Free Catchee Monkey: A Rex & Eddie Mystery (Rex & Eddie Mysteries Book 1) by Sean Cameron

Lawrence?”
    “Quiet man. He was divorced, I think. He was here every day seven a.m. to seven p.m. Twenty years.”
    “Every day?” Eddie said.
    “Every day.”
    “Even Christmas?” Rex said.
    “Every bleedin’ day. I’d empty his bin on Christmas Eve, and it would be full of paper Boxing Day morning.”
    “Did his daughter ever come by?”
    “I never met her. This was his Shangri-La.”
    Eddie gave the damp stained walls a once-over. “Some Shangri-La.”
    “You boys detectives then?”
    “Kind of.”
    “Yes,” Rex cut Eddie off. “We are.”
    “You’re not police though?”
    Rex grinned. “We’re private detectives.”
    “You going to solve the Danny Palmer murder are you?”
    “I guess so,” Rex said.
    “No, we’re just collecting some information on Derek Lawrence’s death.”
    “Come on Eddie, it'll be good for business. Two murders are better than one.”
    “You reckon Terry Palmer offed Lawrence, do yah?” Harold let out a raspy laugh. “They didn’t exactly hang out in the same circles.”
    “Lawrence must have had something on him. We found one page of a manuscript about a killer with boots.”
    “You boys’d be better off dumping these papers and getting another case. A lost bicycle, something like that seems more like your cup of tea.”
    “We’ve got one more question,” Rex said.
    Eddie knew Rex’s question and shook his head. “No, we don’t.”
    “Where were you on the night of October twenty-eighth?”
      Harold shook his head and walked himself out. “What a bleedin’ sorry pair you are.”
    Eddie stood up. “We need to gather every page on Palmer. Lawrence knew something that spooked him. We just need to find it. You start going through the papers for anything supporting our theory. I’ll order a pizza.”
    “Pizza and Chinese food? On the same day?” Rex smiled wide enough to flash his teeth.
    “Yeah, let’s treat ourselves. At this rate, we’ll have our five grand tomorrow.”
    ***
    Eddie awoke rejuvenated. He gave the Morris Minor a full tank of petrol and headed to The Octagon’s shoe shop. He peered through the shop glass to check Melinda was there and strutted inside.
    Melinda gave a forced smile. “Eddie. How are you?”
    “I’m looking for new shoes.”
    “Please, you can’t check up on me like this.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here for shoes.”
    “It’s just, I heard you got fired and I don’t want you to blow your money on buying shoes to see me.”
    “This is strictly professional Melinda. If you can’t keep your feelings for me separate, I guess I’ll get my footwear from somewhere else.”
    “Fine, what kind of shoes are you looking for?”
    “Well, I’m a successful business owner now. I need shoes that say I’ve made something of myself, that I’m going places. Do you sell those kind of shoes?”
    Melinda looked Eddie up and down. He looked pretty slick in his suit, but the socks and sandals combination let him down.
    “What happened to your other shoes?”
    Eddie lowered his voice to a mumble. “I lost them.”
    “Pardon?”
    Eddie pointed at a pair on display. “Those shoes are sharp. Is that three hundred each?”
    “For the pair.”
    “What a bargain.”
    Melinda smiled. “What’s got into you?”
    “Nothing much, just solved a case that’s all.”
    “Like a detective?”
    “Oh, I didn’t tell you? Me and Rex have a detective agency. We solved a big case, and today we pick up five thousand pounds.”
    “Wow. That’s exciting.”
    “Not bad for a couple of days work.”
    “That’s a lot of money.”
    “Is it?” Eddie smiled.
    Melinda stepped closer and her voice softened. “You seem different, Eddie.”
    “Just going out there, taking risks, and, uh, getting. Like a go-getter.”
    She grinned. “It’s good on you.”
    “I want those shoes, the three hundred pound ones. Those are the shoes a man should pick up five grand in.”
    “You know what you want. I like