Cloudy with a Chance of Ghosts (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 4) by J.D. Winters Page B

ruin the blackmailer’s case. You get it?”
    I nodded, my face scrunched up in deep thoughts. “Yes. I think I do. But who was it?”
    “That’s where I get a little fuzzy.”
    “Who had the best motive?” I said, returning to my original puzzle. “The police think you might have done it because Marilee claimed she saw you go into that brush area with Keri at the time she was killed. But what would your motive be?”
    He looked just a touch uncomfortable. “Okay, I did want to stop her from publishing stuff about Carlton. And I got a little testy with her over it. I definitely called her on it, told her it wasn’t cool. I suppose that might be considered a motive.”
    I nodded, biting my lip as I thought that over. “Ingratiating yourself with the boss sort of thing,” I murmured. “Especially if you were expecting to get financially rewarded by Carlton.”
    He swung around and glared at me. “Hey, there was nothing like that. Honest.”
    I nodded, thinking that over.
    “And I didn’t kill anybody. Got it?”
    I nodded again. “Good. And there’s still the blackmailer. He or she wouldn’t want Keri to publish what she was finding because then there wouldn’t be any more leverage over Carlton. Right?”
    “As far as we know. We’re just speculating. That’s all we can do since we don’t really know what he was being blackmailed about, do we?”
    I hesitated, wondering if Jagger knew more than he was telling. It was only common sense to realize that most people involved in this were busy covering their own rear ends, just in case anything might get exposed. And Jagger was one of the best at it, it seemed. Should I tell him what I’d found?  
    Finally, I pulled out Keri’s practice letter and handed it to him. “I found this outside Marilee’s house. I think somebody dropped it when they ran off with some of the papers Marilee was hoarding.”
    He read it over quickly, then looked at me and whistled softly. “There it is in black and white,” he noted.  
    The sound of a siren on the distant highway caught his attention. His head turned toward the sound and he seemed to remember he didn’t have much time left.

Chapter Nine

    “Listen, I’ve got somebody waiting in a car for me near here,” Jagger said. “I’ve got to go. But I’ve got a mission for you to undertake, if you’re ready for it.”
    I should have told him “no” right off the beam, but like a fool I had to ask: “What is that?”
    “You know when I had Keri’s clutch purse? I went through it, just in case.”
    I glared at him, but he didn’t notice.  
    “I found her microcassette recorder. She told me at dinner the other night that she tried to put all her notes on that recorder and destroy all hard copies in order to keep from leaving a trail behind.”
    “Oh. Interesting.”
    “Yes. I didn’t put that recorder back into her purse before I gave it up. In fact, I hid it on the grounds of Carlton’s house.”
    “Oh.”
    “I’ve tried to get back in to get it back, but there are guards there now. They won’t let anyone in. Carlton wouldn’t even see me. I guess he believes the rumors. I want to change that as soon as possible.” He gave me a hopeful smile. “So now I’m counting on you. Think you can get it?”
    I sighed. “No. Why would anyone let me in?”
    He shook his head. “You never know. Pretty women have their ways.”
    “Not me,” I said stubbornly.  
    “Okay, whatever. But just in case you get a chance, here’s where I hid it.” He told me quickly. A car had come up and was waiting, engine running, at the edge of the yard. “Gotta go. Thanks, Mele. Give Jill a hug and a kiss from me.”
    And he was gone.  
    I stood there steaming. I’d seen the beautiful brunette who was driving his getaway car.  
    “Hugs and kisses, huh?” I muttered darkly as I headed back to my bed, stopping only to let Sami in too. “Fat chance.”
    And this man wanted me to go search out his loot from past