The Auto Shop Case

By Bruce Allsman

The Auto Shop Case, a crime mystery by Bruce Allsman

 

A gruesome discovery in the trunk of a white sedan in an auto repair shop, draws homicide detectives John Allen and Chris Davidson into a murder mystery. The victim, Susan Baldwin, is the young wife of a middle-aged real estate developer, Steven Baldwin, a respectable member of the city's business community and a close friend of the police commissioner. Starting the investigation by interviewing anyone who had any possible contact with the victim, the two detectives soon identify a prime suspect, Jim Tully, a mechanic who works there, apparently the last person to see Susan alive. A search of the police database reveals Tully's sordid criminal past and crime scene evidence seems to incriminate him. However, probing deeper, Allen and Davidson discover ulterior motives that confirm the premeditated murder of Susan Baldwin. With the expertise of the medical examiner, Toni Mallard, they manage to uncover a key piece of the puzzle and solve the case.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bruce Yeoh
• Release date: May 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201796686

Book preview

The Auto Shop Case

Bruce Allsman

All of the characters in this book

are fictitious, and any resemblance

to actual persons, living or dead,

is purely coincidental.

The Auto Shop Case

Copyright © 2020, 2021 by Bruce Allsman

All Rights Reserved

Published by Bruce Yeoh

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Table of Contents

The Auto Shop Case

About the Author

Books by Bruce Allsman

The Auto Shop Case

DETECTIVE CHRIS DAVIDSON knew it wasn't a dream when Detective John Allen called him to say that someone had stuffed a young woman's body in the trunk of a car. He arrived at the crime scene with Detective John Allen at exactly 7:30 A.M. and parked his car in front of an automobile repair shop, Otto's Auto Repair.

Toni Mallard, the medical examiner, and her two assistants wheeled the body on a gurney out the door. She stopped when she saw them and told Allen he'll get the full report from her soon. Entering the shop, they threaded their way past members of the crime scene unit, busy placing numbered markers on the floor, dusting for prints, their cameras clicking and flashing away methodically.

Davidson followed Allen to the third work bay where two men, one tall and bony, the other short and squat, both dressed in dark blue overalls, stood with arms folded across the chest. With worried faces, they stared down at an old sedan, a white 1994 Nissan Maxima, where the body was found. Were they more concerned with the car than the corpse? He stepped closer to look at the car's trunk, its door raised, completely opened. He stooped to note the size and shape of the bloodstain on the floor beneath the trunk.

Let us talk inside, Detective Allen told them and the four men went into an adjacent room, the customer waiting room. The tall, bony man introduced himself as Kenneth Lessing, the shop owner and manager, and named the other Mike Hanson, his chief mechanic.

I found the body, Hanson said. I saw blood on the floor, so I called Mr. Lessing immediately.

Lessing said, "I was in