HELL'S HALF ACRE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2) by JACKIE ELLIOTT (classic literature books .txt) 📗

didn’t recognize the business, “Knights Development Ltd”, but the listed shareholders were familiar. Apart from Dennis Havers, there were three names: Daniel Ellis, Wayne Dagg and Art Whilley. Jim had never heard of Daniel Ellis, although there was an Ellis family in Coffin Cove. Wayne Dagg was Lee’s older brother. Lee Dagg was a local electrician, but Wayne had left Coffin Cove long ago. Jim stared at the last name. He should know it, he thought. Was it an old story his father had worked on? He couldn’t think. He shoved the envelope back into the desk and locked it.

Jim could see no connection with the Ricky Havers case. But Andi was digging deep and taking risks.

Jim was angry. Andi knew better than to break the law for a story. She’d pushed boundaries before, and it had cost her dearly, but she hadn’t crossed the line at the Gazette until now.

His first impulse was to confront her and demand an explanation. Fortunately, his anger dissipated as quickly as it had come. He cared about Andi and admired her talent. He was also touched that she had turned down other opportunities to stay with the Gazette after her articles garnered so much attention. He knew Andi was struggling, but maybe he hadn’t realized how bad it was. Andi’s confidence had taken a beating before she came to Coffin Cove. She’d pushed herself to get to the truth of an old murder, and in the process had been shot. Now she was trying to deal with the aftermath by throwing herself into another investigation — even if there was nothing to uncover.

Andi’s preoccupation with Ricky Havers and the Thompsons wasn’t healthy, Jim concluded. It needed to stop for her own benefit.

Andi was very loyal to Jim. And he intended to support her. But Jim also knew Andi was unlikely to let her investigation go until she could see for herself there was no story. Just a sad mystery about a man who made some bad life choices.

Jim had an idea. He picked up his phone and put it down again. He frowned, picked it up and tapped in the number before he had time to change his mind again.

“Andi, it’s Jim here. You’re late. I’ve got an assignment for you. Call me back — or better still, meet me in the office.” He ended the call.

He took a deep breath. Andi had convinced him it was better for her to get back in the saddle. He hoped she was right.

Chapter Four

Katie Dagg unlocked the door to the Coffin Cove Museum. The outside of the wooden-framed, one-storey building was freshly painted. The contractors had finished the day before and a new sign was due to be installed at the end of the week. Katie was pleased with the progress.

She stepped inside and smiled. The interior was unrecognizable from the cluttered, dusty space she’d inherited from the previous curator.

Katie and her father, Lee, had invested hours of sweat equity to transform the dark musty interior into a spacious, open-plan layout, with the appropriate lighting to accentuate the exhibits.

Along the two main walls of the museum were the permanent glass cases with artefacts and photos which all told the history of Coffin Cove. The centre of the main hall would house the revolving themed exhibition.

This was temporary accommodation for the museum. A brand-new home, complete with art galleries and a separate theatre room, was planned for the new waterfront development. Until then, Katie had to make the best of this space on a limited budget. But she was delighted with the results so far and confident she could make the museum a success, even in this old building.

Katie called her father from her office, to tell him Harry Brown was on board, quite literally, with her plans.

“I knew Harry would help,” Lee Dagg said. “He knows quite a few old stories about the smuggling racket at Coffin Cove. He’ll keep your clients entertained.”

Katie was looking forward to welcoming visitors to the Coffin Cove Museum, but she was sad the renovation phase was coming to a close. It had been fun working with her dad.

Katie smiled again when she ended the call. Lee sounded so happy for her. It had been a while since she’d heard him so upbeat. She knew it was because she’d moved back home and taken her first job after university in her hometown. She could tell her father was ecstatic although he’d argued about it. “Why not get a job in Vancouver?” he’d implored. “Get off the island, see the world. You’re wasted in this backwater!”

But Katie had always loved Coffin Cove. She was a homegirl at heart, and the chance to start her career telling the stories of this isolated, overlooked town was more than she could ever have hoped for. Katie didn’t see dilapidated houses and the deserted fish plant. She could almost hear the noise of a busy fishing port, the fishermen cussing and women laughing as they gutted and cleaned the catch. In her mind’s eye, children were playing in the yard until the bell pealed out from the old, one-room schoolhouse. She knew the town was famous for the boom days of coal and once attracted workers from all over Canada to work in forestry and fishing. Coffin Cove was also infamous for smuggling, the rum runners using the disused mining shafts as escape tunnels to move illegal moonshine across the border to Prohibition America. Katie also wanted to tell stories from before the European settlers found the resource-rich paradise. She intended to include the little-told history of the indigenous people who called the island home. Katie had reached out to descendants of the first people who had lived in the cove and pieced together the island’s stories from their perspective. She had comprehensive plans, and she knew Mayor Thompson would support her.

Katie had enthusiastically