Murder in the Rose Garden: A Scent with Love Cozy Mystery (Scent with Love Cozy Mysteries) by Tabitha Tate Read Free Book Online Page A

had
washed up on the shore.
              “Yeah, I like
it too. Can’t imagine going back to the big city,” replied Chase.
              They walked
in silence for a few minutes, happy to be in each other’s company, each one
going over the discussion in the kitchen, trying to make sense of it all.
              Chase turned
to Beth. “Well…I told you what I know, now you have to return the favor.”
              “Well I have
only just started looking into things and I don’t know nearly as much as you
but I did find out a few things today.”
    Beth proceeded to tell Chase
everything she had learnt starting with the meeting with Jack Reynolds and the
financial records of Scent with Love which appeared to support Jack’s statement
about the business being in financial trouble. Beth also told him about
Bernard’s affair and his revelation that he had seen her mother arguing with
Sheriff Hunter the day before she died.
    Chase didn’t
seem surprised to hear about Bernard’s affair but he was interested in Jack
Reynolds and the black financial ledger.
    “I wonder if
Jack has been stealing from the flower shop. How do we know that the
information in the black ledger is real? What if he gave you fake records to
make you think that the shop was in financial trouble?”
    Beth hadn’t
thought of that, but suddenly that seemed like a real possibility. “You know
what, I wouldn’t put it past him. He did mention that I should look at selling
the shop. He even gave me the number of a realtor,” replied Beth.
              Chase sucked
in air between his lips and whistled as he breathed out. “Now that is
interesting; you will need to find out who was doing the books. Do you know who
your mother’s accountant was?”
              “No,” replied
Beth, “I hadn’t even though of going into that up until now. I was so intent on
selling the shop that I never even considered looking into things like that. I
am sure Hannah would know.”
              “You will
need to get hold of them first thing tomorrow; we need to take a long hard look
at Jack. I am not sure how he is involved but my instinct tells me that he has
something to do with all of this.”
    They reached
the pier and turned to walk back towards the cottage, following the footsteps
they had left in the sand.
    Beth was
glad that Chase had come; he really seemed to know what he was doing. It helped
to have someone who had connections in the police department on her side. Who
knows how long it would have taken her to figure out that Sheriff Hunter was
investigating a gang of drug smugglers and that he already knew about her
mother’s illegal pot business? Something was still bothering her about the sheriff
though. She turned to Chase.
    “Do you know
anything about a woman called Piper Pots?”
              A look of annoyance
crossed his handsome face and his lips became pursed, pulled into a tight thin
line. He thought for a moment, carefully considering his response. “I shouldn’t
really be telling you this but seeing as you know so much already, I’ll have to
fill you in. But you can’t tell anyone…” Beth nodded.
    “Walt has a
large sting operation planned for tomorrow night. There is a large shipment of
drugs coming into the harbor and he plans to strike while the gang is busy
offloading. He has good information that the gang leader will be there. Piper
is an undercover police officer. She has managed to form a relationship with
the leader of the gang, who goes by the name Big Al. Piper is posing as a
university biochemistry graduate who specializes in genetically modified
marijuana plants. She has been supplying them with genetically modified
seedlings that grow under almost any conditions, producing high quality
marijuana ready for market within weeks. Big Al adores her; she has managed to
infiltrate the gang and has been collecting intelligence for Sheriff Hunter.”
    Beth could
barely