The Sandie Shaw Mysteries: Death in Three Acts: Sandie Shaw, #10

By R T Green

When tragedy strikes, there's only one thing to do… strike back.

 

As heartbreak descends on the deMountford and Shaw agency, Sandie realizes there's no longer any choice. If she's to keep those she loves safe, she has to risk her life like she's never done before.

Embarking on a road that may only have one destination, it's not long until she discovers it really is a one-way street.

A dark and dangerous road, which has to be followed to the bitter end…

Read about Sandie, and everything else we create, on the rtgreen website.

And enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wise Owl
• Release date: Nov 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223320630

R T Green

The RTG mission in life is simple... to not be like everyone else! ‘Going Green’ has taken on a new meaning, in the book world at least. Whilst we applaud the original meaning (ebooks are a perfect way to promote that) we also try to present a different angle to it. The tendency these days is that if you don’t look and read like everyone else, you don’t sell books. Maybe there’s some truth in that, but we simply don’t do it. The RTG books have been described as a ‘breath of fresh literary air’, and, by those discovering us for the first time, ‘unexpectedly good’. We know many readers prefer the same-old same old, and that’s fine. It’s just not what you get from the RTG stable. Those who know about such things said it would take five years to become a proficient author... I scoffed at that. They were wise. It took six. It’s one reason why even today we remodel existing books, and will always do so. Right from the early years the stories were always good, but were put into words less well than they could have been! These days we have several series and a few standalones, the hit Daisy series most popular amongst them. In everything we do, the same provisos apply – Never the same book twice. If we can’t think up a good story, it doesn’t get written. The RTG brand is about exciting and twisty plots, a fast pace which doesn’t waste words, and endearing (sometimes slightly crazy) characters. We can never please everyone, but it works for us, and, it seems, for those who appreciate our work. Enjoy! Richard, Ann and the RTG crew

Book preview

Introduction

1920’S CHICAGO. WHAT CAME to be known as the ‘roaring twenties’. For private investigator Sandie Shaw, ‘roaring’ was hardly the flattering kind of description she would ever give it.

Born and raised in the city, she despairs of everything it has become. In her view, Chicago typifies the false decadence gripping America. Only just recovering from the lawlessness of the days of the Wild West, her city and the rest of the country then entered the World War for a brief time, and when that was over, the whole nation seemed to lose all sense of reason.

People went crazy. Prohibition raised its ugly head, and the mobsters and the flappers took over Chicago. Her beloved city had fallen at the mercy of those who believed they were above the law... once again.

In truth, Chicago had long held the reputation of being the most lawless place in America. Prohibition, and corrupt governance, had handed a free meal ticket to the gangsters. It didn’t sit well with Sandie.

Taking over the one-man agency when her father died, and making it a one-woman operation, she knew from the off that in a male-dominated environment she had to be tough, and witty, to succeed.

And that keeping well away from anyone with a machine gun was a big part of staying alive.

She managed it, for eight years refusing to be drawn into anything mob-related. But then one day someone came to call, and without Sandie even realizing what she was getting into, suddenly everything changed, and it wasn’t a one-woman operation anymore.

This time round, when tragedy strikes the deMountford and Shaw agency, Sandie realizes there’s no longer any choice. If she’s to keep those she loves safe, she has to risk her life more than she’s ever done before.

Embarking on a road that may only have one destination, it’s not long until Sandie discovers it truly is a one-way street.

Enjoy!

Richard, Ann, and the crew

A Tragic Kind of Loneliness

THE AUDIENCE HAD GONE, escorted away by Frank and his officers. Stunned into silence, some of the women had been crying as they hurried away. The red satin curtains were closed, as they had been moments after it happened. As I sat forlornly in one of the chairs on the front row, a deathly pall of silence seemed to hang over the whole auditorium.

The doctor had left a few minutes ago. I’d thanked him for his help, although there had been little he could do. Then I buried my face in shaking hands.

It’s not like I didn’t know what was going to happen, but even so, witnessing it playing out was far more traumatic than I’d expected.

Something else was sawing away at my synapses. However bad it was for me to live through, it was far worse for Roland. He’d been much closer to Daphne than I had when the sound of the gun had reverberated around the stage.

He was much closer to Daphne, full stop.

Someone slumped into the seat next to me, and took my hand. Until I raised my head to glance at him, I didn’t even know who it was. Frank looked almost as bad as I must have done. He’d had to deal with the aftermath, a lot more than I had.

‘You holding up, kid?’ he said quietly.

I nodded, not exactly convincingly. ‘Yeah... it was harder than I expected being an eye-witness, that’s all.’

‘Tell me about it. No matter the circumstances, it’s still hard when it’s someone you love and respect. And I’ve seen more than my fair share of death in this goddamn town, Sandie.’

I squeezed his hand. ‘I guess you’re off to the city morgue now?’

‘Yeah. Gotta be seen to go through the motions, regardless.’

‘I’m sorry we put you through this, Frank.’

‘Hey, blame whoever it was who had it in for her, not yourselves.’

I wiped away the stray tear I’d tried so hard to hold back. ‘We will find those responsible, both of us? I need you to promise me.’

He stood up. ‘Top priority, kid. You know I ain’t gonna rest.’

‘Thanks, Frank.’ My head lowered again. ‘Right now I’m not sure what I’d do without you.’

He chuckled mirthlessly. ‘From where I’ve been standing the last few years, you couldn’t have done without me at any point. Come and see me in the morning, yeah?’

I nodded. He walked towards the staff exit door, just as Roland appeared through it. He didn’t exactly look a bundle of joy either, but his concern was for me. ‘Pretty hard to watch, hey, old girl?’

‘At least I wasn’t directly involved, unlike you. Forget about me... you must be in bits.’

‘Needs must, Sandie. But I have to go. Daphne’s in the ambulance now, about to leave for the morgue, so I have to follow it there. After that... well, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.’

I gave him a hug. ‘I can’t imagine how it must have felt...’

‘Don’t even go there, okay? It’s up to us now to make it right, and no one is going to stop that process. Have faith, Sandie.’

It maybe wasn’t the best decision I’d ever made, but in truth a list of best decisions didn’t exist right then. Driving back to Braeside was the last thing I wanted to do. Being in the office was the second-last thing... but there were no other options. Frank had said I could go to his, but for him it would be an all-nighter for sure. I’d still be alone.

My legs felt like lead as I slumped into the chair behind my desk. Nothing had changed in our office, and yet suddenly it felt like the loneliest place on the planet.

It was the loneliest place on the planet.

Archie was thousands of miles away in England. Roland was out of my picture for a couple of days. Frank was dealing with the protocol he needed to be seen dealing with.

Right then I was the spare cog in the mechanism. That wouldn’t last long, but tomorrow was an entirely different day. First I had to get through the night.

I grabbed the illegal brandy. There wasn’t much left in the bottle, which was likely a good thing. If there had been more, I would for sure have ended up collapsing in a drunken stupor.

I couldn’t help it, my eyes wouldn’t tear themselves away from Daphne’s empty desk. Roland’s desk was empty too, but in a couple of days he would be filling it again. Small comfort, when the desk I really needed someone sitting at it smiling beautifully wasn’t going to be filled.

Daphne was gone. I’d known she would be, but it didn’t help the desolation trying to consume every bit if me. Or the desperate sadness trying its best to convince my heart that what we did for a living was worth the emotional pain.

I had to break my downwards spiral. Grabbing a blanket from the cupboard, I stretched out on the office couch. Closing my eyes and burying my head didn’t help much, as my mind inevitably recalled the Christmas Eve Daphne and I had been trapped by the snow, and ended up topping and tailing on the very same couch.

Somehow I forced the memories away from my past, and focused on the present. If I didn’t get some sleep that night, I’d for sure be a waste of space the next day. That just couldn’t be.

The only thing that mattered was finding the people who had wrecked our lives.

______

Chapter 1

A Week Earlier

Act One

‘FORE!’

‘Um... four what?’

My possibly-inane question made Daphne freeze in mid-swing. She threw me the glare from hell. ‘Are you trying to put me off my game, Sandie? Do you want me to show Roland how it’s done or not?’

I tried to keep the smile from my face. ‘Well I do, but...’

‘Enough words, okay? It’s obvious what you think.’

‘I haven’t said anything...’

Roland butted in, likely to quell the banter. ‘It’s said that shouting fore before a shot originated in old Scotland. Apparently it’s short for before, to warn people a ball was coming their way.’

‘But we’re the only ones on the course. It’s November,’ I said, blowing my breath into my cupped hands to make a point.

Daphne gave us both the stare. ‘History lessons and weather reports aside, can I take the swing now please?’

‘Be my guest.’

Daphne shook her head despairingly, adjusted her feet, and tried to prepare the swing like the expert golfer she wasn’t. I grinned to Frank, who shook his head too. I wasn’t quite sure why.

The club smacked into the ball, clean as a whistle. A big smile broke over Daphne’s face as she watched it streak into the air. Then it faded in an instant, as she realized where it was heading.

‘Oh dear,’ I said under my breath. ‘I fear the worst...’

There weren’t many leaves left on the trees dotting the Chicago golf course. As Daphne’s ball smacked into the top of one of them, there were even less. As I watched a little shower of multi-colored leaves spiral slowly to the ground, I heard Daphne’s curt cry.

‘Now see what you’ve made me do?’

‘Um... I didn’t see the ball drop. I think it’s stuck somewhere at the top of the tree,’ I said, not exactly helpfully.

‘Stop looking so amused.’

I foraged in the golf bag. Acting as Daphne’s caddy, it was my job to furnish her with the club she needed, before she knew herself. ‘Oh... um... there appears to be one missing.’

Daphne, still spitting fire, growled out the words. ‘What are you talking about, Sandie?’

‘Well, um... the Tree Iron doesn’t seem to be here.’

‘The... what?’

‘The Tree Iron... you know, the one with the very short handle. So that when you climb up the tree to whack the ball again the club doesn’t get fouled by the branches.’

‘You think you’re so funny, don’t you?’

Roland and Frank clearly did, doing all they could to hide their amusement. Somehow, it wasn’t enough. ‘And you Roland... what happened to supporting your girlfriend in a crisis?’

With a super-human effort, he straightened his face. ‘You have to admit, it was very funny.’

‘What, my shot or Sandie’s pathetic little joke?’

‘Well...’

Daphne shook her head again, lowering the club to her side and holding it like a walking stick, like she somehow really needed to. ‘Don’t worry, I know who my friends are now. And none of you fall into that category.’

‘Oh come on, Daphne. It’s just a bit of fun.’

She threw her spare hand in the air. ‘Yes, I can see that. Laugh-a-minute, you might say.’

‘Look, just take the shot again... as Sandie didn’t bring the Tree Iron...’ Roland offered.

Daphne opened her mouth to splutter something else derogatory, but an unexpected turn of events stopped the words forming. The crack of a gunshot reverberated through the still, cold air.

One second later, Daphne almost fell over as the club by her side split instantly into two.

For another second the four of us froze in disbelief. Then Daphne lifted up what was left of the club, and screamed. I think I might have screamed too.

‘Geez...’ Frank found his legs and sprinted away to the copse a couple of hundred yards away, closely followed by Roland. All thoughts of wittiness ripped away, I wrapped my arms around a distraught Daphne. Her eyes glossed over. ‘Sandie, what..?’

‘I... I’ve no idea...’

She waved the top half of the club at me, like she wasn’t sure what she was doing. ‘It... right by my side... six inches to the left and...’

‘Try not to think about it.’ I pulled her close again, feeling helpless and inadequate. There was nothing I could say. An unknown someone had tried to put a bullet in my best friend. It kind of took any words of reassurance away.

The guys ran back, and Roland took over Daphne-hugging duties. ‘They’ve gone, I assume?’ I said to Frank.

‘Just as we reached the copse we heard an engine. By the time we got to the narrow lane running alongside the course, all we could see was a vehicle disappearing into the distance.’

‘Too far away to even see what make it was, let alone anything else,’ Roland added.

Frank shook a dismayed head. ‘And out here, by the time I could get to a phone to call the station, whoever it was will be home and dry.’

‘Why does everyone want to kill me?’ Daphne sobbed.

Roland pointed something out. ‘Daphne, we were all standing fairly close together. That bullet could have been meant for any of us.’

Chapter 2

AS SOON AS WE REACHED Braeside, Daphne hit the illegal brandy. In truth Roland and I did too. Frank would have done as well if he’d been there, but he’d headed straight to the station to see if there was anything he could do to help find the shooter.

Not that there was much hope of that.

Daphne slumped onto the couch, still wiping away tears. ‘Do you really think he might have been after one of you?’

Roland took her hand. ‘Daphne, there’s no way to know. A two-hundred yard shot... if the guy wasn’t an expert marksman it could have been well wide of the mark.’

‘Not likely to be Jack McGurn then,’ I said ruefully.

Daphne scowled at me. ‘If it was him there would have been a lot more than one bullet.’

‘True. We can rule out a gangster hit. Using a single bullet is not exactly the modus operandi of hoods.’

‘Then who?’

‘Maybe someone shooting pigeons?’

‘Come on... and then racing off in a car?’

‘Okay, daft suggestion.’

Roland leant forward. ‘It doesn’t alter the fact someone deliberately set out to get one of us. On the golf course.’

‘Which raises another question. How did they know we’d be there? They were parked in the lane the other side of the fence.’

‘Booking records?’ said Roland. ‘Which one of you actually booked the round?’

‘Oh god...’ said Daphne, burying her face in her hands. It gave Roland his answer. He tried a little reassurance.

‘It still doesn’t mean they were after you, Daphne. It’s common knowledge both Sandie and I work in the agency, which makes it a pretty safe bet they’d assume we’d be there too. And if they watched us arrive at the course, they’d know for sure.’

Daphne’s muffled words escaped through her hands. ‘All I wanted was a game of golf.’

Roland gathered her up in his arms again. ‘Have either of you upset anyone recently?’

‘Roland... we’ve solved some pretty high-profile cases in the last six months. You tend to make enemies that way.’

‘Well it can’t be another Himmelman... I checked after the last altercation. There are no more family members.’

‘Millie Rizzini and her mother are both out of the picture, and they were pretty small-time anyway.’

‘And what remains of the Cordolini family are behind bars, with no friends left. It surely can’t be anything