The following is another excerpt from my work in progress, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming; a Jen McDowell Series. This is the second draft. I’m at 36k words now. If you want to catch up, order the novella The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, on Amazon ($2.99). The link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN. I made few changes to Chapter 6 for this second draft. Here’s the second half of Chapter 6. Enjoy.
CHAPTER 6 (2nd half)
Molly turned to Jen. “That’s the same time as when the murder took place.”
“Well. If I was you,” Jen 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 out.
After a few more questions, Jen and Molly left. Once in the car, Jen asked, “What was that perfume that 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 that push up bra? Who does she think she’s kidding?”
Jen and Molly called Frank’s cell phone. He 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 that Frank gave her—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 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 look into this case. Our client doesn’t believe Ken rice killed his wife.”
“Oh, okay.” replied Frank. “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 that he fired you. Did that upset you?”
“What the hell do you think?” Frank answered. “Of course, it upset me. 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 kill him?” Molly asked point blank.
Frank laughed. “I thought that this was all about that. No. I didn’t kill her. Like I said, I should thank him.”
“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.”
As Jen and Molly walked back to their car, Molly said, “Well, that was 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 that secretary, Mrs. Alexander.”
CHAPTER 6 (2nd half)
Molly turned to Jen. “That’s the same time as when the murder took place.”
“Well. If I was you,” Jen 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 out.
After a few more questions, Jen and Molly left. Once in the car, Jen asked, “What was that perfume that 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 that push up bra? Who does she think she’s kidding?”
Jen and Molly called Frank’s cell phone. He 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 that Frank gave her—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 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 look into this case. Our client doesn’t believe Ken rice killed his wife.”
“Oh, okay.” replied Frank. “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 that he fired you. Did that upset you?”
“What the hell do you think?” Frank answered. “Of course, it upset me. 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 kill him?” Molly asked point blank.
Frank laughed. “I thought that this was all about that. No. I didn’t kill her. Like I said, I should thank him.”
“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.”
As Jen and Molly walked back to their car, Molly said, “Well, that was 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 that secretary, Mrs. Alexander.”
RSS Feed
