Read A Murder In Milburn Book 2 Death Of A Deputy REVAMPED June 2016 SCRIVENER for Free Online

my number one duty is to serve the truth. If Ricky hasn’t done it, truly hasn’t, well then I’ll bust my gut trying to find who has. It’s just that right now, I can’t see any other motives or anyone else who had the opportunity.”
    “It still makes no sense to me,” Nora said. “Why would Wallis remove himself from the party, then travel to the shed, which was shrouded in darkness, only to meet the roadie, Ricky, who he’d threatened to beat and kill? If the roadie was smart enough to lure him there, then it is a premeditated murder. Which means it doesn’t fit neatly with your theory.”
    Sean shifted from one leg to another. “Look ,I appreciate your help and I always have, but this is a police matter now. Let me handle it the way I see fit. You should probably go back inside and finish your breakfast.” He slid into his car, gave her a lazy salute, and backed out of the parking lot, leaving Nora standing alone, wondering about all the things he had and hadn’t said.

    *****

Chapter 10
    If Sean’s exit had left her in a bad mood, things only got worse. Nora went inside to find Tina sniffing into a tissue while half a dozen people tried to cheer her up. Their consolations all revolved around how unfair Sean had been, and how maybe he was only short tempered because he had gotten hit on the head.
    “It’s just too bad he wasn’t a bit smarter about going into that shed,” one townie said. “We’d have the murderer under arrest if he did.”
    “I heard there’s already been an arrest,” May Almand said. “Sheriff caught the roadie that Wallis had a fight with last night.”
    There was a lot of speculation on this, with half the townspeople agreeing that it had to be the roadie.
    Then, one man, Alan Bridges, an ex-plumber more often found in the town bar than the breakfast place, said, “Well, I’m not so sure Sheriff’s going to be completely impartial about this, y’hear me? After all, best case scenario, he’ll be emotional. This is his deputy, who he’s worked with for years that got murdered. Worst case scenario… well… truth be told I was at that festival yesterday, and I didn’t see Sean in the crowd. So where was he when the murder happened?”
    A crowd of outraged yells drowned out Alan’s suggestion, which Alan responded to by raising his hands, one of them clutching a can of coke. “All right, calm down you lot. I’m only making theories. It’s my right, isn’t it?”
    “It’s very uncharitable of you,” Nora said, feeling angry. “And where were you Alan? Do you have people who can alibi you when the murder happened, I wonder?”
    “Well, I suppose I can,” Alan drawled. “Given that I was in the crowd.”
    “That’s when the murder was discovered,” Nora said. “I was asking where you were when the murder happened. Can you account for where you were every second between when the concert ended and the burning of the boat began?”
    “Can anyone?” Alan asked. “It was a fair. There were people all around. By your logic, even you could have slipped away for five minutes, and five minutes is all it must have taken. Less, probably.”  
    “What I wonder,” another lady said, “is how the murderer got their clothes clean? Surely there would have been some blood on them?”  
    There were murmurs of agreement, and the townfolk began to put up new theories.
    “Maybe the murderer put on a jacket to cover the blood? It was cold enough that people wouldn’t comment on a zipped jacket.”
    “Maybe they changed their clothes. Put on more medieval fare? I know there was a stall selling medieval tops. It wouldn’t look out of place.”
    “Maybe the killer was just careful that nothing got on him or her.”
    “…or maybe,” Alan said, loudly, “maybe the killer pretended to be hurt. Maybe he pretended someone hit him on the head, which would explain the blood stains on his shirt, and also give him a somewhat credible alibi.”
    “This is ridiculous,” Nora