Shopping is Murder (McKinley Mysteries Book 6) (7 page)

BOOK: Shopping is Murder (McKinley Mysteries Book 6)
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The Tally

 

AFTER THEY CALMED NICOLE AND got her off to bed, Mrs. Townsend left them to do whatever they felt they needed to.

Sean and Sara headed straight to the Townsend
s’ dining room. It appeared like a retail hurricane had torn through, leaving gifts in its wake—sweaters, CDs, crystal glasses, and hand-sized electronics.

They spent a half hour rifling through all the packages that had been found at the scene, but there was no yellow bag.

Sara dropped onto a dining room chair.

Sean placed an arm around her shoulders and hunched beside her. “I’m sorry, darling, but there isn’t a yellow bag. Maybe the man imagined it.”

“No, he saw it. There was a reflection in his eyes that told me he held no doubt about it. There was a yellow bag.”

“All right, so if we run on that assumption—sorry, darling—but until we see it for ourselves.”

“I understand.” She waved a hand. “Continue.”

“I just had a thought.” He moved around in front of her. “In all of this, we never found any receipts.”

Sara beheld the floor and the mess they had made—stuff strewn everywhere.
“You’re right. Not one.”

“I think that Jerrod must have kept the receipts on him.”

“If we get ahold of those, then maybe we’ll have a better idea where the yellow bag came from.”

Sean shrugged.
“At the very least it would narrow down the number of stores. From the sounds of it, his wallet and clothing are still downtown. When I mentioned a toxicology, did you notice Officer Ramsey’s reaction?” Sean asked.

“You mean the fact there wasn’t one and he knew it? There’s no way samples were taken for that. You and I know it. There are budget constraints. I don’t even think a full autopsy was conducted.”

“I know what you’re thinking.”

She took his hands in hers.
“I think we should pay for this to take place.”

“If we’re not already too late.”

“There is one thing that just hit me. People were screaming when Jerrod went over, but I don’t remember anyone commenting on him screaming on the way down.” She was certain Sean’s paleness matched her own.

He didn
’t freeze in place for long. He pulled out his cell and dialed. “Jimmy, we need your help, right now.”

 

 

Among The Dead

 

JIMMY WASN
’T CERTAIN HOW HE was going to go about taking care of this. While it wasn’t unusual for the family to foot the bill for an autopsy on a loved one, ordering a toxicology panel was another thing. He wasn’t even curious to see the monetary toll involved, even though he knew the McKinleys had no worries in that regard.

The medical examiner, Albert Needham, was a gruff, older man who was steps away from retirement. The business of working with the dead never impacted him on a personal level—at least not to any degree that gave public testimony.

His hair was fully silver with tufts at the side, resembling a ruffled bird. His beak-like nose added to that illusion.

Jimmy peeked through the window in the morgue door and nothing was going on at the moment. He knew better than to interrupt the man.

Still, he wasn’t taking chances and that’s why Jimmy came armed with a brown bag in his right hand. It contained a sandwich—swiss on rye with alfalfa sprouts. It was Needham
’s favorite. Jimmy almost believed the world might stop spinning if bribery ever ceased to work.

He found Needham in the back corner, hunched toward his monitor. The thick glasses perched on his nose obviously were not enough to make the screen readable.

“Sergeant.” Needham greeted him without breaking from his work. He possessed an uncanny ability to sense presence and identity. Jimmy refused to attribute that gift to his profession.

“I thought you might be hungry.”

Needham snatched the bag. “Swiss on rye?”

“Yep.”

“With mustard and alfalfa sprouts?”

“You got it.”

Needham unrumpled the bag and sniffed inside before reaching in for the sandwich wrapped in wax paper. “What do you need, Jimmy?”

“I’m here about Jerrod Hill.”

“Hasn’t the case already been ruled?”

“It has.”
This was the part of the job Jimmy disliked—when conclusions were rushed for a better closure rate. Even in the position of sergeant, he was powerless to stop the powers that be, the powers that required progression to the next case as quickly as possible.

“Well then. Not sure what I can do for you.” Needham took a bite that saw a large corner of the sandwich disappear.
He chewed and swallowed as his
eyes traveled from Jimmy’s feet up to his face. “That all you came for?”

The examiner’s reaction was enough to convince Jimmy that things were just as the McKinleys had suspected. A full autopsy hadn
’t even been conducted when the ruling was made, just a preliminary.

Jimmy latched his hands behind his back and stayed standing, despite the appeal of the empty chair beside the medical examiner. “About him, a benefactor has stepped forth and will be paying for the procedure, full autopsy and toxicology screening.”

Needham took another large bite of the sandwich and spoke with a mouthful. “Including tox?”

“Yes.”

An audible swallow had a large lump going down. “They must really be convinced the man was murdered.”

“I’d also like to know what was taken from his body.”

“I assume you know exactly what you’re after, Sergeant? Please, I have a busy day. The dead wait for no man.” He smirked at his attempt at humor and took another mouthful of sandwich.

“I want to know if he had any receipts on him, in his pocket, in his wallet.”

“He did.”

“I need to see them.”

Needham turned back to the computer. He brought up a file that showed images of the different articles pulled from Jerrod Hill.
“I will send this information to you now. As for the other, I will let you know.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Needham brushed him away with a wave of his hand and kept his attention on the screen.

Jimmy noticed that he didn’t even say thank you for the sandwich, not that he really expected one.

 

 

Narrowing It Down

 

THEY WERE BOTH IN THE main sitting room of their house when
Sean
’s phone chimed, notifying him of a new email. Before he could check it out, it rang. He caught the caller ID and answered.  
“Hey, Jimmy, you’re on speaker. Sara’s here too.”

“Hello, Sara.”

“Hey, were you able to find anything for us?”

“I’ve taken care of everything. The autopsy and toxicology will be started today. As you know, the tox results will—”

“Take about a week. It hasn’t been that long. I still remember.” Sean smiled. The delays inherent with the job weren’t something that he missed. In fact, the best parts he took with him. Being able to find true closure for a case was something that spoke to his soul.

“I was also able to get what else you asked for, and I just sent you over a list.”

“I believe I got it. Thanks, Jimmy.”

“Don’t mention it. Just keep me informed if you find something, would you?”

“Of course. Now remember—”

Sean was smiling.
“No one dies today.”

“That’s right.” Jimmy clicked off without saying good-bye.

“That man really was the best part of the job.” Sara settled back into the couch and crossed her arms. “I’m happy that he’s still a part of our life.”

“That makes two of us, darling.” Sean kissed her forehead before going back to his phone and accessing the email. “There were eleven receipts in Jerrod Hill’s wallet.”

She smiled. “It could be worse. There could be more.”

“Always optimistic.” He felt warmth surge through him. He was truly blessed to have Sara by his side.

She got to her feet.
“Darling, it seems to me it’s time to go shopping.”

 

Three receipts tied back to chain department stores, which they were able to cross off the list right away, having pre-existing knowledge of what their bags were like. That left them with eight more.

The stores were spread throughout the mall, and even Sara had to admit the shopping venture would have been an exhausting one. Right now though, it wasn
’t the span the stores covered, it was the fact they were running out of time before closing.

The good news was, for most of the stores, people
were usually coming out and it made it easy to mark them off.

Sara stopped outside of a poster store.
“Let’s think this through a little more. Can I see the list again?”

“Of course.” Sean brought up the emailed list and handed his phone to Sara.

“So, we’ve crossed these off the list,” she spoke out loud as she mentally marked off another four. “This leaves us with four stores. The mall will be closing in a half an hour. We have to think about who would have the need for a small bag.” She glimpsed a nearby window display. “Dee-Dee’s Diamonds. Sean, they would—”

Sean had his hands in his pockets and was swaying his upper torso. He avoided eye contact. The posture lent itself to her imagining he was about to whistle and made her think of the phrase
the cat that ate the canary

“You know it’s not them.” She smiled and waited for his gaze to reach her, which it did, within a second of calling him out.

“Maybe.” He dragged out the word, playfully.

Her eye shot to her wrist, which was adorned with a diamond bracelet. It had been a gift from him over in Europe. She thought of the gems in her ears—another gift overseas. She truly was getting spoiled, and a good portion of her didn
’t mind at all. In fact, she soaked it in.

“Can I see what it is, darling?” she asked, certain to flutter her lashes.

“Yes. Christmas morning.”

“Christmas morning? It’s still a month away.”

“Come on, darling, I don’t make the rules.” He slipped his arms around her waist. She held up his phone between them. He leaned in for a kiss. She pulled back.

“Oh no, we have a murder to solve first.” She smirked. “Darling, time is running out, and you know, I don’t make the rules.”

He released her, but his eyes were full of playful mischievousness.

“This leaves three stores including—”

“Sara?”

“We should have started here. Mr. Ward described the bag as about twelve inches square. There’s a receipt from Groovin’ Beat.”

“Sounds like a music store.”

“That it does, and a small bag like that would be ideal for them.”

“People actually still buy CDs?”

Sara shook her head and pulled him in the direction of the store.
BOOK: Shopping is Murder (McKinley Mysteries Book 6)
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