Tapas, Carrot Cake and a Corpse (A Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Sherri Bryan Page A

stroking the pendant proprietarily.  When she’d finished speaking, he simply shrugged his shoulders, took the pendant off his chain and handed it her.
    “Bummer,” he said.  “Like, I had no clue that this belonged to a dead dude.  Man, it makes me go, like, cold,” he frowned as Charlotte took the pendant from him. 
    “You want me to give it to the police?” she asked.
    “Yeah, d’you mind?  We’ve only got, like, two days of our vacation left and I don’t want to spend it in some stuffy police station.  If they need to, like, speak to me, then yeah, I’ll go and see them, but if they don’t …” he trailed off. 
    “OK, I’ll give this to Chief Inspector Costello, and if he needs to speak to you, he’ll let you know,” said Charlotte.  “Thanks, Cody – this could really help the investigation.”  She squeezed his arm lightly and he blushed beet red. 
    “Hey, like, no worries … s’the least I could do.”
    “Right, I’m off – I’ll see you some time,” Charlotte hoisted herself back on her saddle and cycled off. 
    As soon as she got round the corner, she called Nathan, but went straight through to his answering service.  He must still be in his briefing.  A shrill beep signalled for her to leave a message.  “Hi, it’s me.  Listen, I was on my way home when I ran into Cody - you know, the American surfer guy.  I’m pretty sure he’s got nothing to do with the murder, but he was wearing Blake’s pendant around his neck - he said he found it washed up on the beach this morning.  I told him that I thought it might be Blake’s and could be evidence, and he gave it to me.  He’s only got two days of his holiday left, so he asked if I’d give it to you.  He’s quite willing to come down to the station if you need to speak to him, which I suppose you will, but in the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I’ll hold onto the pendant until I see you.  Unless you want me to bring it down to the station myself?  Either way, just let me know.  Speak to you soon.”
    At home, she kicked off her shoes and put the kettle on.  She took the pendant out of her pocket and grabbed a piece of kitchen paper to wrap it in.   Like the wallet, it was unlikely that there’d be any trace of fingerprints on it after being tossed around in the sea, but as she wrapped it carefully, she was hopeful that it might yield some clues.  She was just remembering how good it had looked around Blake’s neck when it slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor. 
    “Damn it!” she said, as on first glance, the pendant appeared to have broken in two.  However, on closer inspection, she realised that it was hinged and the impact had opened it. 
    As she bent to pick it up, her breath caught in her throat.  “Oh my God!” she said, as she peered closely at the pendant, the inside of which held a small photograph. 
    For the second time that day, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and she jumped as her phone rang loudly. 
    “Hi - I just got your message.  Look, it’s not that I’m not grateful for the information, but how many times do I have to tell you not to get involved in police business?  You should have called me straight away and I’d have come down to speak to Cody.  You don’t know that he’s not the killer – not for sure – and I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you.  Anyway, I’m sending a couple of officers down to speak to him now, and I’ll come round and get that pendant if you’re going to be home for a while?” Nathan’s deep voice was reassuring in her ear.  “Charlotte?  You there?”  
    “Nathan, oh my gosh – you need to get here right away.  You are not going to believe what I’m looking at!”

Chapter 11
    Charlotte lay awake, her head spinning with everything that had happened over the past few days. 
    The emergence of the life boat, the wallet and the pendant had shed new light on the investigation, that was