MURDER AT THE PIER (A Sister Sleuths Mystery Book 1) by Rayna Morgan Read Free Book Online

van
hovering most of the day."
    "I'm afraid you have my wife
to thank for bringing so much attention since the news media linked the
burglary and the murder."
    "I'm just sorry she went
through the experience of finding a dead body."
    "It was none of your doing.
Full responsibility for her being in a position to find a dead body rests with our
overly zealous border collie."
    Paul reached for the bottled
water Jim offered. "But why are the media people still pursuing the case?
I thought the police had pretty much determined the burglary on your site and
the body found at the Pier aren't linked."
    "That's what Detective
Elliot told me during our interview about the burglary. But once the television
station reported the crimes as being linked, it was hard to get them to change
their angle," Jim complained. "I even had people asking me if the
body was found on our construction site. We sure don't need that kind of bad
publicity for future sales purposes."
    "I hear you, Jim, but I'm
sure you didn't call me today about a public relations issue."
    "No." He walked over to
close the office door.
    "Part of your consulting
service for my real estate business has been to help me with personnel issues
like screening job candidates. In this case, I’m hoping you can provide a
needed third party perspective on another kind of personnel issue."
    "Glad to help any way I
can."
    "I have an employee I'd like
you to speak with. I don't think this young man will open up to me as his boss,
but I'm hoping he might be more forthcoming with a neutral third party."
    "What's the problem?"
    "One of our young
construction workers got in a bit of trouble last week. Right now, it sort of
boils down to helping me clear any doubts I, or anyone on the crew, has about
his character."
    "Why is his character in
question?"
    "I need to make sure he
didn't have anything to do with the burglaries which have been going on."
    Paul's jaw dropped. "You better
give me all the details. What kind of trouble did this young man get
into?"
    "Our site manager noticed
small tools disappearing from one of our projects. Gloves, hammers,
screwdrivers, safety glasses, basically, small stuff it's hard to keep track
of. He didn't bring it to my attention until a couple of power drills were
reported missing."
    "How do you keep track of
your equipment?"
    "I'll admit, we're a little
outdated in that department. Our equipment is always moving from our main
warehouse to multiple job sites as needed. Quite frankly, it gets lost or
stolen all too often.
    Basically, we use sign out sheets
at the main warehouse to keep track of which construction worker has what piece
of equipment, at which location, and for how long. A paper trail isn't
available in the field until the clerical staff has the time to transfer the
information into a spreadsheet the site managers can then access on their
computer."
    "If your site manager didn't
have access to the inventory list at the job site, how did he find out about
the power drills?"
    "From crew members
complaining about equipment not being available. When he went to the warehouse
and cross checked inventory checked out against inventory checked in, he
discovered the smaller items, plus the drills, missing."
    "Does your site manager have
any ideas about who might have taken the missing items?"
    "He does, in fact. He
suspects the young man in question, Juan Martinez."
    "Can't you confront Juan
with your suspicions?"
    "Typically, I would, but
that's why I've asked for your intercession. John, my site manager, is good at
what he does but he sometimes demonstrates a bit of a bias against young
Hispanics."
    "Awkward, considering the
large proportion of Hispanics working on your projects."
    "Yes, it can be. From what I
know of Juan's background, he never finished high school, another strike in
John's estimation. I want to make sure there's adequate reason to suspect Juan
before I cause him undue embarrassment by accusing him."
    "I understand your position
and I