Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“It is a mausoleum that houses dead people. What trouble could I get into?”
“Ah dinnae know, and ah dinnae want to find out, so spare me the worry and step outside with me while I make the emergency call to the police, then we can return here, and you can—”
“Photos. We should snap a few photos first,” I said, reaching for his cell since I forgot to bring mine.
Ian snatched his hand out of reach. “First, we report it and get help here fast, then we take photos, or do you want your da’s white hair to grow ever whiter?”
My dad was always reminding me that I was the reason his hair turned white which it had been for years, though I suppose there was a smidgen of truth to it. Ian’s reminder also reminded me that this could possibly be a crime scene, and I had to respect that.
We stepped outside and had to walk down to where Ian had parked his bike to get a signal, but I kept the mausoleum in view the whole time, wanting to make certain no one entered it. As soon as he finished the call, we spotted the flashing red lights of a patrol car. There was no way a patrol car got here that fast from the call Ian had just made.
Ian must have agreed since he turned and looked at me with a raised brow.
“I agree. That patrol car isn’t from our call,” I said, voicing our identical thoughts.
Of course, it had to be my brother, Josh, one of three brothers and a Willow Lake police officer for almost eight years now, who got out of the patrol car.
“How am I not surprised to see you at a call for a possible mausoleum break-in?” Josh asked with an amused grin as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against his patrol car after getting out.
“You got a call about a mausoleum break-in?” I asked.
“Yeah, the caller said a biker and his old lady had broken into the Willow family mausoleum,” Josh confirmed with a nod, his grin growing broader.
“The mausoleum was open—”
“And, of course, you just had to go poking around inside,” Josh said, not letting me finish.
“We found a body in there,” Ian said.
“What?” Josh snapped. “Why didn’t you say that right away?”
He pushed himself off the car and hurried to the mausoleum as sirens sounded and the flashing lights of another patrol car and ambulance entered the cemetery. I hurried after my brother, knowing once reinforcements got here, I’d be locked out of the mausoleum, and I wanted to get another look at the possible crime scene since there was no chance of taking photos now. Something bothered me about it, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
Ian joined me, just as curious as I was and wise enough to know we had only so much time before we were relegated to spectators.
Josh stepped out the door when we caught up with him.
“What’s going on, Pepper? I know you wouldn’t make a prank call to the police, so where is this body you claim you found?”
I pushed past him to hurry inside and around the tombs to stand staring at the place where the body had been but was no longer there.
“He was right there,” Ian said, having followed me in and pointing to the spot under the stained-glass window. “We both saw him.”
“Dead guys don’t get up and walk away,” Josh said. “Maybe it was someone sleeping off a drunk.”
“What a remarkable conclusion, Sherlock,” I said. “But you don’t have all the facts.”
Ian took it from there. “The fellow was pale, and he had a bruise on his chin like someone had landed a solid blow on him.”
I jumped back in. “And if that isn’t enough, I’d like to know how he got out of here without us seeing him. I kept an eye on the place after leaving here to make sure no one disturbed a possible crime scene.”
“The only crime I detect is the looting of the mausoleum,” Josh said.
“And the dead body?” I argued.
Josh spread his arms wide. “Where is this possible dead body, Pepper? Show me,” Josh said.
“What’s going on here?”
We all turned to see my dad standing in the open doorway.
“Pepper and Ian insist there was a possible dead body here, and if it was just Pepper saying that I would think she’d been seeing things, but Ian saw it as well so I can only surmise that the body somehow vanished, or the guy wasn’t dead and got up and walked away,” Josh explained.
My dad walked over to us and looked around. “No blood, no fibers of any kind, no signs at all that might substantiate their claim?”
Josh shook his head. “Nothing that I could see.”
“No photos, Pepper?” my dad asked.