The Cryptic Case: Book 2

By Dee Dee Edwards

Detective Payne works hard on a cryptic case with his new partner, but all they find are riddles and more riddles, which put a lot of twists and turns in the murder case at hand. This even baffles Sheriff Downing and the state police. Who did this terrible crime and why? We will find out at the end, or will we?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639857432

Book preview

Contents

Prelude

Chapter 1: A New Detective

Chapter 2: The Office

Chapter 3: Mrs. Grimms

Chapter 4: Cape Charles

Chapter 5: George Jr.

Chapter 6: The Murder Site

Chapter 7: The Autopsy

Chapter 8: Family Trees

Chapter 9: A New Lead

Chapter 10: The Trip

Chapter 11: The Ambush

Chapter 12: Mrs. Brown

Chapter 13: Two More Riddles

Chapter 14: Back to Delaware

Chapter 15: Childhood Days

Chapter 16: Hunting Park Drive

Chapter 17: St. Michaels

Chapter 18: An Idea

Chapter 19: The Stakeout

Chapter 20: The Meeting

Chapter 21: 23511 Rolles Range Road

Chapter 22: The Missed Clue

Chapter 23: The Painting on the Wall

Chapter 24: Back at the Café

Oxford Social Café

Prelude

This is the second book of this series. Detective Martin Payne has been doing investigative work for over twenty years. With the help of his mentor, Constable Douglas Hanson of Oxford, Maryland, Detective Payne has helped the local authorities, state police, and FBI solve many homicides and several other types of cases, as you’ve read in Murder on the Bay, the first book of this series. In this book, another case comes along that baffles everyone. This doesn’t stop Detective Payne, who continues to take on these challenging cases.

Chapter 1

A New Detective

It was early dawn on a Sunday, and a man drove his pickup truck into a cemetery. He headed to the back of the lot and stopped by a large headstone. He got out, leaving his keys in the ignition, and started to walk around the headstone, which had gold markings on it. He looked all around it like he was trying to find something. He was careful not to fall into the newly dug hole.

All of a sudden, a shot rang out, and the man fell backward into the hole.

Two people came up, and one of them reached into their pocket, pulled an envelope out, and tucked it under the left corner of the stone. Then the two filled in the hole quickly, burying the man whom they had shot. The two people then got into the pickup truck and drove off.

*****

It was early September, and Labor Day had just passed. I was doing my normal routine, taking my walk along the beach in the morning and then heading up to the Oxford Social Café for my coffee.

My name is Martin Payne, private detective.

Sitting at the café was always a good time for me, even when I was working on a case. I already had a couple good cases this year—one in particular was finding a show dog that had come up missing. It had been lifted by some dog thieves who were trying to make a quick buck. Unfortunately, they stole from the wrong person; the owner had championship golden retrievers and was willing to pay a good price to get her champion back. It didn’t take long for them to get caught. Quick lesson they learned: when you steal something of value, do not try to sell it on the internet; you will get caught. Enough of that story.

I was sitting having my coffee when I got a call.

Hello! This is Martin Payne, private detective. How may I help you?

Hello, Detective Payne. This is Officer Owens. How are you today?

I am doing fine. How are you Officer Owens? I asked.

I am doing well. Thank you for asking. I’m wondering if you have some free time where we could meet up. I would like to run something by you and see if you would be interested in it.

I am open for a meeting with you, Officer Owens. When would you like to meet?

How about tomorrow around noon? We could meet for lunch at the Sandy Beach Grill.

That would be fine, Officer Owens. I will see you tomorrow.

We said goodbye to each other, and I hung up.

I hadn’t talked or seen Officer Owens since the Higgins case and was wondering what she was in need of that was important to have a meeting with me. As I pondered on that thought, a male voice spoke to me.

Good morning, Marty. Is this seat taken?

It was Doug Hanson, constable of Oxford, Maryland, my mentor. Doug had been in law enforcement for almost fifty years.

Good morning, Doug. Have a seat, I responded. It is a real nice day today.

Yes, it is, Marty, he answered. I see you were in deep thought when I walked up. What about?

I just got a call from Officer Owens. She wants to meet me for lunch tomorrow. She said she had something that might interest me.

It has been a while since you have talked to her, Marty. Maybe she has a client for you that you can help out. You are good at what you do.

That could be it. I guess I will just have to wait until I see her tomorrow on what it is about.

Let’s look at it like this, Marty. When Officer Owens is involved, it is usually work related and a case for you is not far-off.

We both laughed on that one. He was right. It was a good chance that a new case for me was coming. We sat and chatted for about an hour, and then we both left the café. I wanted to put a couple of things together for tomorrow’s meeting and prepare myself for a new case.

*****

The next day, Wednesday, I did my normal routine again in the morning and then headed down to Cambridge, Maryland, to the Sandy Beach Grill, to meet up with Officer Owens. When I got there, the manager, Bob Tanner, was talking to the hostess, and he saw me walk in.

Detective Payne! It’s so nice to see you.

We shook hands.

Nice to see you again, Mr. Tanner. I am meeting Officer Owens here for lunch. It is a nice day, and I am wondering if you have a table available out on the patio? I asked.

Yes, we do, Detective Payne. The hostess will take you out there. If you need me for anything, please ask the waitress, and she will come and get me, he answered.

I told him I would do that, and the hostess took me out to the patio and said the waitress would be right with me. A few minutes later, the hostess brought Officer Owens out. I had never seen her out of uniform, and when I saw her, I could see how beautiful she was with her hair down on her shoulders. The uniform did not do justice for her figure.

Good afternoon, Officer Owens. It is nice to see you again.

It is nice to see you, too, Detective Payne, she responded. Have you ordered yet?

No, I haven’t, but it looks like the waitress is heading over to us right now, I answered.

The waitress came over with glasses of water in hand.

My name is Amy, and I will be serving you today, she said. Would you like something to drink?

I told her I would have a cranberry juice with seltzer, and Officer Owens ordered ice tea with lemon. The waitress went and got our drinks and came back to get our order.

The lunch special is a mixed green salad with chicken, she said. You can substitute chicken for salmon for two dollars more.

Officer Owens ordered the lunch special with the salmon and Italian dressing, and I ordered the same with chicken. The waitress then went back in with our orders.

Officer Owens, you sounded like it was very important for you to meet me today. Are you in need of my services or maybe a friend of yours? I asked.

She smiled back at me and then spoke. Is there a chance we can get on a first name basis, Detective Payne? she asked. My first name is Charlette, but most of my friends call me Char. I heard the constable call you Marty. Is that correct?

Yes, that is correct, Char, I answered. So tell me what it is that you wanted to meet and talk to me about today?

I am getting ready to retire from the force this week, she responded. I have worked for twenty-five years and want to try something different in life.

This I did not expect from her. She seemed to really like police work.

So what do you want to do now? I asked.

Just as I asked that question, our lunches came out, so we started eating. A couple of minutes later, she answered my question.

I want to do private detective work. I watched you work during the Higgins case and marveled on how you handled yourself. It impressed me to say the least.

Thank you for the compliment, I said. So what do you want from me?

I would like to team up with you and become your partner, she said. I think we could work well together. You have military training, and I trained in the State Police Academy. With our resources, together we will make a great team.

This was a shock to me. I never expected this from her. It would be a great opportunity for me to have a partner like Char. With two of us working together, we could cover a lot more ground in a case.

So you want to become a detective and partner up with me? I asked.

Yes! That is what I am asking you, Marty. Do you think we can make it work?

Yes, Char, I believe we could make a partnership. Let’s give it a try. We will probably want to set up an office for us.

Let’s see what we can find available here in Cambridge, Char said. I live over in Salisbury, and you live in Oxford. This is like in the middle of the two.

Okay! I answered. That might work out for both of us.

That’s great! she responded. I also may have a case for us by the end of the week. I will fill you in on the details as soon as I get them. I will get the client to come and see us both so we can get the information from them.

That will be fine, Char, I said. "We can try and meet by Friday. By then, we will have an office for us