Free The Sweet Taste of Murder: An Angel Lake Mystery by CeeCee James Page B

than just one salesman.”
    “Yeah well, between Cameron and Eric, they had things covered.”
    Just then, a middle-aged woman stepped out onto the terrace, the glass door closing slowly behind her. She wore a surly look and was staring hard at the cell phone in her hand. Her voice was terse as she spoke. “Apparently, Eric has decided not to show up. I honestly don’t know what to do now.”
    Brad straightened. “Violet Wagner?” She nodded, and he held out a hand. “Brad Carter from the Angel Lake Police Department. This will just take a couple of minutes.”
    Her face creased with worry. “I’m not sure I should let you in. I can’t get a hold of Eric or Mrs. McMahon.”
    “All we’re looking for is movement outside the building around the time of the accident. Both Eric and Mrs. McMahon have alibis, so they aren’t at risk in any way. We just want to catch the person who did this. You might be preventing another murder.” Elise noticed he kept his voice reassuring with just a touch of warning at the end.
    Violet rubbed her temple with her hand. Shaking her head, she stepped back and opened the door. “Fine. Eric should be here, and since he’s not, I’m making the decision. It’s right this way.”
    The three of them walked to the far back office. The interior of the dealership was dark, and their steps echoed ominously. After leading them down a hall, Violet pushed open a door. “Right in there.” She pointed to a desk covered in papers. A computer sat amongst the chaos.
    Brad dragged a chair over and motioned for Elise to sit. Violet punched some commands in the keyboard and then turned the monitor towards them.
    “This is the pause, and here is rewind and fast forward.” She pointed at the symbols on the number pad.
    Brad pushed play. The screen split into four shots from each of the different cameras. Nothing moved in any of the shots. He pressed fast forward and leaned close to study them carefully.
    Nothing happened.
    One hour later, Elise was pacing in boredom by the vending machine in the lobby. Violet came over shaking a handful of coins. “Here.” She offered them out.
    “Oh, I can’t take your money.”
    “Don’t worry. We keep a jar of coins specifically for customers who are on the hook. Get yourself something. I’m gathering he’s not having any luck?”
    Elise plunked in the coins and pushed the option for iced tea. “Not so far.”
    “Well, that’s good then, isn’t it?” Violet gave a hesitant smile before disappearing back into her office.
    Elise carried the drink into the back room that now felt hot and stuffy.
    Brad still stared just as intently at the screen.
    She sank into a chair and spun it with her foot, then leaned forward to grab a letter opener and attempted to clean out under her nails.
    “Put that knife down and come over here.”
    Elise smirked at Brad’s dramatic tone. She tossed the opener on the desk and rolled the chair over. “What did you find?”
    “Check this out.” He pushed play. After a minute, he clicked pause. “You see what I see?”
    “Are you kidding me?” Elise reached over Brad’s shoulder and scrolled the mouse to rewind. They watched the scene again.
    The resolution was fuzzy, but in the bottom left corner, the camera caught the figure of a man in a hat, dark overcoat and glasses. The man was there only an instant before disappearing around the corner of the car dealership building. The time stamp was 12:32.
    “Jackpot, baby!” Brad leaned back in the chair with his hands twined behind his head.
    “Is that Frank?”
    Brad shook his head. “Too short to be Frank.”
    “Sylvia?”
    “Looks a mite thin to be Sylvia.”
    The two looked at each other. Between them, Brad’s cell phone began angry vibrations.
    “Hello?” He frowned at whatever was being said. “Great. I’ll be right down.”
    His fingers flew over the keyboard, and then he turned to Elise. “Just sent that loop to myself, and I’ll get the surveillance