Free Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Dianne Harman Page B

of a hunting rifle. Why would anyone use
this shack for hunting? With the steep cliffs, this doesn’t seem like a place
where game would be found. It doesn’t make any sense at all. Why would a hunter
be in here?”
    She searched the little
shack for a few more minutes, but she didn’t find anything else. Well,
someone was here and shooting at something, but I don’t understand why . She
looked out at the ocean and took another look at the Black’s ranch house to see
if Marcy’s car was there, but no vehicles were parked in the circular driveway
in front of the house.
    Interesting. Because of
the wide panoramic view, whoever was here could have seen what was going on at
the Black’s house and at Jeff’s office, all at the same time. Oh no, she thought. Maybe it
wasn’t a deer or some other big game that the hunter was after, maybe it was
Jeff. There’s no other explanation for the brass casing. Whoever was here might
have seen Jeff going to his office and shot and killed him. Maybe that’s why
the casing is here. Someone shot Jeff right here from this window and didn’t
want to stay and try to find the casing because they were afraid of being
caught. I’ve got to tell Mike.
    “Rebel, come.” They
quickly walked back down the path to the road and as she started to get into
her van, she saw a note underneath the windshield wiper with writing on it. She
slid it out and read the words, “This is a warning. This BLM property is
private. Didn’t you see the No Trespassing sign? Don’t come back.” As she held
the note in her hand, she realized her hand was shaking.
    “Someone saw us go in
there, Rebel, and they still may be around. We’ve got to get out of here. Oh,
darn, I forgot I put the cheesecake in the trunk. Well, maybe Marcy’s home by
now.”
    She made a U-turn and
drove back to the entrance to the ranch driveway. When she got to the ranch
house she saw a car she didn’t recognize parked in the driveway. That’s
funny. I would swear it wasn’t there when I looked at the ranch house from the
shack. It must have just gotten here . She got out of her van and as she
passed the car, she noticed a bumper sticker on the rear bumper that read
“Oregon Needs Lumber.” She knocked on the door of the ranch house, but there
was no answer. She knocked again, but no one came to the door. She waited for a
few minutes and then put the cheesecake back in the trunk and got in the van.
    Sure enough if I left it
here some animal would eat it. Anyway, it’s one of Mike’s favorites. She drove
back to the highway and was home in a few minutes.
     

CHAPTER 12
     
    “Mike,” Kelly yelled when she entered
the house. “You won’t believe what I found. Where are you?”
    “I’m right here in my
favorite spot in the house, looking at the ocean. The sun will set in a few
minutes and this time of year I think the sunsets are even more spectacular
than usual. Come join me. You sound pretty excited. What’s up?”
    She walked over, kissed
him, and reached into her pocket. “Mike, I found this at the old shack out on
the BLM property.” She handed him the spent cartridge. “Well, Rebel actually
found it and I just picked it up. Look at the bottom of the cartridge. The
stamp on it says 30-30. Didn’t you tell me that’s the caliber of gun that
killed Jeff? Do you think this could be from the gun that killed him?”
    He looked at the expended
cartridge and carefully examined it. “Kelly,” he said, looking up at her,
“Where, specifically, did you find it?”
    Kelly sat in the chair
across from him and told him exactly where she was when she and Rebel had found
it.
    “Okay, let’s talk about
this,” Mike said. “First of all I think there’s a very good chance this is an
empty cartridge from the gun that killed Jeff. The coroner told me he was shot
from a distance because there was no gunpowder residue on him. It’s also very
possible that someone was waiting in that old shack to shoot Jeff. How far do
you