Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2)

Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Dianne Harman Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Dianne Harman Read Free Book Online
Authors: Dianne Harman
The
only thing missing from Bonnie’s dated clothing was a tie-dye patterned
T-shirt. There were a few pictures of some hippies on the walls in the coffee
shop along with other pictures of the changes that had occurred in Cedar Bay
over the years. Bonnie looked very much like the people in those photos from
several decades ago. As she looked at her, Kelly thought that Bonnie’s time had
come and gone. There was nothing contemporary about her looks or clothing.
    “Hi, Bonnie, I haven’t
seen you for a long time. If you have a minute, I’d like to talk to you.”
    “Kelly, it’s good to see
you. I have to leave fairly soon for a meeting in Sunset Bay, but I have a
little time. What can I do for you?”
    “Well, a tourist was in
the coffee shop the other day asking if I knew where any nesting sites for
spotted owls were located. Evidently he’s a fairly new member of the Audubon
Society and wanted to take a photograph of one while he was visiting in Oregon
so he could show it to his bird-watching group when he got back to Kansas. I
told him I didn’t know a thing about them. After he left I started thinking
about my conversation with him, and since we get so many tourists at the coffee
shop, I figured I probably should know something about them. I understand
they’re on the endangered species list, but that’s about all I know. I
mentioned to a friend that I was interested in learning more about spotted owls
and he said you were an expert on the subject. I happened to be in the area so
I thought I’d stop by and see if you were home and could spare me a moment.”
    “Please, have a seat.
Jack, would you get us some coffee?” she asked, turning towards her husband. A
few minutes later he returned with mugs for each of them.
    “Here you are. I’d join
you, but I have to meet my hunting pal Fred out at the rifle range. When I was
deer hunting I noticed that my favorite hunting rifle was missing the target by
a couple of inches, so I’m going to test it out at the range. I’m pretty sure
the telescopic sight just needs a little fine tuning. When those cross-hairs on
the scope are properly adjusted, just about anybody could hit smack dab in the
middle of a half dollar at two hundred yards. That’s why it’s my favorite. Don’t
get many chances to take a shot at a big buck and I don’t want to miss an
opportunity because the sights on my rifle are not properly adjusted. Glad it’s
only the one rifle I’m having trouble with because if I had to test fire all
five of my rifles I’d be out at the range all day. See you later.” They heard
the screen door close behind him as he walked out towards the garage.
    Bonnie looked at Kelly
with a smile on her face and said, “It’s such a big subject I really don’t know
where to begin. You probably want an overview. Well, the spotted owls live in
old-growth forests, so there are a lot of them around here. You’re correct in
that it is an endangered species. I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but
they’ve been seen on Jeff Black’s property. The main threat to the spotted owls
is the loss of their habitat. If Jeff’s land is cleared for that hotel and spa
he wanted to build, that would qualify as habitat loss.
    “I’ve spoken at a number
of meetings about it. In fact, I even traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with
our Senators and Congressmen about it. I wasn’t able to see them, but I did
have meetings with their staffs. They told me that unless there were
photographs or hard evidence of a spotted owl on the Black property, there was
nothing they could do. I tried my darnedest, but I couldn’t get a picture of
one on his property.”
    Bonnie stopped for a
moment and took a sip of her coffee. “Not many people know that there’s an old
dilapidated shack on that strip of Bureau of Land Management property on the
north side of Jade Cove. I found it years ago when I was bird-watching in that
area. Nobody’s ever in that shack, just mice and birds. The

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