A Lethal Time (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 4) by Peggy A. Edelheit Read Free Book Online

fair price.”
    “So you were surprised when Sally and Tom stepped in to snatch it up like that?”
    He took a swig a beer. “Yeah, it’s always these out-of-towners that are rolling in dough that leave the locals out in the cold.”
    Was that an edge of bitterness?
    I noticed he wasn’t smiling with that last statement and wondered what else was annoying him.
    He was slightly buzzed. Good.
    “You from around here?” I asked.
    “No. I’m from Boston,” he blurted out, then stilled.
    I felt a gentle nudge from Clay’s direction, and then he eyed me. We were both thinking the same thing, another Boston connection, just like Robinson’s relatives.
    Interesting. Very interesting.

 
     
     
    Chapter 20
    Making Sense & Sensing Trouble
     
     
    Over breakfast the next morning, I shared what Jackson said the night before. He’d been guarded after telling us he was originally from Boston. I speculated that I felt there might be a connection between Robinson’s family and him.
    “The only catch is why would he possibly be interested in getting his hands on a property that Robinson’s family sold if he was connected to them? Why not hang onto it in the first place?”
    “Maybe,” said Clay, “There are two separate motives going on here.”
    “Like what?” Betty asked.
    “Could be that he has no attachment to the Robinson family and it’s all a coincidence, the Boston angle, and…”
    Martha jumped in. “He already knows the advantage in owning Robinson’s property and is pursuing it on his own.”
    “Or,” Crystal added, “he is related to the relatives and knows something they don’t and is freelancing.”
    “Why would he do that?” Betty asked.
    “There has to be a money angle,” I said. “Always is.”
    “Do you think Jackson could have been doing odd jobs for Robinson while he was alive, without letting on to Sarah while he was still working for her?” Hazel asked.
    Martha eyed Hazel, surprised. “That was insightful.”
    Betty added. “He might have seen or heard something while he was there. With it being sold from under him and currently being boarded up, he finally had the opportunity to do something covertly, but our arrival put a stop to his plans, especially now that Samantha is involved.”
    I nodded with that possibility taking shape. “…And he didn’t expect Sarah to come running to me about her woods being stolen, which complicated things further and gave me a good reason to take a closer look at the neighborhood and Robinson’s house.”
    “Which,” Clay added, “only goes to show you that on the other hand, all of us might be way off base on the whole thing in stringing together something that never was.”
    “Yeah,” said Martha, “but it sounded real interesting when we all thought it up, didn’t it?”
    I sat up. “Wait a minute!”
    “What?” Clay asked.
    “Sally mentioned the other night on the phone that her neighbors, the Smiths, were originally from Boston, too.”
    Martha smiled. “Now that’s real convenient, isn’t it?”
    I shook my head, changing my mind at the absurdity of the connections. “…No, that’s ridiculous! I think Clay might be right. We’re all making too much about a simple answer from a guy we’ve just met. We have turned into such a suspicious group. We might be overplaying this.”
    Crystal hit the table. “But what if we’re not?”
    Yes, there was always that.

 
     
     
    Chapter 21
    M Marks Their Spot
     
     
    Clay drove to Boston in the old truck to see what he could drum up about Robinson’s relatives. Martha, Hazel and Betty were busy researching anything they could about Robinson and his background, which included the library. Crystal was looking at it from the real estate angle and headed off to the town hall to research public records.
    Me? I decided to ask the other neighbors on the other side of Robinson’s property, which was across from Jackson’s property. I heard a well-off husband and wife lived there, who