An excerpt from my current work-in-progress, the fourth Ned McNeil mystery:
The next day, Pat’s and Jackie’s reactions were similar to Cade’s. “Look,” I said, as Janie set our coffee in front of us. “My curiosity was already piqued, so Tom’s request just gives me a good excuse. It’ll be kind of exciting to go digging into newspaper articles and talking to old-timers. Sort of like forensic archeologists.”
“Uh-uh,” Pat said. “This is crazy. Count me out There’s snakes out there. Remember?”
Actually, I had forgotten. “Only in the basement,” I said.
Jackie just shook her head. “I don’t see how you can find out anything different after all this time. I agree that the murder wasn’t investigated properly, but I don’t think anybody is interested in it now. Anybody, except Tom Newton.”
“What brought on the sudden interest, anyway?” Pat asked. “Why hasn’t Tom delved into his dad’s disappearance before now?”
“I think it was knowing Daisy plans to demolish the house,” I said. “Tom feels that the answer to the whole thing may be hidden somewhere within its walls.”
“If you plan to go out there again, let me know,” Jackie said. “Daisy evidently doesn’t think it’s safe. I worry about a squatter or somebody being there. You shouldn’t go out there alone.”
Pat drew a deep breath. “You know what I think? I think, if you look back at those old accounts, you’ll find somewhere in there that the moon was full that night.”
I laughed. “What?”
Jackie grinned. “Pat, our believer in the influence of the moon. That’s just silly.”
Pat’s chin jutted out. “No, it’s not silly. It’s a proven scientific fact that the moon influences behavior. Think of all the other bad stuff that has happened, Ned. The time at the old church when you almost got shot, and that Carver mansion—you know there was a full moon.”
“The time at the old church” is in By the Fright of the Silvery Moon, and the Carver mansion is the focal point for murder in Moonstruck and Murderous.
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