Chapter 7

 

The next day, I decided to once again call the number that had hung up on me while I’d been at the gas station. I’d tried many times with no success. Someone obviously wanted to scare me.

I’d just arrived at the office, so I parked my car and got out. Dorothy had said she wouldn’t be there for at least another hour. She had to go pick up some yarn. I enjoyed the warm sun covering my body as I walked to the office. I inhaled the sea air, daydreaming about lying on the beach. As I opened the door to my office, I snapped backed to reality. I had to work. The rent wouldn’t pay itself.

I made it over to my desk, tossed my purse down, and plopped down in the chair. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number. The woman picked up on the first ring. She sounded like she was stressed out.

“Good morning, my name is Maggie Thomas, and I’m calling this number back. You left a message for me.”

“Ms. Thomas, I’m so glad you called me back. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. What can I do for you?” I asked.

“Well, as you may or may not know my brother was trying to get in contact with you.”

“Your brother? He was the man they found yesterday?”

I didn’t know how to put it delicately.

She paused to gather herself and said, “Yes, that was him. He was trying to find you for help.”

“Why me? I mean, surely he could’ve found someone better.”

Maybe he’d heard about my recent good luck with solving cases.

“He heard you were good. I intend to pick up where he left off. This was important for him, and I want to see it through. I’ll pay you whatever it costs.”

“What exactly did he need my help with?” I asked.

I was pretty sure I had a clue, but I wanted to make sure.

“His girlfriend was murdered and we’re trying to find out who did it. I think the person who killed him is the person who killed her. Would you be able to help with this?”

Considering a certain detective didn’t think I was capable of solving the crime, I had no choice but to find the killer. Plus, I definitely wanted to help.

“Yes, I can help you,” I said.

“Thank you, thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me. I’ll be in touch soon in regard to payment. Please call me if you have any questions.”

“Whoa, don’t hang up yet. I have questions now. Any information you can give me would help greatly.”

“You mean you can help right now? I don’t have to come see you first?”

“Of course I can help now. “ The sooner the better. Jake already had a head start. “What’s your name?”

 

“My name is Angela Archer.”

“Nice to speak with you, Angela. I have one important question.” Well, I had a lot of important questions, but for now I had to ask for a little bit of detail.

“Sure. What’s your question?” she asked.

“Where was the last place his girlfriend was seen?”

“It was at a bar called Palms Ten. There was a restaurant before that though. Henry told me he caught her talking to another man there. You might want to start there first.”

I knew that the place, so I figured I could take a trip over there.

“Thank you. We’ll talk soon,” I said.

Just as I hung up, Dorothy came through the door with her bags of yarn. She held them up. “I got it.”

“Great, now let’s go.”

I would probably need Dorothy as my backup. She could be my watchman.

“Oh, where are we going? A party?”

“Not a party, but we are going to a bar,” I said.

She placed her hands on her hips. “It’s a little early to drink, don’t you think, Maggie?”

I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. “We’re not going to drink. We’re going to look for a killer.”

She placed the yarn down, but stuffed the knitting needles in her bag. “This is going to be trouble. I can sense it already.” She fumbled in her purse as we walked to the car. When I got in she shoved a peppermint at me. “Here, you’re going to need it.”

I didn’t argue with her because she was always offering a mint. I usually just took them and sucked on the things.

It wasn’t a very long drive until we reached the restaurant. There were a few cars in the lot, but it was still early. Not quite lunch yet. That was good because I would have a chance to speak with someone and ask if they’d seen the murdered woman. We headed into the place. It was decorated in a nautical theme, just like every other place around. A man spotted us right away and rushed over.

“I’m sorry, we’re not open for business yet,” he said.

“That’s okay, I’m not looking to eat, but I have some questions.”

He eyed me up and down, as if he knew what I was going to ask.

“I’m inquiring about a murdered woman. Can you tell me anything about her?” I held up my phone, showing the picture from a newspaper article about Skye’s death.

“Who are you?” He narrowed his eyes.

“I’ve been hired to look into this.” Sure, I wasn’t law enforcement, but I was a fully licensed private investigator in the state of Florida. “I need to talk to you about this murder. I was told she was here with a man on the evening of her death.”

I had to let him know that I meant business.

He shrugged. “Yeah, all I know is she was here on the night she was murdered. She was having dinner with him when this other man came in. They were arguing and she left with him.”

“She left with the man she was having dinner with or the man she was arguing with?”

“The man she was having dinner with,” he said.

I knew this question would be a long shot, but I had to ask. “Do you know the man she was having dinner with?” I asked.

“His name is Brett McGraw and I know he works at Gator World.”

Now we just had to go find him.

“Thank you for the information.” I turned to rush for the door.

“You won’t find him there today though,” the man called out.

I spun around. “No? Why is that?”

“It’s his day off. He works over at the racetrack on his days off from Gator World. He grooms the horses.”

“How would I find him there?” I asked.

“Barn twenty-four, I think. I can’t say for sure though.”

“Thanks again.”

Dorothy and I marched out of the restaurant and over to the car.

“You really let him have it in there, Maggie. You showed him who’s boss.” She bumped her fist.

I shrugged. “That’s just the way I had to do it.”

Dorothy and I jumped into the car and headed over to find Brett.