
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…
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