“We overheard it from that group over there.” Sean pointed discreetly in the direction of the five friends, who were having a lively conversation with Officer Muller.
Callahan scribbled something on his notepad, then looked back up at Sean and Sara. “All right. Before we get into the hearsay, when did you two arrive at the resort?”
“We got in last night,” Sean stated.
“Did you ever meet Adrian Blackwell?”
“So that is the victim?” Sara jumped right on the detective’s slip, which essentially confirmed the ID of the deceased.
“This is an open investigation,” he replied, clinching the deceased’s identity. To say what he had said was a common diversion tactic.
“Please, Detective Callahan, as my husband told you, we used to work with the Albany PD, in homicide to be precise.”
“Homicide, you say? Well, that hasn’t been verified.”
Sean took a deep breath as Sara let a subtle smile dust her lips.
“Very wise. You don’t have confirmation,” she said. “But I assure you, we are telling the truth. And you just confirmed that Adrian Blackwell was the person you found dead.”
Callahan smacked his lips and glanced briefly around the room. Meeting her gaze again, he nodded. “Yes, it was Blackwell.”
“Was he murdered?” The question left her lips without a filter.
“It’s too early to say.”
Sara nodded.
Callahan transferred his pen to his right hand along with the pad, his arms now lowered. “I probably shouldn’t be saying any more than this, but you two have trustworthy faces. And yes, I know I just said that your story about being cops wasn’t verified. It was a spiel. You get that, right? We say ’em all the time as cops.”
He was looking to establish common ground, and even though Sara wasn’t in full agreement with what he had said, she nodded. Sean did, too.
“His body was found in a thicket of trees along one of the runs,” Callahan continued. “Now, that hill is for advanced skiers and not for the faint of heart.”
“Adrian was a skiing champion,” Sara countered.
“Yes, ma’am, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist at that.”
Ma’am? She hated being addressed that way. It made her feel older than her thirty-four years.
“We overheard that you might be thinking it was an accident,” Sean interjected.
“It’s possible. Like I said, it’s way too early to tell. The resort staff thought he’d checked out days ago. Last Thursday.”
Thought?
Sara’s ears perked up. “Did he check out? I mean, someone else didn’t do it for him?”
“Well, you know how it’s done these days. Most times you don’t even need to speak to a person. You just leave your keys in the room and the charges go to your credit card automatically. Blackwell was booked to stay through this coming Friday, but the front desk received a call canceling the rest of the week.”
“From Adrian Blackwell?” Sara was confident the detective was holding back. She’d noticed that he left out the time of the phone call. Sean nudged his boot against hers.
“We need to verify who called down, see if the front desk has a recording of it, but I’m not holding my breath.” Callahan went quiet for a moment, indicating there was more he wasn’t saying or at liberty to share. “Adrian was known to be rather impulsive in his personal life.”
Sara didn’t miss the leap in topic from the mention of a recording to the likelihood of a shortened stay. She knew he didn’t think Adrian was the one to make the call, which meant Adrian’s time of death must have been before the call, a fact it seemed Callahan was guarding, at least for now.
“What do you mean he was impulsive?” Sara asked, sticking to more neutral ground.
“He was disciplined with his sport. Obviously. Look at his successes. But he was divorced by the age of twenty-two. I get that if something doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but he moves on in relationships like there’s no shortage of women.” Callahan paused and bobbed his head side to side. “But I guess for a guy like Blackwell, there probably wasn’t.”
“Are you referring to what the tabloids say about Adrian or have you verified this information already?” Sean asked the question, but it made Sara realize that since they’d exchanged their badges for PI licenses, both the deceased and the suspects were often referred to by first names as opposed to surnames.
“Yeah. Well, that and what some other officers are saying.”
There was a brief lull in the conversation, and Sara could have let the interaction die there if she could just turn off the investigator that lived inside her. “So Adrian was supposed to check out this coming Friday but checked out this past Thursday?” If it weren’t for his dead body and the question of who made the call to shorten his stay, she’d wonder if it was simply a booking error.
“You got it.”
Sara decided to be a little more direct. “Only he didn’t check himself out. Someone did it for him.”
Callahan remained quiet.
“He was found on the hill, and I assume he was dressed for skiing?” Sara pressed, hoping to pry loose what Callahan was holding back.
“All of his personal belongings were cleared from his room.” Callahan glanced away and was rocking on his heels.
“Hmm.” Sara received another nudge from Sean’s boot. She glanced at him and he bugged his eyes at her, begging her to leave it alone. But she couldn’t. “You—the police—are leaning toward this being an accident? Who found him?” Killers often reported the discovery of their victims.
Callahan waved his hand in dismissal. “They’ve already been cleared.”
“Whatever you tell us stays between us,” Sara prompted, hoping to get more out of the detective.
Callahan’s gaze came back to her. “I’ve said too much already. I just hope you two are who you say you are.” He hesitated, seeming to deliberate whether to tell them anymore than he already had. “Adrian’s time of death was two in the morning Thursday.”
“He didn’t check out of his room that early, did he?”
Callahan pressed his lips together. “Nope. Late afternoon.”
Sara faced Sean, and he shook his head. He was right, of course. This matter should be left to the police, but there was a part of her that couldn’t look the other way. There were too many unanswered questions, foremost of which was who checked Adrian out—both from the resort and from this world.
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Overview of Coffee is Murder
A cup a day won’t kill you, but a few might.
Their first case as private investigators have Sean, Sara, and Jimmy neck-deep in coffee beans trying to find a killer. With their client certain that her mother was poisoned through her coffee of the month club, it has them setting out to Williamsburg, Virginia. But instead of approaching matters from the traditional standpoint, Sean and Sara brew a robust plot and stir Jimmy into the blend, all to get close to their top suspect and grind out the truth.
Going undercover at Tasty Beans, the coffee company, the three of them work to expose the culprit before anyone else dies.
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About the Author
CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international best-selling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.
Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and
entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.
Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.
She currently lives just west of Toronto with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime.
Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:
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And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers at
carolynarnold.net/newsletters.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Note to Readers
Preview of Skiing is Murder
Overview of Coffee is Murder
About the Author