Murph the Mooch had attained senility after decades of racketeering, contract murders, and domestic violence. Worse, he was cheap. Murph had required underlings to pay for their meals together, occasionally having them offed later that day.
And I needed to make Murph my best buddy.
Peter inhaled deeply, puncturing the quiet of the dark forest. One leg dangled from his perch on the tree, while his gaze remained fixed on the small village at the bottom of the hill. The bark dug into his back, but he reclined against it as if it were the most luxurious couch.
He couldn’t see her yet, but he would. Any moment now.
The ornate twin doors opened and the black clad figure of Queen Elandra entered the crown prince’s chambers and commanded her two automated sentry droids to remain at the entrance.
Harsh voices carried down the hall from the sitting room. Yet another argument had broken out.
I checked the numbers again, but they still didn’t add up. Even a mathematically challenged amateur sleuth like me could see the glaring discrepancies. How could candy companies be showing record high profits when the nation was experiencing record low candy sales?
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“You’d be suspicious if you filled a bin with glass jars then came back two hours later to find it almost empty.”
“Maybe the pickup came early.” I headed for the mail boxes.
“Almost empty, almost.” Mr. Hammond hobbled after me. “They don’t pick up half a bin at a time.”
He glanced at her, the painting, her.
“It’s almost done,” he said. She took a step away from the wall, but he rushed to press her firmly against it. “No. I’ll turn it towards you.”
“Nobody believes in evil anymore.” She sighed a long, laborious sigh.
I wanted to prove her wrong. I wanted to go right out and commit the most heinous act I could think of. But I couldn’t. Things just didn’t work that way anymore.
The greeter looked tired, overworked. And she was definitely a cop. The way she stood, the way she talked…
Ah, Vinnie, I thought with amusement. All this for me?
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In a world where mythical creatures lived and worked alongside a human population, anything could happen, and it usually did. That’s why they called me, Special Agent Ramses II, and my partner, Bernie Clayberg, with Mythical Crime Scene Investigations.
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