Stranger At My Door (A Murder In Texas) Read Online Free PDF

“The body of Teke Cruz was discovered this morning in the gulley. Were any of you here earlier? Did anyone see anything suspicious last night or earlier this morning?”
    A wiry man with a long, greasy ponytail stepped forward. Lonnie Bigsky. He fidgeted with a heavy chain attached to the collar of a narrow greyhound. “I was with him last night over at the Beer Hut.”
    “Did you see him leave?”
    “Nah. I went home first. But he was real nervous all night. Told me someone was watching him. I wish I’d paid more attention.”
    “Did you see anything suspicious when you left? A strange car or maybe someone loitering around the Beer Hut?”
    Lonnie shook his head. “Don’t recall. But I’d had a few drinks, so maybe I didn’t notice.”
    Rafe handed him a card. “Call me if your memory comes back.”
    Lonnie stared at the card but didn’t take it from Rafe. “Think this has something to do with Ben Pittman dying?”
    “Don’t know, Lonnie. But we’ll be investigating every angle, including that one.”
    Lonnie pushed the card away. “I don’t remember anything.” He patted the greyhound’s head. “Come on, Daisy, let’s go home.” He forced his way out of the knot of gapers.
    The M.E. had finished his field inspection and was pulling off his rubber gloves as he climbed the embankment. He was a heavyset, older man who’d been sent up from Austin to investigate. Despite his broad-brimmed hat, his face was perspiring and red.
    “Hot out here, ain’t it?” said the M.E. His dark blue shirt was damp and sweat ringed the armpits.
    “Yeah.” Rafe pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed at the back of his neck again. “Thought the weather might break with the storm last night.”
    The M.E. dropped his gloves in a biohazard bag. “Looking forward to my air-conditioned car.”
    So was Rafe. “What do you think?”
    The M.E. shook his head. “Didn’t even break a toe in the fall. That’s the benefit of a few drinks. Relaxes you.”
    “So what killed him?”
    “Someone nicked his carotid artery. The victim probably got knocked unconscious in the fall and bled out.”
    “What was the time of death?”
    “I’d say after midnight. Maybe one, maybe two. Not much later, though. From the spread of blood on the ground, I’d say it took awhile for him to die, maybe an hour or so.”
    “Anything else?”
    The M.E. nodded at the bridge with his chin. “The victim has wood slivers in his belly and chest area as well as the hands. It would indicate someone pushed him.”
    Rafe nodded. “Fibers?”
    “Some black wool in the victim’s hair. Could be the killer wore a ski mask.” Sweat poured down the M.E.’s cheeks and dripped from his jowls. He swayed in the hot wind like a Texas Blue Bonnet. “If he was, he had to be hotter ‘n hell.”
    Rafe didn’t want two bodies on his hands. “Let me walk you back to your car.”
    He crossed the park beside the M.E., piecing together a probable chain of events. The killer could be anyone, but it felt like the intruder from last night, and the motive for the burglary and this murder were linked. The link was Dinah. Was she an innocent victim, or had she knowingly put in motion the actions that led to Teke’s murder?
    They’d reached the M.E.’s car, and the M.E. was patting his pockets for the keys. His hands stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot. Found this in the victim’s back pocket.” He reached into his kit and pulled out an evidence bag with a pink flyer inside. He handed the evidence bag to Rafe.
    Rafe held the bag up and inspected the crumpled paper inside. It was a Tarot Card Readings by Shira notice. Someone—probably Teke—had written across the top Dinah is back and underlined back twice.

Chapter Five
    “Stop! Come back here,” Dinah hollered.
    A young girl in pink shorts was trotting down the street with a sack of Dinah’s precious groceries. Dinah’s eyes went to the two vulnerable bags still sitting in the trunk, then to the vanishing