Murder for Bid Read Online Free Page A

asked.
    “No comment.”
    “What? Oh, come on, Sean. What about the shirt? He was cheating on his wife. He killed her so she wouldn’t expose his affair and tie him up in a messy divorce.”
    “A shirt with a lipstick stain is hardly concrete evidence.”
    “Well, why else would someone throw out a hundred dollar shirt?”
    “A guy like him probably has twenty of those shirts.”
    “He did it, Sean. I know he did.”
    “Look, Pippi, he’s a city councilman. His reputation is impeccable. He has tons of friends, important friends. There’s even talk that he’s a shoe-in for mayor.”
    “I see. He may end up being your boss.”
    “Stop it!” He slapped the steering wheel. “You know that’s not how I operate.”
    “I’m just saying that his political ambitions give him all the more motive to want his wife dead, especially if she was going to divorce him and go public about the affair.”
    “What affair? We don’t have any proof that the guy was being unfaithful.”
    I shrugged it off. Apparently he didn’t buy into the whole lipstick stain angle. “You’re going to check into it, right?” I asked.
    “I know how to do my job, Pippi.”
    “Of course you do. You’re good at it, too,” I added, trying to stroke his ego. “Did you say that the body was found in the tub?”
    Silence.
    “Shot?” I tried.
    Sean’s jaw began to twitch. “You know I can’t talk about an investigation.”
    “Just tell me what’s going to be released to the media. It’ll be all over tonight’s news anyway,” I pleaded.
    “Fine. She was bludgeoned to death. Apparently, the perp killed her and then removed the jewelry from her body and some pieces that were stored in the dresser. She was beaten badly. Her whole face...” He shuddered. “She was unrecognizable.”
    I reached across the seat and put a hand on his shoulder. “What a horrible way to die.” Sean’s face appeared stoic, but I knew that he was bothered. I couldn’t imagine looking at a dead body like that. The only bodies I ever saw were at open-casket funerals and that was freaky enough for me.
    Sean turned down my alley. “I’m going to see you inside. I think you should stay in tonight. I’ll be busy with the case for a while, but I’ll call when I can.” He walked me inside, gave me a quick kiss, and turned to leave. I grabbed him before he got back through the door, “You didn’t mention what the murder weapon was.”
    His expression turned dark. “Stay in and lock the doors, Pippi.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    Chapter Two
    The next morning, I awoke feeling disoriented. I had tossed and turned throughout the night, waking several times to think about the case. I couldn’t shake the thought of Amanda Schmidt being bludgeoned to death. That type of brutality signified rage and indicated a personal, highly emotional motive. More than likely, if this was a simple case of theft gone awry, the burglar would have delivered one fatal blow, gathered the loot, and fled.
    It was almost seven and I was eager to know what new developments had occurred in the case, but I knew better than to call Sean; he was probably busy with the case. Not to mention, that he wasn’t real happy with me the night before. So instead, I flipped on the morning news. The story of Amanda Schmidt’s murder was on every local channel. Unfortunately so was I. Well, not me specifically, but a “person of interest” which happened to be a middle-aged, red-haired, heavy-set, vagrant woman dressed in torn clothing and driving a dark blue, beat up, late model station wagon. 
    “What?” I asked out loud, as if the anorexic, twenty something, news anchor could hear me. “Heavy-set? What the heck are you talking about? And, middle-aged? Why I was barely in my thirties.”
    I high tailed it to the bathroom, leaned over the sink, and pressed my nose against the medicine cabinet mirror. I looked real hard, but didn’t see any crow’s