking. “I get it. It was just hard. He used to be so attentive. He used to compliment me all the time—call me beautiful, tell me what a wonderful cook I was, tell me he couldn’t live without me. That started to change after Bill Mason put him in charge about a year and a half ago. It was like he didn’t have time for me anymore. It was those pushy clients, always stressing him out. I missed him, and now I’ll just have to go on missing him forever.”
    She let out a sob and covered her face. Ryan pulled out a hanky and offered it to her.
    “Thank you. You’re very kind,” she said, dabbing at her watery eyes and leaving spots of mascara on the hanky. “I’m sorry.”
    “No need to apologize,” said Georgia, with a sad but encouraging smile. “We’re sorry to have to bring it all up.”
    “It’s okay. I want to help.”
    “Mrs. Fowler, what did you mean by pushy clients?” said Ryan.
    “Someone was always giving him trouble,” said Victoria with a scowl. “One of the more recent ones was a woman named Hilary something. Oh Bruce raved about her. He hardly even touched the dinner I made that night. If only I could’ve gotten my hands on her. He was grouchy the whole time he was working with her. Then she had the audacity to call up our house and yell at the both of us over the phone.”
    “What was she so angry about?”
    “Oh, she blamed Bruce because she lost a deal on a house. It was her own darn fault! She wouldn’t listen to Bruce. She wanted to play hardball with the seller. Bruce told her you had to be charming and negotiate terms. Bruce knew how to talk.” Victoria sighed dreamily. “He swept me off my feet the first