Free Death in Room 7 (Pine Lake Inn Cozy Mystery Book 1) by K.J. Emrick Page B

the cattle path.  Blocking everything.
    Well.  Like I’ve been saying, Lakeshore is a small town.
    “You stay here,” I say to him.  “You tell Cutter exactly what you did…well, exactly where you were, anyway.  You tell him.  Give him no reason to push this idiotic arrest.”
    “Um, okay.  Care to tell me what you’ll be doing?”
    “No.”  I shake my head, and put a finger up to my lips.  “Better you don’t know.”
    After another hug I leave him there in Cutter’s office.  On my way out, I give the Lakeshore Senior Sergeant of police a hard stare.
    I sincerely hope it’s the last time I see him standing there in that uniform.
    He doesn’t deserve it.
    ***
    Back near the middle of town, just down the street from the fountain with its miserable little gurgle of water, is a plain white house a lot like every other white house next to it.  I haven’t been here much.  Just once or twice.  The couple who live here, the Browns, are nice folks.  We say hello on the street.  Everyone knows me, of course, because of my Inn.
    Everyone knows the Browns, too, for a very different reason.
    I knock on the door and wait, tugging at my unicorn necklace.  No reason to knock again.  The Browns are old but they aren’t hard of hearing.  Mrs. Mabel Brown greets me with a smile just a moment later.  “G’day, Dell.  Percy and I are just sitting down for a bit of a bite.  Care to join us?”
    “No, thanks Mabel.  Can I pull Percy away for just a few minutes?”
    “Well, I’ve made a mint pea salad and grilled chicken, but I’m sure he can give ya some time.  Percy!” she called out, walking back into the house.  “We’ve company, dear.”
    I stood in the living room, looking at the pictures of the Brown’s grandkids on the wall, until Percy came out of the kitchen, walking slowly, shuffling his feet, his browned and weathered face smiling.  “Why, Dell Powers.  Always glad to see that mug of yers.  What brings ya to our home tonight?”
    “Mayor Brown,” I greet him, “I need to talk to you about Senior Sergeant Cutter.”
    He made an impolite sound between his lips.  “That man again.  What’s he done now?”
    See?  Everyone knows everyone in a small town.
    It’s all in who you talk to.
 

Chapter Six
     
    The Inn seemed so cold the next morning.
    After talking to Mayor Brown and making sure he understood the issue with Cutter, it had been late.  The sun had been setting on the Tasmanian wilderness, painting the green pines with hues of purple shadows.  Lakeshore was rolling itself up for the night.  The eastern sky was turning a deep indigo.  I loved this time of the evening.  Like a bridge between today and tomorrow, you know?  It made me feel better, knowing a new day was coming.
    I felt better after talking to the Mayor, too.
    “I'm not able to get rid of him, ya know, but I do know someone that I can talk to.” Percy had explained with a thoughtful shake of his head.  “Been Senior Sergeant for years now.  Gonna be hard to convince the folks that need convincing to remove him.  Course, can’t let him go arresting folks like your son just ‘cause he’s a mind to. I’ll talk to him, don’t know how much good it’ll do but I’ll fix it if I can, Dell.  Ya have my word on it.”
    That might help fix part of the problem if he could pull it off. I was still going to make it my goal in life to see to it that Cutter lost his job anyway.  That could wait for now, as long as I knew my Kevin was out of danger.
    So it was well after the dinner hour when I got back to the Pine Lake Inn, and when I went looking for Rosie it was too late.  My business partner had already gone home for the night.  It was only a ten minute walk from the Inn to where Rosie and her hubby lived, but I just didn’t have the energy to go back out.  I was drained past the point of empty.
    After making sure our night manager had things taken care of I made my way upstairs.  I was heading to