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 going to embrace the pandemic in my story. I’m at 29k 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 4 for this second draft. Here’s the first half of Chapter 5. Enjoy.
An excerpt from The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming (WIP8)
CHAPTER 5
To help Molly with her case, Jen decided she would need a copy of the police file, and she knew that Jonah had access to it. He would put up a fuss, but in the end, he’d do it. 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 that pot roast with potatoes always put Jonah in a good mood; that and whatever she could do in bed that night. Doc agreed to switch, and Jen prepared the pot roast.
Jen, Doc and Jonah had agreed that whenever possible they would sit down together for dinner. 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.
“Oh, no,” Jonah started in. “What do you want?” he raised his voice.
“I don’t know what you mean, honey,” Jen said while playing innocent.
Jonah pushed back from the table. “You only serve pot roast when you want something from me. What is it?”
“You are a suspicious soul,” Jen replied, innocently.
“No, no, no, Jen” Jonah continued. “You’re after something. What?”
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.
Jonah finally sat back at the table. “Well, it does smell delicious. I guess you’ll tell sooner or later.”
After some small talk, Jen finally said, “I got a new client today. Her name is Keira Shader. Does that name ring a bell?”
Jonah chuckled. “Yeah. I know who she is. She’s the sister to Sandra Rice. I was on that case. We arrested Ken Rice for murder. I spoke to Keira, got her statement. So that’s it, huh?” Jonah asked. “You want me to copy the police file on Ken Rice. Jen, that case is technically still open. He hasn’t been convicted yet. You ask too much. I could get fired.”
“Please,” Jen pleaded. “She hired me to investigate. She thinks he’s innocent. You know I’ll find out anyway. It’ll save me a lot of time. Please.”
“I worked that case,” Jonah replied. “He’s as guilty as sin. You can’t keep asking me to put my career on the line all the time.”
“Okay, this will be the last time. I promise’” Jen waited for Jonah’s reaction. “I’m wearing that thong you like.”
Doc perked up. “That 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.”
“Did you ever hear any rumors about him having an affair?”
“There’s always rumors in a hospital,” Doc answered. “I never pay them any attention, but whenever I went to visit my patients in ICU, she always seemed to be flirting with a male nurse there. I don’t know his name.”
The next night Jonah came home with a copy of the complete file on the Ken Rice murder case. It looked a little thin to Jen. “Is this all?” she asked.
“I left out the pictures,” answered Jonah.
Jen spent the night 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,” replied Jen. “It all started with a 911 call. A neighbor out walking her dog thought she heard a scream from the Rice house. The police arrived in less than five minutes and knocked on the door. Ken answered the door covered in blood. The police found his wife on the kitchen floor dead from a knife 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. That explains his fingerprints on the knife. The autopsy showed that she had no defensive wound, so the ME determined that she must have known her attacker. The detectives also discovered that he had purchased a million-dollar life insurance policy on his wife two week before.”
An excerpt from The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming (WIP8)
CHAPTER 5
To help Molly with her case, Jen decided she would need a copy of the police file, and she knew that Jonah had access to it. He would put up a fuss, but in the end, he’d do it. 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 that pot roast with potatoes always put Jonah in a good mood; that and whatever she could do in bed that night. Doc agreed to switch, and Jen prepared the pot roast.
Jen, Doc and Jonah had agreed that whenever possible they would sit down together for dinner. 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.
“Oh, no,” Jonah started in. “What do you want?” he raised his voice.
“I don’t know what you mean, honey,” Jen said while playing innocent.
Jonah pushed back from the table. “You only serve pot roast when you want something from me. What is it?”
“You are a suspicious soul,” Jen replied, innocently.
“No, no, no, Jen” Jonah continued. “You’re after something. What?”
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.
Jonah finally sat back at the table. “Well, it does smell delicious. I guess you’ll tell sooner or later.”
After some small talk, Jen finally said, “I got a new client today. Her name is Keira Shader. Does that name ring a bell?”
Jonah chuckled. “Yeah. I know who she is. She’s the sister to Sandra Rice. I was on that case. We arrested Ken Rice for murder. I spoke to Keira, got her statement. So that’s it, huh?” Jonah asked. “You want me to copy the police file on Ken Rice. Jen, that case is technically still open. He hasn’t been convicted yet. You ask too much. I could get fired.”
“Please,” Jen pleaded. “She hired me to investigate. She thinks he’s innocent. You know I’ll find out anyway. It’ll save me a lot of time. Please.”
“I worked that case,” Jonah replied. “He’s as guilty as sin. You can’t keep asking me to put my career on the line all the time.”
“Okay, this will be the last time. I promise’” Jen waited for Jonah’s reaction. “I’m wearing that thong you like.”
Doc perked up. “That 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.”
“Did you ever hear any rumors about him having an affair?”
“There’s always rumors in a hospital,” Doc answered. “I never pay them any attention, but whenever I went to visit my patients in ICU, she always seemed to be flirting with a male nurse there. I don’t know his name.”
The next night Jonah came home with a copy of the complete file on the Ken Rice murder case. It looked a little thin to Jen. “Is this all?” she asked.
“I left out the pictures,” answered Jonah.
Jen spent the night 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,” replied Jen. “It all started with a 911 call. A neighbor out walking her dog thought she heard a scream from the Rice house. The police arrived in less than five minutes and knocked on the door. Ken answered the door covered in blood. The police found his wife on the kitchen floor dead from a knife 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. That explains his fingerprints on the knife. The autopsy showed that she had no defensive wound, so the ME determined that she must have known her attacker. The detectives also discovered that he had purchased a million-dollar life insurance policy on his wife two week before.”
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