Free Sage Advice to Cover Up a Murder! (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 2) by Phoebe T. Eggli Page B

Sophie hurried out.
     
    Emily couldn’t get the conversation she “sort of” overheard out of her head. Everything since her grandfather’s death had just been weird, to say the least. Instead of sitting around moping, she decided to take action. She didn’t really believe her grandfather was murdered. She didn’t believe, even if he had been murdered, that Logan or his aunt had anything to do with it. Now her dad was on the warpath and her usually sweet southern belle grandmother was issuing threats to persons unknown over the phone.
     
    With the house to herself, she headed to the office next to her bedroom. Oddly, the room was locked. Her grandparents never locked any room in the house. Undeterred, Emily grabbed a hair pin from her vanity dresser. Along with fishing and surfing last summer, Logan taught her how to pick locks. His preferred method involved the use of credit cards, but she had to make do with what she had. Apparently, she was an apt pupil as it took no time to unlock the door.
     
    Her grandfather’s things were still everywhere. This had been his hideaway from his wife for most of their marriage. Family pictures hung on the walls, as well as pictures of enormous fish he caught over the years. The sailfish he reeled in when he vacationed in Mexico was his favorite, she knew.
     
    Emily had no idea what to look for, so she chose to rifle through the desk first. On top of the desk was a copy of his life insurance policy. Glancing over the document, it was the usual legal jargon that made most legal documents difficult to understand for anyone other than lawyers. Being a young teenager, most of it didn’t make sense to Emily. However, she understood the paragraph that had been highlighted, most likely by her grandmother. It read that in the event of suicide or if the insured died of suspicious causes, the insurance company had the right and authority to deny release of funds to the beneficiary until a judicial ruling absolving the beneficiary of any wrongdoing could be obtained. It was in such miniscule type that Emily had to squint to read it. She sat back in the oversized desk chair. “So that’s why Grandma is so upset. She can’t get her hands on his life insurance money yet,” she thought with dismay. “If she’s so concerned about getting the money, why is she spending money like there’s no tomorrow.” Sophie’s uptick of extravagance had not gone unnoticed by her granddaughter. Emily considered that perhaps that was her grandmother’s way of dealing with grief.
     
    Disappointed that her grandmother may be more concerned about getting her hands on the life insurance money rather than finding out the truth about what happened, Emily continued to snoop around. She found nothing else of interest in the desk so she moved to the filing cabinet in the closet. Surprisingly, it was locked. Emily put her new lock picking skills to work again. Seemed to be mostly work-related files, but she perused them anyway. There was one file that seemed out of place. It was marked by a red label with the words, “J Chemical Holding Company”. She pulled the folder out and sat back down at the desk to read over it. What she discovered shocked her. Her grandfather left detailed notes in his own decrepit handwriting regarding his advice to his employer to extract himself from a certain holding company. The company produced a weed killer that contained a chemical illegal in most countries, including the United States. Attached to the notes were news articles about people getting deathly ill after coming in contact with the poison. Some survived their exposure to the chemical, while others in less developed countries did not. It was a publicity nightmare waiting to happen, according to her grandfather. His notes included his boss’ rejection of the idea. William Hawkins seemed to believe Mr. Johnson was more concerned about his profits than the ramifications of being involved with a company known to deal