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Back Murder Past Due Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE

I believed there was a local connection, though. It was at least a place to start. I could talk to one of the librarians who had been at the public library for nearly thirty years. If there was a writers’ group in the area, she would know about it.

I finished printing copies of the letters on the disks and arranged them chronologically. I made sure the disks were organized in their containers as well.

Time to quit stalling, I told myself. I couldn’t put it off any longer, though I wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable explosion.

I went back to my desk, noticing Diesel once again asleep on the windowsill. I picked up the phone and called the sheriff’s department.

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SIX

When Kanesha Berry walked into my office, I could see the thunderclouds forming. “What is so urgent? I don’t have time for some amateur interfering in this investigation, Mr. Harris.”

“I understand that, Deputy,” I said. “If I didn’t think this was significant, I wouldn’t have called you away from what you were doing.”

She did not appear mollified by my placatory tone. I gestured to the chair by my desk. “Please, have a seat, and let me tell you what I’ve found.”

Behind me on the windowsill, Diesel stirred. He always reacted to a harsh tone of voice, and Kanesha had disturbed him.

The deputy took the proffered seat, but her glare did not diminish.

Before I sat down I handed her a folder of the letters I had printed out for her.

“What’s this?” She accepted the folder but didn’t open it.

“It could be evidence of a strong motive for Godfrey Priest’s murder,” I said. “Let me tell you about what I found, and I think you’ll agree this is serious.”

Kanesha nodded before glancing pointedly at her watch.

“When Godfrey showed up in my office three days ago, he told me he wanted to donate his papers to the college archive,” I said. “What I didn’t know at the time was that he had already made arrangements to ship his papers here. They arrived the day after his death.”

“And you waited two days to tell me about this?” The intensity of Kanesha’s glare sharpened.

“Yes, I did,” I said. “Godfrey’s papers basically belong to the college now. In a letter that came with the papers Godfrey pretty much assigns ownership to the college.”

“That may be,” Kanesha said. “But that doesn’t mean you can suppress information that could be relevant to this case. I have a good mind to charge you with interfering with an official investigation.”