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
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
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