Free SCREWED DOWN MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 2) by Belle Knudson

her look at their personal finances? Did Dudley have separate accounts? He didn’t have a lot of power as mayor, so she doubted that he could have made enemies that way.
    Unless the rumor of him playing favorites was true.
    “Well, thank you for your time,” Kate said.
    “No other questions?”
    “Not unless you can shed any light on who might have wanted him dead.”
    “No, sorry. I just work with numbers,” he said. “I didn’t get involved in what Dudley did day to day.”
    She received a call as she arrived at her truck. Celia?
    “Hello.”
    “Hi, Kate. Just wanted to let you know that you can fix those shelves in the mayor’s office. It has been cleared,” Celia said.
    “Oh, thanks. Who do I bill?”
    “Jessica said she’d pick up the tab. Guess she has money to throw around.”
    “Can I come over now?”
    “Yes, but I’ll be leaving for the day. I think there will be someone here.”
    She still had the supplies to fix it in her truck, so she could get this job done then call it a day. A long day, but a day.
    Celia wasn’t there when Kate arrived, but Joe Swenson was. He was the head of the town’s financial department.
    “Hi, Kate. Let me move to Celia’s desk then you can fix these shelves. You going to the viewing tonight?”
    “I’m going to try. If not, I’ll get there tomorrow while I’m out and about,” Kate said.
    He left her alone to fix the shelves. He had books in his hands and a laptop. The computer from Dudley’s desk had already been removed. Not that Kate planned to snoop, but she might have.
    She didn’t know what to look for anyway. She fixed the shelves and was about to leave when she heard Eric on the phone.
    “I have bad news. I’ve only pulled the last three contracts awarded and their bids.”
    Silence.
    “Yes, Dudley kept it all. Doesn’t seem smart in light of what he did.”
    Kate eased closer.
    “No, he didn’t award the contract to the lowest bidder. I can’t tell why he awarded the contract to whom he did. Maybe we need to look into who financed his mayoral campaign.”
    Campaign? He ran unopposed. Kate didn’t think that was the avenue to follow. Could they subpoena his personal financial records? Kate would love to get a look at them before the cops did.
    She also wished she could see who didn’t get the last contracts. Dudley’s murderer might be among those people.
    “I don’t know if we can get a warrant or not,” Eric said. “Still, I’m going to turn these over to the cops. They need to know he was doing this.”
    Eric was thinking the way she was. Maybe Scott would take care of it. Maybe Dudley’s killer would be exposed without her intervening.
    If there are irregularities in what the mayor did, what did that mean for the contracts awarded? What a mess the man had left.
    Kate cleared her throat then walked out of the mayor’s inner office with her tools. “I’m done,” she said to Eric.
    On her way to her truck, Kate encountered Beth. The girl looked harried.
    “Hey.”
    Beth looked at her. “Hey.”
    “I might have a scoop for you.”
    “Yeah?”
    “There are rumors that the mayor didn’t award the last few contracts for the town to the lowest bidder. He may have played favorites.”
    Kate would have thought that Beth would brighten up, but she still looked glum.
    “It doesn’t matter now. He’s dead. He can’t fix it. He can’t change it and neither can the town council.”
    “Right, true, but it might lead to his murderer.”
    Still, the young woman had no reaction. “I don’t think I can pursue that. I have other assignments.”
    Other assignments? Wasn’t the death of the mayor a big story? Kate left Beth to her wallowing and loaded her tools back into her truck.
    She sent a text to Scott. Where are you?
    Miss me already?
    No, I wanted to talk to you about something.
    I’m getting ready to go to the viewing. You want to come with me?
    I need a half an hour or so to get ready.
    I’ll see you then , he texted.
    She