Crazy Murders: A Molly Tinker Mystery

By Misty Reddington

Park Ranger Molly Tinker and her poodles find more dead bodies at Pond Park. She puts her life in jeopardy to bring the killer to justice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jun 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483431833

Book preview

CRAZY

MURDERS

A MOLLY TINKER MYSTERY

Misty Reddington

Copyright © 2015 Misty Reddington.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-3184-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-3183-3 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 5/29/2015

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Four

Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty One

Chapter Forty Two

Chapter Forty Three

Chapter Forty Four

Chapter Forty Five

Chapter Forty Six

Chapter Forty Seven

Chapter Forty Eight

Chapter Forty Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty One

Chapter Fifty Two

Chapter Fifty Three

Chapter Fifty Four

Chapter Fifty Five

Chapter Fifty Six

Chapter Fifty Seven

Chapter Fifty Eight

Everything dies sometime, but this is crazy.

To Toby and Jeremy

CHAPTER ONE

Heat and humidity hung in the air under a hazy sky. It was the 4th of July, and I was on duty at Pond Park. I leaned against the tool shed and scanned two-hundred people, sitting on the lawn and swaying to the music of Roy Orbison as our local Roy Orbison impersonator sang through Only the Lonely.

My job as park ranger was to make sure everyone stayed safe and sober.

Most residents of our small New England town knew the rules, no alcohol in the park, and gladly cooperated, but occasionally someone would smuggle in a can or two of beer in the bottom of his cooler, and my job was to find this guy and turn him over to the police.

There were three cops at the concert. Eric, my husband and the chief of police, sat on the grass with our two dogs, legally attached to their leashes. Eric was a blonde hunk of a man, and Tinker and Jeremy were poodles.

Eric’s new deputy, Marty McNulty, sat on the stone wall by the pond after spending most of a hectic morning directing traffic into the parking lot.

The third cop was one of my best friends, Willie Monroe. I looked around the park and found him digging a hole under a recently planted evergreen tree. I was sure this was against park policy, so I headed in his direction.

What’s up? I said.

Great music, Willie said. He was a large man who had gained twenty pounds since high school, eating too many doughnuts on his coffee breaks.

I’m pretty sure it’s against park policy to dig a hole on park grounds.

It’s definitely against park policy to bury something in the park, he said.

What?

Willie picked up a parakeet, colorful but dead.

I found it in my truck this morning, so I’m giving it a nice burial.

How’d it get in there?

Don’t know, Willie said. But it must have belonged to someone who loved it. That’s why I’m giving it a nice burial under this tree.

You’re a good man, Willie.

I wandered over to my family and tucked onto the grass between Eric and the dogs. Eric pulled me close and kissed me lightly on my lips while Jeremy and Tinker bounced around with extraordinary enthusiasm.

I love you guys, I said. What a great day.

Excellent music, Eric said, as impersonator Roy sang another Orbison classic, Oh, Pretty Woman.

I’m going to leave in a minute to get things ready for the cookout, I said.

I thought that your mother and aunt were making the salads, and your father was going to grill the hot dogs.

Sure, I said. But I want to get home to supervise.

You’re expecting Marty and Willie to pick up the trash after this crowd leaves?

Don’t worry about a thing, I said. The town hired the garbage company to do the cleanup.

I stood and brushed off my pants. I’m out of here. I’ll see you in an hour.

I’ll run these two before I bring them home, so they’ll be sleeping instead of begging for hot dogs, Eric said.

I’ll feed them and put them in the bedroom, I said. They’ll stay safe from the chocolate fudge cake Willie dropped off at the house this morning.

Your mother turned him into a good cook.

I smiled. He’s not as good as you.

CHAPTER TWO

I felt the breeze on my face, as I walked up the hill from Pond Park toward home, past old New England houses with vast green lawns and bright flower beds. As I entered my street, I saw two cars parked in the driveway, an old Buick and a newer-model Chevy sedan.

As I started up the driveway, my father opened the driver’s door of his Chevy, got out, and leaned over and tugged out a bag of charcoal.

He was a lean man, obviously a runner, in his sixties with graying brown hair and kindly dark blue eyes.

I have charcoal, I said.

It got wet, he said. Maybe in the recent rain.

I shrugged. Where’s Mom?

She and Ellen are in the kitchen, making some fancy salads.

Did Jon get back from Boston?

He came over with Jake and Ellen. My father frowned.

His date didn’t go well?

I didn’t ask him, but he doesn’t look too happy. It was a long drive to Boston to meet up with a woman he’d met on the internet.

When he goes away to college, he’ll meet all sorts of intelligent women.

Assuming that’s what he wants to do, my father said.

What do you mean?

Maybe he wants something light and simple?

You didn’t, I said. You married Mom.

It was the smartest thing I ever did.

Jon’s smart like you, I said, smiling.

He’s like a son to me.

Most people think he’s my brother.

You two look like brother and sister with your red hair and freckles.

Dad walked around back to start the grill, and I walked into the kitchen. Mom was mixing a green salad in a wooden bowl while my cousin, Jon, was cutting an avocado into little cubes.

Aunt Ellen stood over a pan of something, sprinkling it with grated cheese.

I went over to Willie’s chocolate fudge cake and swiped some icing with my finger.

Yum.

Molly, my mother said. She was a gray-haired woman, short with some weight around her middle. Why don’t you go visit with your father and Uncle Jake?

Hi, Mom, I said. The concert was fantastic.

You know I don’t like that kind of music, dear.

I kissed her and looked at Jon’s downturned mouth. I hugged Aunt Ellen and went out into the backyard.

Uncle Jake and Dad were sitting at the picnic table and drinking beer, waiting for the charcoal to be ready for grilling.

Molly, Uncle Jake said.