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 32k 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. Actually, I made a mistake because I miss-numbered the chapters.  Here’s the second half of Chapter 6. Enjoy.
​
CHAPTER 6
 
After lunch 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 just use my cane. The walker just slows me down.”
 
“I think that’s the idea,” said Jen.  “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 that they had an appointment and talking their temperature, they were allowed inside. The HR office was on the first floor.
 
The meeting with HR didn’t go well. The HR Director cited confidentiality, and said she gave all the pertinent information to the police already. She did say that the hospital hadn’t replaced Ken yet, and they are currently doing interviews. However, she did take Jen and Molly to Ken’s office to talk with his secretary, Mrs. Alexander.
 
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 office while they talked. Jen noticed all the documents posted on Ken’s walls. There were his 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’s a hard one to get. You must pass a four-hour exam.”
 
“Who does the certifying?” Jen asked.
 
“Ken went to the AFE conference in Tampa for that,” Mrs. Alexandra answered.
 
“AFE?” Molly asked.
 
“Oh, sorry,” apologized Mrs. Alexandra. “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 do you say that Mrs. Alexandra?” asked Jen.
 
“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?” asked Jen.
 
“Oh heavens, no,” answered Milly. “No one from the police came here.”
 
“Was there anything that seems odd or out of place with Ken?” asked Molly.
 
“What do you mean?” asked Milly.
 
“Do think he was having an affair? Did he have any enemies that you know of?”
 
“You mean is there a jealous husband that might want him dead? No, of course not. I don’t know if he had enemies here at work. Although…”

What?” asked Jen. “what were you doing to say?”
 
“Well. It’s not my place to say, but there was one employee that Ken had to fire recently. He might have held a grudge.”
 
“Who might that be?” 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.”
 
“You said this Frank was a hothead. Was he violent?” Jen pressed Milly.
 
“Yeah,” answered Milly. “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 stay 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 was that?” asked Jen.
 
“Let’s see,” answered Milly. “It was a couple of weeks ago.”

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 31k 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 and posted the first half. Here’s the first half of Chapter 6. Enjoy.

Another Excerpt from my WIP (10)

CHAPTER 6
 
On Friday, Jen and Molly worked all day inside their office, doing research on their computers.
 
Finally, late in the afternoon, Molly stood up and said, “Let’s go out. We need to unwind.”
 
Jen looked up. “Okay, I’ll see if the boys want to come.”

“No,” Molly said. “Girls night out. Just you and me.”

“And do what?” Jen asked.

“Well, it’s Friday. My VFW post has an all you can eat fish fry every Friday and also a country band. For an extra $2 you can add shrimp.”

“I don’t know,” Jen replied. “Do you want tom hang out with a bunch of old folks?”

“Wait a minute,” Molly cautioned. “I hang out there. On Fridays, the older vets come for the fish. The young vets come for the band and to dance. Besides, most of the fish is take out.”

“How do they have a dance during the pandemic?” Jen asked.

“Well, they can only allow a certain number of guests inside, something like 25 or 50 percent,” Molly answered. “Then in a large room they placed marks six feet apart in rows. They only allow line dancing, and everyone stays follows social distancing and wears masks.”

“I haven’t tried dancing in my prothesis yet,” Jen said. “I don’t know if I can.”

“We don’t have to dance,” Molly suggested. “We can listen to the music and drink beer. Besides, we can watch some of those young guys dance. Some of them are hot.”

Jen finally relented and volunteered to drive. Jen decided that Molly was right; some of the guys were hot, the band was good, and the beer was cold. The fish was white fish, bit there was plenty of it. After an hour, a guy walked over to Molly. “Hello, my name is Marty Hennessey. Would you like to dance?” he asked through his facemask.

Molly shook her and pulled up her pant legs to reveal her two protheses. Marty pulled up his to reveal a major protheses on his left leg, extending down from just below his hip.

“Okay,” Molly conceded. “You got me beat, but I haven’t danced since I got these.”

“No problem,” Marty answered. “I’ll show you how.”

“No, no, no,” protested Molly. “I don’t think so.”

Marty bend down and leaned on the table. “What was your rank when you got discharged from the military?”

Molly was taken back by the question. “I was a staff sergeant.”

Marty straightened up. “Well, I was a captain and I’m giving you a direct order to get your ass out on the dance floor, sergeant.” Reluctantly, Molly stood up. Marty half led-half pulled Molly to the dance floor. All the dances were line dances, and Molly struggled to keep up. She did stumble a couple of times, but Marty caught her. Jen was certain the last fall was fake. Marty stood behind Molly and held her waist to steady her. Molly moved his arms tighter around her. After a few minutes, Molly mastered the steps without falling. No one objected to them not social distancing since several other couple did the same.

As the next line dance started, Molly and Marty walked and pulled a protesting Jen onto the dance floor. Molly stood on one side holding Jen’s hand while Marty held her other hand. It was awkward at first, but soon Jen was keeping up without falling. Once she got the hang of it, she resumed social distancing. After a few dances, Jen headed back to her table, turning down a couple of offers to dance on the way.

When the band took a break, Molly walked over to Jen. “Don’t worry about driving me home. Marty said he’d give me a ride.” She winked at Jen. “I might go over to his place for a nightcap.”

Jen sternly asked, “Molly do your panties fall off every time you meet a good-looking guy?”

Molly smiled. “What panties?”

Jen laughed. “Sorry, for a minute I forgot who I was talking to. Okay, but send me a text or call so I’ll know where to go to claim the body.”

Marty walked over with another young man. “Ladies, this Navada Lucas, my best friend. He still has both legs, but he’s okay.” Marty made introductions all around. The four of them danced a few more times.
​
Finally, Jen said, “Folks, I’m not use to this, and my legs are killing me, so I need to sit down.”

I actually forgot to post something on my blog this morning, so this is late. 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 31k 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 5 for this second draft and posted the first half. Here’s the second half of Chapter 5. Enjoy.
Another Excerpt from my WIP (9)
“And in spite of all this evidence, Keira Shader, the sister of the vic, claims Ken is innocent,” Molly said. “I wonder why.”
 
“That’s a good question.,” Jen answered. “Read the file first and then we’ll get to work.”
 
After an hour. Molly had 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.
 
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.”
 
Jen picked up from there. “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 that the security system was turned off at 0613 hours. Ken said that was usually, 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 interjected. “he thinks Ken turned off the alarm at 0613 just before killing his wife. He thinks Ken staged the whole thing to look as if Sandra let someone in through the patio door. The crime scene looked staged to Jonah.”
 
Molly continued, “Ken told the police that he heard a scream and woke up. He went downstairs and checked the security system and saw it was off. He’s certain that he set it before going to bed. He then went to the closet and removed a golf club to use as a weapon. He went 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 that accounts for the 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. “That’ll help guide us.” Once she was done, she turned to Jen.
 
“According to the statement that Ken gave the police,” Jen began. “He speculates that she might have turned off the security system and went into the kitchen. He believes she may have let someone inside through the rear patio doors. That 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,” answered Molly. “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.”
 
“It had to be someone Sandra knew,” Molly said. “Not a stranger. That eliminates 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.
 
“That’s a good start,” Molly said. “I’ll start with Ken’s place of work. 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, “We have a meeting with the HR Director after lunch. Why don’t you come with me?” Jen agreed.
 

​Sorry, I didn’t post anything yesterday. I had to take a road trip. I won’t post an excerpt from my WIP, The Throuple Private Eye, because I’m doing a major rewrite. I’ll post this instead:
 
A few years ago, I read on my news feed the 7 Signs You’re Drinking Too Much Coffee. The article listed these symptoms: you feel anxious, your stomach hurts, your heart is racing, you have diarrhea, you can’t sleep, you've got the jitters and you get headaches. I think the article barely scratched the surface of a coffee drinking problem. Since I also suffer from drinking too much coffee, I thought I would post the additional symptoms of a coffee drinking problem. Here’s what the list omitted:
​
You buy coffee colors shirts, so the stains don’t show.
You plant coffee beans in your garden.
Your Starbuck’s bill is more than your electric bill.
You sprinkle ground coffee on your omelets.
You start carrying instant coffee and spoon for a quick pick-me-up instead of a snack.
You start looking for coffee flavoring in all your food.
You can smell a coffee shop one mile away.
Your teeth turn brown.
Use start using a needle to inject the coffee directly into your blood stream.
You think hospital coffee tastes good.

If you have any of these symptoms, you may need an intervention.

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.”

The following is another excerpt from my work in progress, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming; a Jen McDowell Series. This a 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 no changes to Chapter 1 for this second draft. Here’s Chapter 3 rewritten to include the pandemic. Enjoy.
 
An excerpt from The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming (WIP7)
 
CHAPTER 3—Two weeks earlier.

An older man walked into the Central Chicago Jewelry Store. He wore a facemask and had a baseball cap pulled over his head. There were few people in the store and everyone was wearing facemasks. “Can I help you?” the manager asked through a facemask.

“Is Charlize working today?” the gentleman asked. “She was recommended to help me.”

The manger nodded to Charlize who walked over. “Yes, sir. What are you shopping for today?”

The gentleman looked over toward the manager who was now busy helping another customer. In a low voice, the gentleman said, “I not shopping today. “I just need to talk with you about this.” He laid two fake credit cards on the counter. “Are you’re really Kyra Birchfield?” He pointed to one of the cards. “Or are you Jerome Meserly?” He pointed at the other card. “or maybe you’re Francesca Martin?” He laid down a fake driver’s license.”

Charlize was stunned. “Sir, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said with a whimper through her facemask.

“I think you do,” the man answered. “I took these from your apartment. Relax, I’m not the police.”
Charlize felt her knees shaking. She tried to recover her composure. “Sir, I don’t know who you are, but I’ll pay you back whatever I took. I swear.”

“Relax. Relax. Like I said, I’m not the police. I just want to talk with you. Meet me at the coffee shop across the street in ten minutes. If you don’t show, then I’ll go to the police.”

“Okay, ten minutes,” Charlize replied as she reached for the cards. The man was quicker and sweep them up.

“Ten minutes” the man said. “Don’t be late.”

Charlize told her boss that she needed coffee and she walked over to the coffee shop. She saw the gentleman in the far end of the shop sitting at a small table. He had removed his facemask and was eating a pastry. Charlize saw that he was clean shaven, maybe in his forties. She sat down opposite him. He shoved another pastry toward her. She noticed a laptop in front of him that looked like hers.
The man saw her glance at the laptop. “Yeah, it’s yours,” he said. “I took from your apartment along with some of the fake credit cards you made. I also ordered some food so we can remove our masks.”

Charlize removed her facemask but didn’t touch the pastry. She frowned. “Are you going to report me to the police?”

The man shook his head. “My name is Jimmy Richards. Does that ring a bell?”

Charlize remembered the name as one of the identities she recently stole. “Oh shit,” she said. “Look Mr. Richards, I’ll gladly pay you back. How much do I owe you?”

Jimmy laughed. “No, no. I don’t want you to pay me back. Keep it. My wife won’t miss it.”
“What do you want?” Charlize asked as her hands started to shake.

“Oh, it’s really simple” Jimmy said with a smile. “I want you to keep spending on my wife’s credit card. Just limit it to under $500 a month.”

“You don’t want me to stop?” a surprised Charlize asked.

“No, no. In fact, if you don’t spend $500 per month, I’ll go to the police with all this evidence.”

“You want me to keep charging on your wife’s credit cards each month? Why?”

“That’s none of your business. Just do it or I go to the police. Understand?"

Charlize didn’t understand but she agreed to it. Richards finished his pastry and put on his facemask. Without another word, he stood up and left the coffee shop.

Later that evening Charlize told her boyfriend, Maury Fincham, what had happened. They had been living together for two years and ended up quarantined together. The fact that Jimmy knew where she lived and had broken into her apartment and taken her laptop scared the crap out of Charlize. She couldn’t stop shaking. “What do you think?” she finally asked Maury.

Maury thought for a moment. “It sounds as if this guy Richards wants to convince people that his wife is here in Chicago spending money.”

“So, what do we do now?” Charlize asked. “He has my computer with all my stuff. I could go to jail if he gives it to the police.”

“Charlize, this guy maybe is setting up an alibi so he can get rid of his wife.”

“Get rid of her? You mean kill her?”

“Yes,” Maury answered. “In fact, he may have already killed her. I think that at some point, he may come back to kill you.”

Charlize was really scared now. “Maury, what can I do? He has my laptop. All my fake IDs are on there. If he goes to the police, we’re both going to jail. He knows I can’t tell anyone. If we do what he says, he might kill us later. Oh, shit.”

“Yeah,” replied Maury. “He has us over a barrel. We need to find out more about him. He has either killed his wife, or he’s planning to kill her. What do we know about him?”

Charlize began to calm down. She sat back and thought for a moment. “Well, I know about his wife. Her name is Biyu Richards. It’s an odd name, don’t you think? I was able to find a picture of her. She’s Chinese or oriental. I have her post office box address. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.”

“Okay, that’s a good start. You have security cameras at the store. Tomorrow, see if you can get a screen shot of his face. It might come in handy. Meanwhile, get on my computer and find out whatever you can about this guy. An address would be helpful.”

“He wore his facemask in the store… and a hat,” Charlize said. He took them off in the coffee shop but I doubt the coffee shop will let me have their tapes. I can try.”
​
“Do it,” Maury replied. “We might find something to distinguish him even with the mask on; a birthmark of something.”

The following is another exert from my work in progress, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming; a Jen McDowell Series. This a very rough draft. I’m going to embrace the pandemic in my story, so I’ll need to start on a second draft. 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 no changes to Chapter 1 for this second draft. Here’s Chapter 2 rewritten to include the pandemic. Enjoy.
 
An exert from The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming (WIP6)
 
CHAPTER 2

Molly looked at the security monitor. “Someone’s coming up the front sidewalk,” she informed Jen.

“Do we have an appointment today?” Jen asked.

“Not until 1 pm,” answered Molly. “This must be a walk-in. Looks like a young couple.”

When the couple reached the front door and rang the doorbell, Molly asked over the intercom, “May I help you?”

The young man looked around until he saw the camera. Looking at the camera he said, “We’d like to see Ms. Jennifer McDowell, please. We have urgent business.”

Molly rang them in as Jen walked over to the hallway and signal for them to come back to the office. Molly pulled a couple of chairs apart to allow for social distancing. Jen and Molly introduced themselves and asked the young couple to sit down.

“My name is Charlize Wessel,” the young woman said through her facemask. “and this is my boyfriend Maury Fincham.”

Molly entered their names into her computer while Jen removed a record from her desk. “Do you mind if we record this conversation?” Jen asked. “I think you can remove your facemasks now,” she added. “I think we’re far enough apart.

Charlize and Maury glanced at each other. “We rather not record this,” answered Charlie as she and Maury removed their facemasks. “I’ll explain why in a minute.” She left her facemask hanging from one ear.

Jen turned off the recorder but left it on the table.

Charlize glanced at Maury who nodded. “I… We’d like to hire you,” she said. She reached over and took Maury’s hand.

Molly offered the couple some coffee or tea and busied herself with maneuvering her walker to the coffee pot. She placed everything on a small wheeled cart and served everyone. Finally, Jen asked, “How can we be of service?”

Charlize looked at Maury who nodded for her to explain. “It’s a long story, but first is this confidential?”

“Yes,” answered Jen, “but if there’s a serious crime involved, we’ll advise you to notify the police. I must tell you that my boyfriend is a police detective and I’m a medically retired police officer.”

“We know,” replied Charlize. “We found your website and read about your history. That’s the main reason we came to you for help. We think your connections might help.”

“Why don’t you start by telling us what’s going on and we’ll advise you on the best course of action.”

Maury sighed, “We think someone has been murdered. Molly gasped and looked at Jen. They both sat back in their seats “Not by us,” Maury quickly added. “By someone we know.”

“Why can’t you tell the police?” Molly asked.

Charlize leaned forward. “Because if I do, they’ll arrest me and Maury for other crimes.”

“What crimes?” Jen asked.

“Identity theft,” Charlize answered.

Jen sat back in her chair and thought for a moment. She looked at Molly with raised eyebrows. “What the fuck?”

Molly stood up and using her desk for balance, moved to the front and leaned back on her desk. “Let’s do this,” she said. “Tell us what’s going on and we’ll see if we can work out a deal with the police. If what you say is true, you might get a plea deal to avoid jail time.”

Charlize and Maury looked at each other. “Okay,” Charlize said.

Jen turned the recorder on. “Do you have to record this?” Charlize asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Jen answered. “But if we don’t take the case, we’ll give you the recording.”
“Okay,” Charlize answered.

 “Okay,” Jen said. “Start at the beginning.”

“Here’s what happened. Maury and I live together in Chicago. I work in a jewelry store in the loop. It doesn’t pay much, mostly on commission. To make extra money, I steal identities. Maury is into photography and he helps me forger driver licenses or anything else I might need. I make small charges on their credit cards or withdraw money from their accounts using an ATM; not a lot.”

“Wow,” Molly said. “So how does a murder fit into this?”
​
“Well. A couple of weeks ago, a guy came into the store and asked for me by name. I never met the guy before.”

The following is another exert from my work in progress, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming; a Jen McDowell Series. This a very rough draft. I’m at 27k 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 wasn’t sure how to handle the pandemic since my novel will take place in the present. I thought about dating prior to the pandemic (the easy way out) of after (in the future). I finally decided to embrace it and rewrite everything to include the pandemic.
 
CHAPTER 4 (The rest of Chapter 4) Back at Jen’s Office

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

“Keira Shader. Well, her address, driver’s license, and the other standard stuff checked out. She’s a nurse at the same hospital where Doc works. They probably know each other. Maybe that’s why she thought of us. She seems more legal than our clients from this morning.”

“She wouldn’t tell me over the telephone why she wanted to hire us,” replied Jen. “But I recognized that name, so I checked it out. She’s the sister-in-law of Ken Rice. Her sister is Sandra Rice. Does that 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,” answered Jen. “In fact, Johan worked on that case. I don’t remember if he had the lead, but he definitely worked the case. Ken Rice is awaiting trial now. He also worked at the hospital where Doc works. He was the facility manager. Keira probably knew him, or at least, met him.”

“The papers said when the police showed up, they found him in the house covered in blood,” Molly said. “His wife was in the kitchen stabbed to death.”

“Johan said it was a slam duck case,” said Jen. “He didn’t confess but had no alibi. He had recently taken out a million-dollar life insurance police on his wife. Where did the vic work?”

“Not at the hospital. She worked for the city.”

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

Molly moaned at Jen’s attempt at dark humor. She 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 Rice in and escorted her to the back office. After introductions and sharing some initial information and coffee, the three sat down to business. “So, how can we be of service?” Jen asked.
Keira shifted I n her chair. “I want y’all to find out 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. I don’t know who did. I want y’all to find out for me.”

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

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

“I don’t know,” said Jen.

“Please,” replied Keira. “I’ll pay you. If you discover that 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 that case, I must tell you that 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 be telling us a little about Ken and Sandra,” suggested Jen. “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. We grew up here in Atlanta. She became a nurse, and that’s where she met Ken. He was in charge of maintenance at the hospital. Sandra worked in ICU. Somehow, they met and fell in love. 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.”

“Who do think killed Sandra?” Jen asked.

Keira thought for a moment. “I really don’t have as clue but consider this, Ken may have 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.”

“Any other?” Molly asked.

“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.”

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

Jen nodded. “I’m sure of it. That’s why she came to us. That’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. I think it will take longer.”

The following is another exert from my work in progress, The Throuple Private Eye—Business is Booming; a Jen McDowell Series. This a very rough draft. I’m at 27k words now. If you want to catch up, order the short novella The Throuple Private Eye—Hate Crimes, on Amazon ($2.99). The link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LTTHGN.
 
Another Exert from my WIP (4)

CHAPTER 4 Back at Jen’s Office

“So, what’d you find out about Mr. Richards?” Jen asked.

Charlize unfolded a piece of paper from her purse and handed it to Jen. “Not much. I couldn’t find anything with the DMV or any place of business. It’s like he didn’t exist. We decide that best thing to do was to drive down here and see if his wife was still alive or not.”

“So, what did you do? What did you discover?” asked Molly.

“Here’s what we did. I had a week of vacation coming, so I took it, and we drove down here in one day. Got here on Wednesday. We checked into a hotel, and the next day we drove to the post office.”

“You were staking out the post office? What did you see?”

“We sat there all-day Thursday. On Friday afternoon, we saw him. He went inside and emptied his post office box.”

“While he was inside the post office, I placed a tracker on his car—a Honda civic.” Maury interjected.
“Yeah. I had to be careful because Jimmy knows what I look like, so I had Maury do it.”

“You have a tracker device?” Jen asked.

“Well, it’s just a burner cellphone with a GPS app, but it works. I attached a magnet to it.”

“Clever,” said Molly. Whatever works. What happened next?”

Charlize took a sip of her coffee. “We followed him to a large parking garage not far from the post office. It looks like he rents two spaces long term there.”

“Two spaces?” Jen asked.

“Yeah,’ answered Maury. “He parked next to a BMX. He took out a suitcase from the Honda and put into the BMW. He changed cars. So much for my great tracker idea.”

“We followed the BMW,” continued Charlize. “He went to a high-rise apartment building, one with underground parking. We figured they’d have a security-cameras, so we didn’t try to get inside. We staked out the apartment. The next day, he drove out and went to a dry cleaner. Maury was able to place another tracker on his car while he was inside.”

“Then what?” asked Molly.

“According to our tracker, he headed to the parking garage,” continued Charlize. “We waited for his there, and he drove out in the Honda. We followed him to his office. He’s a real estate agent. He works downtown. It’s a real estate agency. Again, we didn’t go inside.”

“Now what?” asked Jen.

“We still don’t know if his wife is dead or alive,” answered Charlize. “I’m out of time. I need to get back to work. We didn’t know what to do, so we decided to get some help. That’s why we came to you. What do you think?”

Jen sighed and folder her hands. I think we’d like to take your case.” She glanced at Molly who nodded. “But we have to reach an understanding first.” Jen paused as Molly pulled out a copy of their standard contract and handed a copy to both Charlize and Maury. “First our fee is $100 per hour plus expenses.”

Charlize reached into her purse and removed and envelope. She handed it to Jen. “Here’s a $1000 to get started. We can pay more later as things progress.”

“Here’s the thing,” continued Jen. “There may be a reward if this Richards guy is a killer. We may be able to work it out, so you get the reward and then pay us. Meanwhile, we’ll keep this money as a retainer. Next, you have to stop the identity thefts.”

“What about Biyu?”

“Go ahead and do what Mr. Richards asked, so he won’t get suspicious, Jen answered.

“We’ll need those cell phones you used for tracking,” Molly said.

Maury reached in his pockets and pulled out two cell phones and handed them to Molly. “The batteries died. I retrieved them from the cars to recharge them, so we aren’t tracking him more. Here’s a picture we lifted from the security tapes.” Jen glanced at the picture and handed it to Molly. The picture showed a middle-aged man with some gray around the temples.

 “Also, he knows where you live,” Jen said. “I recommend your find a new place to live until this case is settled. Stay off the internet. That maybe how he tracked you down.”

“Shit,” Maury said. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Just keep in touch and let us know where you are,” Molly said.

“I really need that laptop back,” Charlize emphasized.

After a few more questions and the exchange of information, Charlize and Maury left. Jen turned to Molly. “Charlize said she worked in the Loop. What is that?”

Molly smiled. “I didn’t know either, so I looked it up while she was talking. It’s the commercial center of Chicago. What do you think of these two? Are they legit? Do you believe them?”

“I guess I do,” answered Jen. “Let’s check them out online just in case. We need to be careful, so we don’t end up as accessories after the fact. Log them in and let’s begin clocking our time.”
​
Jen and Molly spent the rest of the morning researching the background of their new clients. They did not see any red flags other than what Charlize revealed about her side business. Then the two tried to research Mr. Jimmy Richards. Like Charlize they couldn’t find out anything about him. It was like he didn’t exist—a ghost.