Murder and a Song (A Pattie Lansbury Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) by Nancy C. Davis Page B

woods
and we have an eyewitness still on the scene.”

    “You’re
kidding.   Who?”

    “She’s
blonde, carries a notepad and shares the tendencies of a Rottweiler,” D.C.
Downey replied.

    “That
YTV woman?” Constable Palmer snapped. “I already threatened her with cell-time
if she didn’t back off until we were ready!”

    “Well,
she just called Patricia Lansbury and said she’s hanging off a branch right now
near some old coal bunker in the woods.   Get there ASAP.   I’m driving
out now and will meet you there, alright?”

    “I
have Officer Hill with me in the van, he can come too.   See you there.   Over and out.”

    Officer
Hill tutted. “Great.   And I thought
I was about to finally get some sleep.”

Chapter 25

    The van pealed through the campsite and
slid to a halt in the mud by the treeline.   Constable Palmer and Officer Hill jumped out and met D.C.
Downey and the two officers who had been staking out the tent.

    “I
just had Laura Conrad on the phone,” said D.C. Downey. “She says they haven’t
left the bunker.   We’re looking for
a small concrete shed built into a hillside about a quarter of a mile northwest
of here.   She says we’ll cross a
path with a fallen tree just before we get to the hillside.   The coal store doesn’t have a door on
it and it looks like it’s a single room about fifteen square feet.   They just lit a lamp or something
inside so we might see the flame.   Let’s go and take these guys in, swiftly and safely, alright?”

    The
team nodded their assent and they set off jogging through the woods.

    The
trees crowded around them in the darkness.   The moonlight glanced off the smooth trunks of the silver
birch as they jogged to the rustling sound of their uniforms and crunch of
their boots.   Soon they could hear
the river burbling to the west.

    “Keep
your eyes peeled for the path,” said Constable Palmer.

    They
stumbled upon it within a minute, and saw the fallen tree that the reporter had
mentioned.   There was only one
slope steep enough to possibly house the coal store.   They came at it from above and, as they looked down the
slope, saw a faint flicker of orange light cast over the ground from below.

    Laura
Conrad emerged from behind a tree, put her finger to her lips, and moved aside
for the professionals.

    The
officers split into two teams and silently descended the slope.   They saw the flat top of the bunker and
went down either side of it.   The
front of the building had no door, and warm lamplight came from within along
with the quiet chatter of two men.

    On
D.C. Downey’s signal, the five officers burst into the bunker.

Chapter 26

    Pattie and Elliott sat in plastic
chairs at the police station.   The
station was a slightly eerie place at night time, lit only by harsh fluorescent
bulbs and echoing with the snores and shouts of the recently arrested.

    Two
of those arrested were James Farrell and Toby Draper.   D.C. Thomas Downey had returned to tell Pattie the story of
the arrest, which had happened swiftly and without incident.   The officers had stormed the empty coal
store, clapped the two shivering men in handcuffs, and hauled them back through
the woods to the station.

    Timothy
Jeffries had also been strongly urged to stick around at the station, though he
hadn’t formally been charged with anything.   Nor had Blossom Carter, who was now about to spend her
second night in a cell.    D.C.
Downey was waiting to get some solid answers out of their two new suspects,
however…

    “They’re
not telling us anything,” he said, storming down the corridor.   He spotted Pattie and slowed for her.
“Pattie, you’re still here.”

    “Like
I told the girl at the desk, I have something important that you need to see,”
Pattie replied, standing. “I decided to be patient.”

    “Well?   What is it?”

    Pattie
showed him.

    “Good
Lord!   Where the heck did you get
this?”

    “It’s
all part of the story.