My crime novel, The Throuple Private Eye— Business is Booming, was published as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99, Kindle Edition. The link is Amazon.com: Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming (The Throuple Private Eye) eBook : Anderson, Monte: Books. It is the second in the series. If you would like to order the first eBook, The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, the link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com. For those of you who prefer a book in print rather than an e-book, my latest novel, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming, is now available in paperback on Amazon for $7.10. The link is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDG84ZCS.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT (Cont’d)

The next day…

Molly told Jen she had idea on how to trick Kiera into confessing her affair with Ken never ended. She showed Jen a photograph. It was of a clear plastic evidence bag. Inside the bag was a red thong and bra.

“Is this for real?” Jen asked. “The thong and that bra sorta look like mine.”

Molly laughed “I was pressed for time. I’ll buy you a new pair. I stole the evidence bag from Jonah.”

Jen laughed. “Remind me to lock my bedroom door. So, how do you see this going down?”

“I’ll show this picture to Kiera and say my contact in homicide took the picture and gave it to me. I’ll ask if they’re hers. If she says yes, I’ll know she’s lying; trying to cover for Ken. Then I’m hoping she’ll confess to continuing the affair with Ken.”

“And if she says they aren’t hers?” Jen asked.

“Then I guess she’s telling the truth. I set up a meeting with her for this afternoon. Can you stick around as a witness?”

“Will you tell her you know she hooked up with Ken in Tampa?”

“I’m not sure how to handle it. Let’s see what happens this afternoon.”

Jen agreed to hang around. When Kiera arrived, Molly showed her the photograph. “I asked a friend in homicide if there was any unusual evidence indicating Ken was having an affair. He gave me this. It’s picture of a thong and bra. Are they yours?”

Kiera looked at the picture and turned it around a couple of times. “It’s hard to tell, but they’re not mine. Not my color.” Kiera showed hardly any emotion.

Molly had hoped for a confession. “Are you sure?”

“Of course,” Kiera answered. “I told you Ken might being having an affair. He’s quite the playboy.”

“Okay,” Molly said, hiding her disappointment. “So, we’re looking for another person who had the motive to kill Ken. Maybe the crime lab will get some DNA from it. We’ll wait and see.”

After Kiera left, Molly said to Jen, “Well, what big disappointment. Maybe she’s telling the truth.”

A week later …

Doc was on call and was called into the ER, so Jen and Jonah had the bed to themselves. Jen initiated romancing, as she always did, by kissing Jonah on the side of his neck. She knew, of course, Jonah was very ticklish on his neck and could barely stand to be kissed there. It was also a turn on for him. Two organisms later Jen lay next to Jonah trying to catch her breath. “Jonah, can I ask you about the Ken Rice case?”

“Damn, Jen,” Jonah answered. “You know I could get in trouble talking to you about it.”

“Come on,” Jen replied. “It’s pillow talk. Everyone assumes you will talk to me about it, so you might as well do it. Besides, I’ll pry it out of you eventually.”

“Okay, what?”

“How strong is your case?” Jen asked.

“He’s guilty as hell,” Jonah answered. “We have her blood on his hands and arms. We have his prints on the murder weapon. He had motive and opportunity. He’s guilty.”

“What about his story of an intruder?” Jen asked.

“It doesn’t track,” Jonah answered. “There was no forced entry. We couldn’t find any other prints anywhere except for his.”

“How come he didn’t have blood on the front of his shirt?”

“We figure he attacked her from behind. He pulled her head back with one hand and reached in front and stabbed her with the knife in the other hand.”

“But wasn’t the patio door unlocked?” Jen asked. “Ken says his wife could have let in someone.”

“True, but he had time to stage it. He turned off the security system and unlocked the patio door. We used K-9 trackers outside and came up empty handed. There’re no videos anywhere showing an intruder or a car coming into the neighborhood at that time of morning.”

“What was his motive?” Jen asked.

“Well, money was one motive. Ken was in debt up to his eyeballs. He recently purchased a life insurance policy on his wife to the tune of a million dollars. Plus, we think he was having an affair.”

Jen had heard enough for now. She changed subjects. “What about us?”

“What about us?” Jonah repeated.

“I mean our future. Is this it? Are we ever going to get married and have kids? I always thought by now I’d be married and having kids.”

“Wow,” Jonah exclaimed. “What brought this on?”

To be continued…
​
For e-books by me, visit http://smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson or Amazon.com. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monteranderson
Follow my blog at http://monteranderson-author.com or http://monteranderson.wordpress.com
​

My crime novel, The Throuple Private Eye— Business is Booming, was published as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99, Kindle Edition. The link is Amazon.com: Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming (The Throuple Private Eye) eBook : Anderson, Monte: Books. It is the second in the series. If you would like to order the first eBook, The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, the link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com. For those of you who prefer a book in print rather than an e-book, my latest novel, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming, is now available in paperback on Amazon for $7.10. The link is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDG84ZCS.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT (Cont’d)

Molly walked over to the white board with a marker. “Let’s write down the timeline according to the police report.” Jen agreed. Molly talked as she wrote. “According to Ken, his wife was always the first one awake. She had to be to work by 0700 hours. Ken didn’t start work until nine. Sandra usually got up at 0500 hours and left for work by 0630 hours.” Molly wrote on the white board.

Jen picked up from there. She took the marker from Molly and started writing on the white board. “The police report said they got the 911 call at 0712. They arrived at 0724 hours. Ken met them at the door. He had blood on his clothes. After Sandra was declared dead at the scene, the police said they found the security system was turned off at 0613 hours. Ken said it wasn’t unusual. Sandra would turn it off on her way out the door around 0630 hours. The police found the rear patio door open but no forced entry. A search of the kitchen didn’t reveal any fingerprints other than Ken’s and Sandra’s. The police said they found no footprints in the back yard. They even brought in K-9 units but found nothing.”

“According to Jonah’s notes,” Jen said. “He thinks Ken turned off the alarm at 0613 just before killing his wife. The crime scene looked staged to Jonah. He thinks Ken staged the whole thing to look as if Sandra let someone in through the patio door.”

Molly continued, “Ken told the police he heard a scream and woke up. He walked downstairs and checked the security system and saw it was off. He’s certain he set it before going to bed. He then removed a golf club to use as a weapon from the coat closet. He walked into the kitchen and found his wife on the floor with a knife in her chest. He didn’t see anyone else. He started CPR and got her blood on him. While doing CPR, he touched the knife which accounts for his prints on the knife. Suspects?”

Molly wrote down Ken Rice name at the top center of the white board and his wife’s name underneath. She connected the two with a solid line. Then she wrote Keira Shader’s name to one side and connected it with a dotted line to Ken Rice. “Let’s brainstorm possible suspects,” she suggested. “It’ll help guide us.” Once she was done, she turned to Jen.

“According to the statement Ken gave the police,” Jen began. “He speculates she might have turned off the security system before walking into the kitchen. He believes she may have let someone inside through the rear patio doors. An unknown suspect grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter and stabbed her. So, we have an intruder. Could it be a robbery gone bad?”

“Not likely,” Molly answered. “The police found nothing taken, and Sandra’s purse was on the kitchen table. Her cell phone and car keys too.”
 
Jen started listing hypothetical suspects as Molly wrote them down. “Ken may have had a lover who wanted his wife dead so she could marry him. Maybe Ken had an enemy at work or somewhere outside of work.”

“Do you think maybe someone came into the house to kill Ken and Sandra stumbled into them?” Molly asked

“Maybe.”

“No. It had to be someone Sandra knew,” Molly continued. “Not a stranger; not a robbery gone bad. At the same time, maybe she turned off the alarm, because she was expecting someone. Could be a lover. Then they quarreled, and her lover killed her.” Molly wrote lover with a line connected to Sandra.

“The problem with that theory,” said Jen “is there was only one stab wound. A spurned lover usually stabs multiple times. Still… You never know.” She wrote another ‘lover’ with a dotted line connecting Ken. “Let’s not forget the employee in maintenance.” Jen wrote ‘employee’ to one side.

Molly had a new man in her life. She told Jen all about their first date. “Are you going to date with him again?” Jen asked.

“Are you kidding?” Molly answered. “We’re going dancing again this Friday. I’m telling you; Marty might be the one. Which reminds me, he said something that got me thinking. I told him about the case we’re working on for Kiera. He said to me we’re just looking for reasonable doubts. I asked what he meant by it, and he said in a murder trial in Georgia, all twelve jurors must agree beyond a “reasonable doubt” the defendant is guilty or it’s a hung jury.” Molly made air quotes.

Molly let the thought sink in. “I think Kiera isn’t asking us to find who killed Sandra. I think she wants us to find reasonable doubt Ken may not have killed his wife.”

Jen was a puzzled. “So?”

“I think she’s playing us.”

“What?” Jen replied. “Why?”

Molly stood up. “Bear with me for a minute. Suppose Kiera and Ken never ended their affair. Maybe they planned to kill Sandra all along. They just cooled their affair because they knew the police would discover it. It may explain why Sandra was stabbed only once. More stab wounds would indicate a crime of passion and implicate Ken.”

“But why?” Jen asked again.

“So, Keira and Ken could get married. Don’t forget, the police report said there was a million-dollar life insurance police on Sandra purchased six months prior to her murder. Excellent motive if you ask me.”

“Okay, I might buy that theory,” Jen replied. “But you must prove it. How are you going to prove it?”
Molly shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know… yet.” Molly removed Prada’s meds from her purse and walked over to Prada. Prada started to whine and tried to move away, but she couldn’t move fast enough without her harness and wheels. Molly caught her and gave her the pills.

To be continued…
​
For e-books by me, visit http://smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson or Amazon.com. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monteranderson
Follow my blog at http://monteranderson-author.com or http://monteranderson.wordpress.com
​

The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming (excerpt)

My crime novel, The Throuple Private Eye— Business is Booming, was published as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99, Kindle Edition. The link is Amazon.com: Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming (The Throuple Private Eye) eBook : Anderson, Monte: Books. It is the second in the series. If you would like to order the first eBook, The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, the link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com. For those of you who prefer a book in print rather than an e-book, my latest novel, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming, is now available in paperback on Amazon for $7.10. The link is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDG84ZCS.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT (Cont’d)

“Oh, good morning, Molly,” Doc said, oblivious to his nakedness. “I didn’t see you.” Molly half waved her hand and tried to look at her computer, unsuccessfully. Doc sipped his coffee and walked out of the office.

After Doc left, Jen said. “I’ll talk to him later.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. Afterall, it’s his house.”

“I bet you don’t mind, but I do. We’re trying to run a professional office here. What if we had clients here just now?”

Molly giggle again. “I doubt they’d mind either.” Jen just rolled her eyes.

Later the next night…

Jen and Doc were alone in bed. Jonah was on another stakeout. After sex, Jen thought since Doc was in a good mood, it was a good time to talk. “Doc, I want to start paying you rent for my office.”

“What?” Doc replied. “Where did that come from? We gave you the office as a gift.”

“I know, but it’s just from you. It’s your house. I really appreciated it, but I know you were trying to motivate me to get my act together. And I did. But now I’m okay, and it’s only fair I pay a fair rent for the space. It isn’t really mine unless I can rent it. I’ll sub-rent half to Molly.”

“Have you discussed this with Jonah?” Doc asked.

“It’s your house. This doesn’t involve him.”

“But why, all of a sudden?”

“I want a contract. I’ll pay a fair rent and even put down a deposit. You won’t be obligated, and neither will I. You can always kick me out or raise the rent.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Doc protested. “I would never kick you out.”

“You can’t tell. You don’t know what will happen in the future. You might meet someone else.”

“What the hell, Jen,” Doc started to raise his voice. “What are you saying? Did you meet someone? Are you breaking up with me… with us?”

Jen placed her hand on Doc’s cheek and smiled. “No. I love you guys. You’re my boys. But I want to be a serious businesswoman, not a charity case. Understand?’

“No,” Doc answered. “But if it’ll make you happy, okay. What’s a fair rent?”

“I was thinking $1500 a month.”

“Seems fair. Can I still have access to the coffee machine?”

“Yes, but you have to knock before you enter, and you have to wear pants.”

“Damn. There’s always a catch,” Doc said with a chuckle.

The next night…

The next night Jonah came home with a copy of the complete file on the Ken Shader murder cased. It looked a thin to Jen. “Is this all?” she asked.

“I left out the pictures,” Jonah answered.

Jen spent the next couple of hours going through the file. The next day she gave it to Molly for her to read. “Can you give me a summary?” Molly asked.

“Sure,” Jen replied. “It all started with a 911 call. A neighbor walking her dog thought she heard a scream from the Rice apartment. The police arrived in less than fifteen minutes and knocked on the door. Ken answered the door with his arms covered in blood. The police found his wife on the kitchen floor dead from a knife wound to her chest.”

“So, he had her blood all over himself and still pleaded innocent?” Molly asked.

“Correct,” Jen answered. “He said he was sleeping when he heard a noise downstairs. He came down and found his wife on the floor with a knife in her chest.”

“How did he explain the blood?”

“He said he was trying to revive her with CPR. He also said he touched the knife. It explains his fingerprints on the knife. The autopsy showed she had no defensive wounds, so the ME determined she must have known her attacker. The detectives also discovered he had purchased a million-dollar life insurance policy on his wife two week before.”

“And in spite of all this evidence, Keira Shader, the sister of the vic, claims Ken is innocent,” Molly said. “I wonder why.”

“Good question.,” Jen said. “Read the file first, and then we’ll get to work.”

After an hour. Molly was caught up on the police file on the Ken Rice case. Jen updated Molly on the additional information she gleaned from Jonah. Then she rolled a white board over in front of Molly’s desk.

To be continued…
​
For e-books by me, visit http://smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson or Amazon.com. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monteranderson
Follow my blog at http://monteranderson-author.com or http://monteranderson.wordpress.com

My crime novel, The Throuple Private Eye— Business is Booming, was published as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99, Kindle Edition. The link is Amazon.com: Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming (The Throuple Private Eye) eBook : Anderson, Monte: Books. It is the second in the series. If you would like to order the first eBook, The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, the link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com. For those of you who prefer a book in print rather than an e-book, my latest novel, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming, is now available in paperback on Amazon for $7.10. The link is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDG84ZCS.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT (Cont’d)

“We’ll still need proof,” Jen added.

“I know,” Molly replied. “I already talked to Jonah. He said the case is still open and if they hooked up in Florida, it could be proof of motive. It’s all he needs to get a warrant to pull Kiera’s credit card history and telephone records. He called the hotel and confirmed Kiera stayed there. He can get video confirmation. Ken had a room at the hotel by the convention center, but odds are he never slept there. We got her, Jen. I was right--the bitch lied to us. She never ended the affair with Ken.”

“Wow,” Jen exclaimed. “Now what?”

“I don’t know,” Molly answered. “I guess we wait for confirmation from Jonah.”

“By the way, when I talked to Jonah, he said he’ll get a copy of the file on the Rice case for you.”
“Wow. How did you persuade him?”

Jen felt her face blush. “Don’t ask.”

Jen had to admit the more Marty hung around the office, the more she like him. When Marty left the room to use the restroom, Jen asked Molly, “You and Marty are really getting serious aren’t you.”

Molly grinned. “I think he’s going to pop the question any day. Last week we had dinner at his parents. They’re great folks—salt of the earth.”

“I envy you, Molly. It must feel good to have that type of love.”

“What are you talking about?” Molly asked. “You have two hot guys. They would do anything for you.”

“It’s not the same,” Jen answered. “Sometimes I wonder if they truly love me for me or if they just like the sex we have. You and Marty will get married and start a family. I want a family too.”

“Don’t your boys want kids?” Molly asked.

“No,” Jen answered. “I think they like things the way they are. Neither one is thinking about marriage. Jonah is more likely to marry, but Doc isn’t interested. Neither one has said anything about having kids. I want a family more than I want to marry.”

“The old biological clock ticking?” Molly asked.
​
“I don’t know,” Jen replied. “It’s hard to get those guys to talk about it. Hell, it’s hard to get them both together at the same time, and when we do, I hate to bring it for fear it will spoil the mood.”
 
“The mood?” Molly asked. “I think you’re trapped, Jen.”
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“Well,” Molly answered. “Doc and Jonah and great guys and gorgeous looking. You have this great office where you work at home and this great coffee machine. Your boys think you’ll never risk leaving. They’ve locked you in. It’s Doc’s house. They aren’t worried you might leave.”
 
“You forgot about the great sex,” Jen mentioned.
 
Molly laughed. “Do they ever treat you like a rotisserie chicken?”
 
“What are you talking about?” Jen asked.
 
“You know,” Molly replied. “Doc at one end of you and Jonah at the other and they spin you like a rotisserie chicken?”
 
WTF, Molly!” Jen shouted. “Gross. I’m not some damn porn star.” Jen put hands over her face. “Shit.”
 
“What?” Molly asked.
 
“Now I can’t get the image out of my mind. Damn you, Molly.”
 
“Well, you know what Anna said?’
 
“You talked about my sex life with Anna?”
 
“No, not your sex life, per se,” Molly answered. “She just asked what the deal was, and I’ll told her you were in a threesome. Anyway, she said, ‘Why buy a cow when you get free milk?’”
 
“Oh, come on,” Jen exclaimed. “Even for Anna it’s an old saying.”
 
“Well, she did say her mother used to say it. But let’s face it, Jen. You are a bird in a gilded cage, as they used to say. You’re trapped and can’t escape.” Jen pretended not to hear Molly. Molly took the hint.
 
Jen saw Marty coming down the hall, so she just waved her hand at Molly and returned to her computer.

A week later…

As Jen and Molly were working, Doc walked into their office to get a cup of espresso naked except for his jockey shorts.
 
Molly started to giggle, but Jen was not amused. “Doc,” she said to get his attention. Doc turned, his junk visible under his jockey shorts. Jen nodded her head toward Molly. “Molly’s here.”

To be continued…
​
For e-books by me, visit http://smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson or Amazon.com. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monteranderson
Follow my blog at http://monteranderson-author.com or http://monteranderson.wordpress.com

“We’ll still need proof,” Jen added.

“I know,” Molly replied. “I already talked to Jonah. He said the case is still open and if they hooked up in Florida, it could be proof of motive. It’s all he needs to get a warrant to pull Kiera’s credit card history and telephone records. He called the hotel and confirmed Kiera stayed there. He can get video confirmation. Ken had a room at the hotel by the convention center, but odds are he never slept there. We got her, Jen. I was right--the bitch lied to us. She never ended
the affair with Ken.”

“Wow,” Jen exclaimed. “Now what?”

“I don’t know,” Molly answered. “I guess we wait for confirmation from Jonah.”
​
“By the way, when I talked to Jonah, he said he’ll get a copy of the file on the Rice case for you.”

“Wow. How did you persuade him?”

Jen felt her face blush. “Don’t ask.”

Jen had to admit the more Marty hung around the office, the more she like him. When Marty left the room to use the restroom, Jen asked Molly, “You and Marty are really getting serious aren’t you.”

Molly grinned. “I think he’s going to pop the question any day. Last week we had dinner at his parents. They’re great folks—salt of the earth.”

“I envy you, Molly. It must feel good to have that type of love.”

“What are you talking about?” Molly asked. “You have two hot guys. They would do anything for you.”

“It’s not the same,” Jen answered. “Sometimes I wonder if they truly love me for me or if they just like the sex we have. You and Marty will get married and start a family. I want a family too.”

“Don’t your boys want kids?” Molly asked.

“No,” Jen answered. “I think they like things the way they are. Neither one is thinking about marriage. Jonah is more likely to marry, but Doc isn’t interested. Neither one has said anything about having kids. I want a family more than I want to marry.”

“The old biological clock ticking?” Molly asked.

“I don’t know,” Jen replied. “It’s hard to get those guys to talk about it. Hell, it’s hard to get them both together at the same time, and when we do, I hate to bring it for fear it will spoil the mood.”
 
“The mood?” Molly asked. “I think you’re trapped, Jen.”
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“Well,” Molly answered. “Doc and Jonah and great guys and gorgeous looking. You have this great office where you work at home and this great coffee machine. Your boys think you’ll never risk leaving. They’ve locked you in. It’s Doc’s house. They aren’t worried you might leave.”
 
“You forgot about the great sex,” Jen mentioned.
 
Molly laughed. “Do they ever treat you like a rotisserie chicken?”
 
“What are you talking about?” Jen asked.
 
“You know,” Molly replied. “Doc at one end of you and Jonah at the other and they spin you like a rotisserie chicken?”
 
WTF, Molly!” Jen shouted. “Gross. I’m not some damn porn star.” Jen put hands over her face. “Shit.”
 
“What?” Molly asked.
 
“Now I can’t get the image out of my mind. Damn you, Molly.”
 
“Well, you know what Anna said?’
 
“You talked about my sex life with Anna?”
 
“No, not your sex life, per se,” Molly answered. “She just asked what the deal was, and I’ll told her you were in a threesome. Anyway, she said, ‘Why buy a cow when you get free milk?’”
 
“Oh, come on,” Jen exclaimed. “Even for Anna it’s an old saying.”
 
“Well, she did say her mother used to say it. But let’s face it, Jen. You are a bird in a gilded cage, as they used to say. You’re trapped and can’t escape.” Jen pretended not to hear Molly. Molly took the hint.
 
Jen saw Marty coming down the hall, so she just waved her hand at Molly and returned to her computer.

A week later…
​
As Jen and Molly were working, Doc walked into their office to get a cup of espresso naked except for his jockey shorts.
 
Molly started to giggle, but Jen was not amused. “Doc,” she said to get his attention. Doc turned, his junk visible under his jockey shorts. Jen nodded her head toward Molly. “Molly’s here.”

My crime novel, The Throuple Private Eye— Business is Booming, was published as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99, Kindle Edition. The link is Amazon.com: Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming (The Throuple Private Eye) eBook : Anderson, Monte: Books. It is the second in the series. If you would like to order the first eBook, The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, the link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com. For those of you who prefer a book in print rather than an e-book, my latest novel, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming, is now available in paperback on Amazon for $7.10. The link is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDG84ZCS.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT (Cont’d)
​
Jen, Doc and Jonah had agreed whenever possible they would sit down to dinner together. It wasn’t easy with Jonah often on a stake out and Doc on call for emergencies. Tonight, everyone was home. Jen brought out the pot roast with potatoes. The aroma filled the dining room.

“Oh, no,” Jonah started in before Jen could put down the serving platter. “What do you want?” He raised his voice.

“I don’t know what you mean, honey,” Jen said while playing innocent as she sat the roast down on the table closer to Doc than Jonah.

Jonah pushed back from the table and stood up. “You only serve pot roast when you want something from me. What is it?”

“You are a suspicious soul,” Jen replied as innocently as she could fake it. As an after-thought she batted her eye lashes half in jest.

“No, no, no, Jen” Jonah continued. “You’re after something. What? Just tell me.”

Doc chuckled and started serving himself. “Never mind him, Jen. I’ll eat his. It smells delicious.”

Jen sat down and took the platter from Doc after he filled his plate. Jonah finally sat down. “Well, it does smell delicious,” he said. Jen knew then that the hook was set. “I guess you’ll tell me sooner or later,” Jonah added.

After some small talk, Jen finally said, “I got a new client today. Her name is Keira Shader. Does the name ring a bell?”

Jonah chuckled. “Yeah. I know who she is. She’s a pain in ass. She’s the sister to Sandra Rice, a homicide victim. The suspect is Ken Rice, the husband. I arrested him. I was the lead on the case. We charged him with first degree murder. I spoke to Keira, got her statement. Is that all, huh?” Jonah asked. “You want me to copy the police file on Ken Rice for you? Jen, the case is technically still open. He hasn’t been convicted yet. You ask too much. I could get fired.”

“Please,” Jen pleaded, once again batting her eye lashes which made the boys laugh. “She hired us to investigate. It’s Molly case, though. Kiera thinks Ken’s innocent. You know we’ll find out anyway, but it’ll save us a lot of time. Please.”

“I worked the case,” Jonah replied. “I know he’s as guilty as sin. It’s a solid bust. But you can’t keep asking me to put my career on the line all the time like this.”

“Okay, this will be the last time. I promise.” Jen waited for Jonah’s reaction. When he didn’t react, she said, “I’m wearing the thong you like.”

Doc perked up and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “The thin red one?”

Jen nodded her head. Jonah sighed. “Okay,’ he said. “But this has to be the last time.”

Jen turned to Doc. “Ken worked at the hospital. Did you know him?”

“Not really,” Doc answered. “I mean, I knew who he was, but I never spoke to him. His wife, Sandra, was one of the nurses. I knew her, but she worked in a different department. I think she worked in NICU.”

“Did you ever hear any rumors about him having an affair?”

“There’s always rumors in a hospital,” answered Doc. “I never pay them any attention, but whenever I visited my patients in ICU, she always seemed to be flirting with a male nurse there. I don’t know his name. By the way, this pot roast is delicious.”

The next day…

When Jen walked into her home office, she was surprised to find Molly and Marty both there. “What’s going on?” she asked Molly. Before Molly could answer, Jen walked over and offered her hand to Marty. “You must be William,” Jen said with a grin. “Molly has told me so much about you.”

Marty laughed. “It won’t work. Molly warned me about you. I’m Marty. Besides, we met at the VFW.”

Molly glared at Jen. “Not funny,” she said. Then she changed her tone and said, “Marty came over to help me do some research. We found out some things about Ken and Kiera”

Jen laughed at her weak attempt to embarrass Molly. She glanced down on Molly’s desk, and there was a dish of M&M’s. Pointing at the dish, she said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Molly smile. “What? Our expensive monogrammed candy? I got you some too. I think yours are the ones with peanuts.”

Jen waited as Marty transferred his stuff from Jen’s desk over to the coffee table. Molly picked up a stack of paper from the printer. “Ken and Kiera were together in Tampa in May” she said. “I scrolled through her social media, and she posted several pictures of herself in Tampa. She even wrote how beautiful it was. However, she didn’t mention Ken or post pictures of him or the two of them together. But Marty found out Ken was there at the same time.”

Marty took the cue. “Affirmative. I checked the AFE website…”

“AFE?” Jen interrupted to ask.

“Sorry,” Marty said. “The Association for Facility Engineering. Their annual conference was held in Tampa at the same time. During the conference, Ken got certified as a Facility Engineer. AFE posted a list and even a picture of all the candidates. Ken was in the picture.”
​
“They were smart enough not to stay at a hotel near the convention center,” Molly added. “But what are the odds? You know they slept together.”

September 12, 2022

My crime novel, The Throuple Private Eye— Business is Booming, was published as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99, Kindle Edition. The link is Amazon.com: Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming (The Throuple Private Eye) eBook : Anderson, Monte: Books. It is the second in the series. If you would like to order the first eBook, The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, the link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I’ll post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT (Cont’d)

“You said this Frank was a hothead. Was he violent?” Jen pressed Milly.

“Yeah,” Milly answered. “He got into a few fights, and I don’t mean arguments. He hit some of the other employees. No one ever pressed charges, but most people stayed clear of Frank.”

“So why was he fired?” Molly asked.

“We use a time clock here. Frank is scheduled to work from 7 am to 3 pm. He always clocked in on time, but he was clocking out 15 minutes late every day. We pay time and a half over time, so it adds up. It’s okay if he was working on a work order, but he would just sit in the break room for 15 minutes. We have it on video. So, Ken fired him.”

“When did he fire him?” Jen asked.

“It was a few weeks ago. If I was you,” Milly suggested, “I’d check out Frank’s alibi.”

“Can you give us his address,” Jen asked.  “HR hasn’t been very cooperative.”

“No sweat,” Milly answered as she pulled up a file on her computer and printed it.

After a few more questions, Jen and Molly left. Once in the car, Jen asked, “What was that perfume?

It reeked in there?”

“I think it was Versace,” Molly answered. “I used to use it before I deployed.”

“Why did you stop using it?” Jen asked.

“Are you kidding?” Molly asked with a laugh. “I didn’t need it in Afghanistan. The men were so horny, they didn’t care if I used WD-40. And what was with the push up bra? Who does she think she’s kidding?”

Jen and Molly called Frank’s cell phone. He answered after a minute, but said he couldn’t talk right then, but he had a lunch break in thirty minutes and would gladly talk then. Jen used her GPS to locate the work site--a construction site.

After asking around, Jen and Molly found Frank as he sat down on a pile of lumber to eat his sack lunch. The women introduced themselves and said they were investigating Ken’s wife’s murder. Jen was surprised when Frank seems nonchalant about it.

“I thought the police would get around to me eventually,” Frank said.

“We’re not the police,” Jen replied. “We’re private investigators. We’ve been hired to investigate this case. Our client doesn’t believe Ken Rice killed his wife.”

“Oh, okay,” Frank replied. “So, anything I say is off the record?”

“You could say that,” Molly replied.

“I did say that,” Frank shot back. “It’s okay. Ask away.”

Jen started, “We understand he fired you. Were you upset about getting fired?”

“What the hell do you think?” Frank answered. “Of course, it pissed me off. But in retrospect, I should thank Ken. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

“Why do you say that?” Molly asked.

“I had anger issues. Have had for years. I got into a few fights because of it. When Mr. Shader fired me, my union rep convinced me to get some anger management training. It was the best thing I ever did. I was having problems in my marriage, and the training helped. Ken did me a favor.”

“So, you didn’t his wife?” Molly asked point blank.

Frank laughed. “No. I didn’t kill her. Like I said, I should thank Mr. Shader.”

“Did Ken have any enemies?” Molly asked.

“I couldn’t say,” Frank answered. “I mean he was my boss, but I just stuck to my business and never really talked to him. I can’t think of anyone who’d want to kill his wife.”

After a few more questions, Jen thanked Frank, then she and Molly headed back to their car.
As Jen and Molly walked back to their car, Molly said, “Well, what a bust. He was our best suspect. Now what?”

“I don’t know,” Jen answered. “I guess we need to widen our circle of possible suspects. Maybe you need to follow up on whether Ken had any other affairs. You may want to start with the secretary, Mrs. Alexander. She looks like the type.”

Later that afternoon…

Jen thought it would help with Molly’s case if she could get a copy of the police file on the Ken Rice case, and she knew Jonah had access to it. He would put up a fuss, but in the end, he’d do it. He always did. He wasn’t a dishonest cop. He wasn’t. But he loved Jen and couldn’t resist her. Jen called Doc and asked to switch dinner cooking duties with him for tonight. The three of them alternated responsibility for preparing supper and it was Doc’s turn. She also knew pot roast with potatoes always put Jonah in a good mood; pot roast and whatever she could do in bed later. Doc agreed to switch, and Jen prepared the pot roast.

To be continued…
​
For e-books by me, visit http://smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson or Amazon.com. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monteranderson
Follow my blog at http://monteranderson-author.com or http://monteranderson.wordpress.com

The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming (excerpt)
My crime novel, The Throuple Private Eye— Business is Booming, was published as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99, Kindle Edition. The link is Amazon.com: Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming (The Throuple Private Eye) eBook : Anderson, Monte: Books. It is the second in the series. If you would like to order the first eBook, The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, the link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT (Cont’d)

After a discussion about fees and other details, Keira left. Molly turned to Jen. “Do you think she knows Jonah was on the case.

Jen nodded. “I’m sure of it. That’s why she came to us. But it’s okay. She knows we’ll do a better job than anyone else. Listen, let’s split up these two cases. Take your pick.”

Molly thought for a moment. “If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to take Keira’s case. It sounds like it could be juicy.”

“Fine. I’ll take Charlize’s case. (See The Serial Killer Case) I think it will take longer.”

Molly said, “I’ll start with Ken’s workplace. I’ll see if we can meet with the HR director or with someone from the Environmental Services Department.” After a few phone calls, Molly announced, “I have a meeting with the HR Director at the hospital at 1500 hours. Why don’t you come with me?” Jen agreed.

Later, Jen and Molly started to head for the hospital. Molly folded up her walker and leaned it against the wall and grabbed her cane.

“Whoa,” Jen said. “What do think you’re doing?”

Molly smiled. “I thought I’d use my just cane. The walker just slows me down.”

“I think that’s the idea,” Jen said.  “Did the doctor approve this?”

“Screw him. I’m using the cane today,” Molly shot back.

“Okay, okay,” Jen replied throwing her hands up in mock surrender. “But let’s just throw the walker in the back seat just in case.” She folded up the walker and the two of them headed outside.
Once at the hospital, they both donned facemasks and started inside. A hospital employee met them at the door. After verifying they had an appointment and taking their temperatures, they were allowed inside. The Human Resources office was on the first floor.

The meeting with HR didn’t go well. The HR Director cited confidentiality and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). She added she had given all the pertinent information to the police already. She did say the hospital hadn’t replaced Ken yet, and they are currently doing interviews. However, she did agree to take Jen and Molly to Ken’s office to talk with his secretary, Mrs. Alexander, and left them there.

Mrs. Alexander was executive secretary for the Environmental Services Department. She was a slightly plumb woman in her mid-thirties. Her too tight blouse was bursting at the seams, exposing an ample breast with a red push-up bra. Her perfume filled the air of the small office.

After introductions, the secretary invited the women to sit in Ken’s larger office while they talked. Jen noticed all the documents posted on Ken’s walls: college diplomas and various certifications from various engineering organization. With Mrs. Alexandra’s permission, Molly took a picture of them with her cellphone.

“As you can see,” Mrs. Alexandria said, “Ken was a very smart man.” She pointed at his college diploma. He has a degree in engineering from Georgia University.” She pointed out other certifications. “He’s a Certified Plant and Maintenance Manager and a few months ago, he was certified as a Facility Engineer. That one’s a hard one to get. You must pass a four-hour exam.”

“Who does the certifying?” Jen asked.

“Ken attended the AFE conference in Tampa and tested for it there,” Mrs. Alexandra answered.

“AFE?” Molly asked.

“Oh, sorry,” Mrs. Alexandra apologized. “It stands for the Association for Facility Engineering. I’m so glad to see someone is investigating Sandra’s murder. I just know Ken didn’t do it. He couldn’t have.”
“Why is that Mrs. Alexandra?” Jen asked.

“Call me Milly, please. Ken was the nicest boss. He always talked about his wife--never a bad word.”
“Didn’t the police get a statement from you?” Jen asked.

“Oh heavens, no,” Milly answered. “No one from the police department came here.”

“Was there anything odd or out of place with Ken recently?” Molly asked.

“What do you mean?” Milly asked.

“Do think he was having an affair? Did he have any enemies?” Molly answered.

“You mean is there a jealous husband who might want him dead? No, of course not. I don’t know if he had enemies here at work. Although…”

What?” Jen asked. “What were you going to say?”

“Well. It’s not my place to say, but there was one employee Ken had to fire recently. He might have held a grudge.”

“Who?” Molly asked. “What happened?”

“His name is Frank Bean, one of the maintenance guys. Ken fired him for misusing overtime. Frank was always a hothead. He and Ken had words when Ken fired him, and I think Frank threatened Ken.”

To be continued…
​
For e-books by me, visit http://smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson or Amazon.com. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monteranderson
Follow my blog at http://monteranderson-author.com or http://monteranderson.wordpress.com

I’m in the process of publishing my next book, Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming, a Jen McDowell Series. While I’m doing that, I thought I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com.

THE CASE OF REASONABLE DOUBT

Jen and Molly worked in silence on separate cases. Molly noticed Jen rubbing her forehead. “You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Had another bad dream last night.”

“Oh damn,” Molly said. “They never seem to go away. Do you remember it?”

“Yeah. It’s a recurring dream. I’m on the operating table, and I have no legs and no arms. Doc is there coming toward me with a scalpel. He’s covered in blood, and I can’t move. It scares the shit outta me.”

Molly got up and walked over to Jen and hugged her.

After a quick lunch of cold cuts, the women got ready to receive their next appointment. “What do we know about our next client?” Molly asked.

“Keira Shader. Well, her address, driver’s license, and the other standard stuff checked out. She works for the city. She wouldn’t tell me over the telephone why she wanted to hire us. But I recognized the name, so I checked it out. She’s the sister-in-law of Ken Rice. Her sister is Sandra Rice. Does the name ring a bell?”

“Yeah, it does. It was in the papers recently. Isn’t he the guy who stabbed his wife?”

“Yes, that’s the guy,” Molly answered. “Her name was Sandra Rice.

Jen thought for a moment. “In fact, Jonah worked on the case. I don’t remember if he had the lead, but he definitely worked the case. Ken Rice is awaiting trial. He also worked at the hospital where Doc works. He was the facility manager. Jonah said it was a slam dunk case. He didn’t confess but had no alibi. He had recently taken out a million-dollar life insurance police on his wife. Where did his wife work again?”

“At the same hospital.”

“So why a million-dollar policy? Seems like over kill.” Jen chuckled.

Molly moaned at Jen’s attempt at dark humor. Suddenly, Prada raised her head and looked toward the front door. Molly heard an alarm from the security system and then the doorbell rang. “We’ll see what this is all about. Our client is at the front door.”

Jen let Keira Shader in and escorted her to the back office. After introductions and sharing some initial information and coffee, the three sat down to business. Once everyone was seated, Keira removed her mask. She appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. She was a natural beauty and wore little makeup. She spoke with a slight Southern accent. “So, how can we be of service?” Jen asked.

Keira shifted in her chair. “I want y’all to find who killed my sister.”

Jen sat back. “We don’t usually take murder cases.”

Molly gasped. “What? I thought your brother-in-law killed your sister.”

“No, he did not,” Keira shot back angrily. She took a deep breath. “I don’t know who did. I want y’all to find out for me.”

“I’m confused,” said Jen. “The police charged Ken Rice with the murder of your sister. What makes you think someone else murdered her?”

Keira sighed. “I know Ken. He loved Sandra. He’d never have killed her. I know it. The police didn’t investigate anyone else. They just focused on the husband, and only him--case closed. The husband always guilty, right? They did a sloppy investigation. He’s innocent.”

“I don’t know,” Jen said. She decided it was best to not reveal Jonah worked the case.

“Please,” Keira replied. “I’ll pay you. If you discover he really did kill her, then fine. But I don’t think he did. I just need you to find out one way or another.”

Jen nodded and glanced at Molly who also nodded. “Okay, we’ll take the case.”

“Bless your little hearts. In any case, I must tell you Ken and I had a brief affair,” Keira added. “It might could come out during your investigation. We ended it six months ago. Sandra didn’t know about it.”

“Why did you end the affair?” Molly asked.

“Ken felt guilty about cheating on Sandra, plain and simple.”

“Start by telling us something about Ken and Sandra,” Jen suggested. “It may help us.”

Keira sighed and sat back in her chair. She took a sip of her coffee and speaking slowly said, “Sandra was my only sister. She’s a few years older. We grew up here in Atlanta. She became a nurse, and she met Ken at the hospital. He was head of maintenance at the hospital. Sandra worked in ICU. Somehow, they met. It was one of those love at first sight stories.”

“The marriage had problems,” Molly pointed out. “You said you had an affair with Ken, right?”

Keira sighed again. “They were going through a rough patch at the time. It was a stupid affair. I was fixin to jist have a one-night stand, then it ended up in a full-blown affair. After a few months we both regretted it, and we ended it. Sandra never knew.”

Jen recalled her one-night stand with Navada but then tried not to think about it. (See the chapter on Marty and Navada) “Who do think killed Sandra?” Jen asked.

Keira thought for a moment. “I really don’t have a clue but consider this, Ken may have had other affairs before ours or even after we broke up. He could talk a cat out of a tree. Also, he may have had enemies at work, or maybe… and I hate to even suggest it… Sandra was havin an affair. She never said a word to me. We weren’t that close.”

“Any other suspects?” Molly asked. “Work maybe?”
​
“He did tell me he was havin issues with one of his employees at the hospital. He was the Director for Environmental Services, so he directed the maintenance department, housekeepin, security, and grounds. The employee was in maintenance, I think. I don’t know his name.”

I’m in the process of publishing my next book, Jen McDowell—Private Eye; Business is Booming, a Jen McDowell Series. While I’m doing that, I thought I’d post excerpts from it in my blog. To read them all the excerpts I previously posted, go to my website at monteranderson -author.com.

Six months later…

After Molly arrived with Prada for work, she and Jen sat down with coffee. “How’s the wedding planning going?” Jen asked. “Anything for me to do?”

“I think it’s going okay,” Molly answered. “The baby is due in March, so we thought a spring wedding would be great. Starting in June, Atlanta’s too damn hot. But for Marty and his family, April is very busy with Easter and all. It’s a big deal for them. We’re looking at a date in May.”

“May’s good,” Jen replied. “Should be nice weather and plenty of flowers. Did Marty find a new Best Man?” During another case, Jen and Molly discovered that Navada was a member of a White Supremacy hate group. (See The High Priests of Phinehas Case.)

“Yes, as a matter of fact. It turns out, his old battalion commander from Iraq was promoted to colonel and is being assigned as the head of the South Atlantic Division of the Corps of Engineers based in Atlanta,” Molly answered. “He should be here by the end of the month. Marty says he’s a great guy.”

“Super,” Jen said. “What about Bridesmaids?”

“I asked my sister to be one,” Molly answered.

“I thought you didn’t get along with your sister?” Jen pointed out.

“I don’t, but if I don’t include her, she’ll whine about it for the rest of my life.”

“She did help you when you were recovering,” Jen pointed out again. “You owe her.”

Don’t’ remind me,” Molly shot back. “I wanted to ask Anna, (See The Case of the Kidnapped Granddaughter) but I didn’t get around to it before she died. I’ll find someone to take her place. And this is neat; I asked Cleo to be a flower girl. She was so excited. Then she asked if Prada was also a flower girl. Can you imagine?”

“So, what did you do?”

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Molly said. “I think it’s a good idea. I discussed it with Marty, and he liked it too. So, Prada’s a flower girl.”

Jen turned around to see Prada sleeping on her bed. “Did you hear that, Prada? You’re a flower girl.” Prada lifted her head and looked at Jen and Molly.

“So, who else is a bridesmaid?” Jen asked.

“Well, I asked Dr. Yannic, our therapy group leader and Betty and Mary from the group,” Molly answered. “I still have to find a couple more, but there’s still time.”

“What about the groomsmen?” Jen asked.

“Are you kidding?” Molly shot back. “Marty has so many relatives in Georgia, it’ll be impossible not to offend someone.” Molly and Jen both laughed.

End of the Chapter Marty and Navada
​
For e-books by me, visit http://smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson or Amazon.com. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monteranderson
Follow my blog at http://monteranderson-author.com or http://monteranderson.wordpress.com
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