Free Murder by Serpents (Five Star First Edition Mystery) by Barbara Graham

that the entire population of Park County was there. No strangers. We did find something odd, though.” Apparently thinking about it amused him and he chuckled. “Like nothing else is odd about this case. The key was in the ignition, right?” He waited until everyone nodded. “The key was still turned and the car was in ‘park.’ The only reason that it was not running when we arrived was that the car ran out of gas. I mean it was bone dry.”

    When everyone had absorbed that, he continued. “The heater was set on warmest heat setting and the fan on maximum. That's why Doc is having so much trouble with the time of death and why it felt like an oven in there. No telling how much gas it started with or how long it had been stopped. I'm guessing that it ran for several hours.”

    “For heaven's sake.” Tony couldn't believe his ears. “Were the headlights on or off?”

    “Off.” Mike answered.

    “Fingerprints on the key?”

    “No, sir.” Wade swallowed more ginger ale and stifled a burp. “I found a few smudges but no real prints.”

    Tony thought that his color was improving.

    Wade continued his report. “It was the only key on the ring with one of those little remotes. There are a couple of smudged and partial prints on the remote. Again, it is going to take a while to see if we have a match.”

    Ruth Ann knocked on the doorframe before strolling into the office with a couple of papers that she handed to Tony. “I ran the vehicle identification number. You'll love what came back on that VIN.”

    Tony reached for the paper and scanned it, surprised. It didn't take long to read. He could feel his frown deepening. “Thanks, Ruth Ann.” He glanced at the curious faces that watched him. “Ruth Ann ran the VIN on the Focus. It seems that the vehicle is part of an inventory of cars that belonged to a dealer in Atlanta. The cars were impounded or something because of a pending bankruptcy hearing. According to the report, that car should still be locked up in Georgia. They were surprised to learn that it had been stolen.”

    He looked back up at his secretary. “Will you contact Atlanta and see if they know any thing about John Mize? A man who drives a stolen car probably knows it. Quentin did say that his cousin came here from Atlanta and he must have moved there from Maryville.”

    She nodded. “Can you believe how many people have moved here from Atlanta? I'd say that most of our new residents come from there. It's almost turned into our population base.”

    Tony started to nod when he was distracted by Ruth Ann's fingernails. They now sported tiny white polka dots on the raspberry background. “Did you check with the mayor's wife?”

    “Oh, yeah.” Ruth Ann's tone remained light, but the tension lines carved into her face said a lot about the other woman's attitude. “Queen Doreen told me that she was not aware of the license plate being off her car, and then she went on to say that she leaves all the car stuff to her husband and who was I to be interrupting her bridge game anyway?” Her dark eyes blazed and her lifted chin promised retribution. She stalked back to her desk just as her phone began to ring.
     
    Tony turned and faced his deputies. He didn't try to hide his grin when he noticed that each of their expressions suggested that the mayor's wife had better come to a complete stop at every single stop sign and that her annoying little apricot-colored frou-frou dog had better be on a leash in the park. Ruth Ann might be a pain in the backside, but she was theirs. He cleared his throat and waved the papers.

    Ruth Ann reappeared in the doorway almost immediately. She looked directly at Wade. “Doc Nash says that the newest resident of Park County has been born and if you don't want to miss the fun of an autopsy, you should get to the morgue right away.” Her eyes twinkled. “He sounded even crankier than usual.”

    Wade swallowed the last of the ginger ale in a single giant