It's finally here! I hope you like the story as I really enjoyed writing a mystery that takes place at a lighthouse, one of my favorite things. You can order a signed copy on my blog under the tab "Novels" or on Amazon! Here are three fun facts about the novel:
a) the character who was originally the double agent during outline stage is not the one I decided to make the actual culprit by the end of writing
b) I went to Maine as a child and put some memories in the novel like collecting sea glass on the shore and visiting a lighthouse
c) the tic-tac-toe clue literally came from googling, "what are things that come in nines" and tic-tac-toes have nine squares
And here's a sneak peak of the story, so enjoy the first chapter!
Chapter One of The Amanda Case Files No. 3: Bed and Breakfast Mystery
(Copyrighted by Therese J. Roberts)
_______________
Elizabeth Henley gazed out the
window of the world passing by, which reminded her that life changes so
quickly. She listened to the murmur of other voices on the train that made a
soft comfortable hum in the background. Her hands rested on the fabric
passenger seat and she crossed her legs to readjust her position. Every now and
then a scent of coffee drifted through the doors of the dining car; yet for all
she could experience and feel on the outside, nothing quieted the angst she
felt inside.
For most this
would be an enjoyable vacation to discover the beauty of Maine with its
coastline and lighthouses and quaint inns. For Liz it was to find answers to
questions she had had for five years. Her thoughts wandered back to the simple
two-story white colonial, her childhood home of warm memories, where her father
told stories by the fireplace and her mother pushed her on the swing. As the
trees outside the moving train flashed before her eyes, her life flashed
forward to the day she found out they would never be coming home again and her
eyes stung anew. The fact that they were detectives and died honorably did not
take away the feeling that it wasn’t fair. Her mission on this case was vital
and her desire so great to finally discover the truth—a truth she would not
have to find alone.
A young man with
red hair and a bright smile met her eyes as he walked toward her seat. He was
carrying two covered disposable cups and held one out to her as he sat down.
“Now watch me spill this on my new pants,” he said, looking at his legs
questionably.
“Who wears new
pants when they are traveling, Fred McNally?” Liz said with a smile.
“I guess it
depends on whom you’re travelling with,” he returned as he carefully sipped his
drink.
“This is
refreshing,” Liz said, inhaling the sweet scent. “Hits the spot.”
“It should. It
cost ten dollars with prices as bad as concessions at a ball field.”
“That’s
something Christie would say.”
“How is your
sister?”
“Trying to enjoy
her honeymoon with Bob,” Liz said. “She almost didn’t go, but Sam and I
insisted our parents would want her to.”
“And Sam?”
“He’s restless.
He doesn’t like simply being on call to come up to Maine. I tried to tell him
it was important to investigate at home too, both searching our old home and
keeping an ear in the police department.”
Fred nodded.
“Watch Sam find more than us in Maine.” He looked out the window and added,
“You know, taking a train was a good idea. It gives you time to think.”
Liz followed his
glance. “Perhaps a little too much time,” she said half to herself.
“Let’s talk
about something else then. We have a whole day ahead of us.”
“No. We should
go over what we know.” She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a small
key. “However little that may be.” She sighed.
Fred suddenly
reached out and held her hand. “We will know more soon,” he said reassuringly.
Liz blushed but
looked down again at the key in her hand. “I don’t know if the key is more of a
mystery, or the man who delivered it to me.”
“Tell that part
to me again.”
Liz leaned back
more comfortably in her seat. “In the middle of the hospital case, trying to
free my sister from jail, a stranger approached me. He knew me as Liz Henley,
but also as my code name Amanda Case. That made me nervous to say the least,
since no one should know that.”
“No kidding.”
“Yeah and being
told to go to the basement of the diner when he was armed certainly didn’t
help.”
Fred nodded.
“All he wanted
was to give me my father’s pocket watch,” Liz continued. “He refused to tell me
his name, said a three digit code, and then left without a trace. He knew my
parents well . . . that probably struck me the most.”
“And told you
that the one witness to their murder was bumped off.”
Liz sighed and
fingered the key in her hands again, the metal catching the light overhead.
“I remember the
next part—how you got that,” Fred said and pointed to the key. “I was in
disbelief when your uncle Riley figured out the watch was the safe and pulled
out the key.”
“I’ve been
worried about my uncle. We haven’t heard anything from him since that very
night. He was leaving for Maine right after we discovered this key, and he
never contacted us.”
Fred crossed his
arms. “Liz, it’s only been a couple weeks. He’s probably waiting for us at the
bed and breakfast as we speak.”
“Even though
it’s been five years, I have an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach going to
the place where they were last seen alive.” Liz pushed back a piece of her
curly brown hair from under her wig. She wore the same red wig as on her last
case, this time in order to complement Fred’s red hair. They were traveling in
disguise as siblings to mask their true identities.
“Maine of all
places . . .” Fred murmured.
“That’s where
this starts to get confusing.”
“The spy, the
general, and the senator, oh my,” Fred cut in.
Liz couldn’t
help but smile. “Fred . . .”
“Sorry. Of
course it’s confusing. Some spy killed a U.S. general, one who was very close
to the president. A senator of Maine, C.K. Black, was going to release the name
of said spy, who also was the double agent in our police department, who then
killed your parents and the senator so he wouldn’t be discovered,” he
explained.
Liz stared at
Fred. “That about sums it up I guess. If only my parents hadn’t found the
beginning of this trail in a local murder file . . .”
“Then the double
agent would never be found. They were going to find him . . . but now we are.”
Liz met Fred’s
eyes. “You promise?”
“With my life,”
he answered.
Liz looked at
Fred a moment then said, “I feel like my biggest question is why did the spy,
or double agent, need to kill a U.S. general?”
“That seems to
be the heart of the matter,” Fred answered her.
Liz continued,
“We need to figure out the killer’s motivation. It has to be a pretty big one
to be covering up so many murders. Five years, Fred. Five years. I know it will be easier to find the double agent if we
understand the why. Why did he want
to kill the president’s general?”
Fred sipped his
coffee again. “I can’t believe it’s someone I had—or have been—working with.
Our own police department, Liz!”
“I know,” Liz
said with a sigh. “You have been at the police station longer than I have and
must know everyone who was working at the time of my parents’ deaths. So many
cops have come and gone since then though.”
“Well, I
remember when they arrested the wrong person—the person who was recently
released and killed off. We can’t even question him again,” Fred said with
regret.
“Honestly, Fred,
I don’t even know where to start on this case. There’s so many red herrings and
false leads and endless suspects . . .”
Fred encouraged,
“We are going to start with where they were last seen. We are going to search
the bed and breakfast and talk to anyone who worked there at the time they
stayed.”
“We should have
come up here years ago, but I never imagined that there was anything
significant left behind at the bed and breakfast.”
“Liz, there may
not be,” Fred was forced to acknowledge, “but knowing your parents I feel as
though there is some vital clue waiting for us.”
“Uncle Riley
certainly believes that. I just wish he had contacted us when he arrived. He
doesn’t even know that we are coming because I have no way of reaching him.”
“We will be
there soon enough. For now, just enjoy the ride. I for one have never been on a
train before!” Fred said with a smile.
“Look, we’re
pulling into a station.”
“Then let’s go
out and explore. It’s a twenty minute wait.” Fred stood up before the train
stopped and headed for the door.
Liz followed him
and stepped off the stairs once the train pulled in. She wandered into the
station, a small building with lots of windows lining the walls. There were
travel brochures, maps, and activity flyers stacked neatly in stands in the
center of the room. The passenger train was not as full as Liz expected it to
be this time of year, but the station was bustling with people. Liz found it
hard to move around inside and decided to spend the twenty minutes out by the
train with the rest of her coffee.
“Hello there,” a
young woman said to Liz as she sat on a bench outside.
“Hi,” Liz
returned with a nod.
“Don’t you
recall us meeting each other?” the lady asked sociably.
Liz peered at
the woman with dark hair flowing down her back. She was thin with glasses and
held a notebook in her hands. She had a friendly smile, but there was nothing
familiar about her to Liz. “I’m sorry, can you tell me your name again?”
“Miranda
Nethers.” She stretched out her hand and gripped warmly.
“Well it’s nice
to meet you again, Miranda,” Liz said puzzled. “Do you happen to remember where
we have met?”
Miranda laughed.
“Of course I do! You solved the hospital murders only a few weeks ago. I
interviewed you with Captain Walker.”
Liz’s eyebrows
rose. “I completely forgot about that.” She paused. “What are you doing up this
way, might I ask?”
“Following you,
Amanda Case!” Miranda said enthusiastically. She opened her notebook and
clicked her pen. “Now, what are you trying to solve this time around?”
Liz swallowed.
“I . . . I’m just going to visit a friend,” she said vaguely.
“Amanda Case . .
. visits a friend.” Miranda wrote quickly in her notebook and then looked up.
“We both know that that will not be all.”
Liz took note of
her surroundings beside the train. Who else knew of her travels to Maine? She
had left with all possible discretion and didn’t tell anyone in the police
department about her departure. Miranda’s presence was definitely a surprise .
. . an unwanted surprise.
“Miss Case?”
Miranda tried to grab her attention again. “Details are everything! You want me
to get the story right in print!”
“I’m afraid you
won’t have much of a story,” Liz said to the reporter. “You have wasted a
trip.”
Miranda twirled
her pen around in her hand. “I don’t think that will be the case,” she said
slowly. “All the same, Rockland Maine is beautiful this time of year!” With
that she stood up and walked into the station. Liz watched the door close
behind Miranda and took a sip of her coffee again. Rockland Maine? How did the
reporter know of the exact location she was heading as well?
Fred wandered
over toward Liz from along the platform, taking the seat Miranda just vacated.
“You should go to the front of the line! The locomotive is amazing. I wish the
conductor would let me inside . . . but security these days.” He threw up his
hands in a gesture of defeat.
“Security is
right,” Liz murmured.
Fred shot her a
look. “What?”
“Miranda
Nethers, the reporter who interviewed me for my last case, followed us,” Liz
whispered.
“Again I say,
what?”
“She just went
into the station. I wonder who tipped her off . . .”
“A reporter?
What does she look like?” Fred’s eyes widened as he spoke.
“Tall, long dark
hair, glasses, notebook,” Liz replied with a list.
“I’m going to
talk to her.”
“Fred—”
“I want to know
what she knows,” Fred answered emphatically. “I can only discover that if I
ask!”
“What if she is
in contact with the double agent?” Liz wondered, half to herself.
“Then she
probably knows a good deal!”
“Don’t forget,
you are Stew,” Liz reminded him.
“I know, I know,
Stew Case.” Fred shook his head. “More like suitcase,”
he muttered under his breath as he entered the station. He glanced around for a
tall woman with long dark hair . . . . .
Thank you readers!!!
