COFFIN COVE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 1), JACKIE ELLIOTT [most recommended books txt] 📗

“Can I have a seat, Tara?” Jim asked calmly, and the tension eased slightly. Tara dragged over a chair, and Jim sat down, facing Joe directly.

“Sue found the necklace in one of the old buildings at the hatchery,” he started. “She found it in a bundle of old belongings that she described to me. She hunts out there most days, and she said that lately, she felt that someone was watching her. We — Sue and I — went out to check, but the hut was empty. However, Andi saw Brian just before he disappeared, and from Sue’s description, it sounded a lot like the bundle of belongings he was carrying.” Jim hesitated. “Sue is sure that this necklace is Sarah’s. It wasn’t on her body when she was found, and Sue said that she wore it all the time. She never took it off. You gave it to her, didn’t you, Joe?”

Joe nodded. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Jim.

“Sue thought the necklace must have been lost in the water. She said it fell out of an old tin box of trinkets.” Jim reached out and took Joe’s wrist.

“Harry and I and lots of other people in town have seen Brian with a tin box just like the one Sue found. So the thing is, Joe,” Jim moved in a little closer, “how did Brian get Sarah’s necklace? And what does he know about her death?”

“That doesn’t mean—” Tara interrupted, but Jim held up his hand to silence her.

“Brian was the witness who put Sarah with Mason just before her death. He was the one who intimated that Sarah and Mason were . . . close.” Jim chose his words carefully. “He knew that rumours are like a virus in this town, and the gossips would do a great job of turning a hint of a salacious story into fact. And the sad thing is, Joe, we all bit. Even after the police cleared Mason, we all still believed that it must have been an outsider who took Sarah from us.”

Andi could see that Harry and Tara were riveted. She felt in her jacket for her phone. She stepped back into the shadows, opened the voice record app, and replaced her phone carefully back in her pocket.

“Sue never believed that Sarah had any kind of relationship with Mason. Neither did Hephzibah. But the rest of us . . . well, it seemed to make sense. A girl with a strict religious upbringing, a broken home — we all figured that she must have fallen for Mason and the excitement of the protests. After all, how many parents really know what their kids are doing? Especially when they’re teenagers.”

Joe was still.

“Mason wasn’t interested in Sarah. We know that because Andi met his wife recently.”

That made Joe flinch for the first time. Jim carried on.

“In fact, he didn’t really know who Sarah was. His real interest was stopping the clear-cutting. And someone was helping him, by feeding him information about your talks with the First Nation and your lawyers. But he wasn’t getting the real story, was he, Joe? Somebody was feeding him bullshit, wasn’t that right?”

Joe bent his head, and for a moment, Andi thought he was wheezing, not able to catch his breath. Tara must have thought so too, because she knelt by Joe and held his hand.

“Joe, calm down,” she implored him.

Andi realized that Joe was sobbing. He was bent forward, his shoulders shuddering.

“That’s enough, Jim!” Tara shouted. “Leave it be!” She wrapped her arms around Joe, shushing him.

“No, Joe. For years a man had his reputation smeared. I helped do that because I didn’t do my job properly. Your daughter’s name was dragged through the mud too. Her mother deserves the truth. Sue deserves to know how her daughter died, and she needs to restore Sarah’s memory.” Jim spoke forcefully, and Andi saw his cheek glisten.

“C’mon man,” Harry said. “Tell us the truth!”

They waited until Joe’s sobs subsided. Then he began to speak.

“I wanted to sell. It was getting harder to make a profit. The environmental regulations, the First Nation claims, everything was working against me. I was paying more than any other outfit, and everybody expected me to take them on. Good old Joe, he’ll give you a job, even Ed,” he said bitterly, looking up at Harry. “Every fucking drunk and layabout in Coffin Cove thought I should give them a job, even if they couldn’t swing a fucking axe. It was killing my business.”

Harry said nothing, his expression blank.

“The Americans made me an offer. And then the protesters showed up. At first, I thought it would kill the offer, and I was running around trying to figure it out, having meetings, making promises, anything to get rid of Mason and his fucking hippies.” Joe paused and seemed to lapse into his memories for a moment.

“Then, I figured this could work for me. The Americans were already complaining about my payroll costs — they said the workforce was bloated and overpaid. I knew if I laid off workers, or cut wages, then my name would be mud around here. Most people were already jealous.” He looked at Jim. “You have no idea how many people knocked on my door wanting money. ‘You’re so lucky,’ they said. ‘You should remember where you came from,’ they said.” He pulled his hand back from Jim, who had been holding his wrist.

“Everyone forgot all about those long hours I worked. They just knew I had money and thought I should give it out.”

“Tell us what happened, Joe,” Harry said quietly. Andi knew him well enough to know that he was getting angry.

“During the protests, nobody was getting paid. I had some logs stockpiled, so I kept selling. I thought