HELL'S HALF ACRE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2), JACKIE ELLIOTT [best ereader for graphic novels .TXT] 📗

So why was Andi so convinced?

When Ricky went missing, he was the proprietor of the Smoke Room, the first and only legal marijuana store in Coffin Cove. Dennis had bankrolled the whole venture, realizing maybe the only chance he had of ejecting his adult son from the basement was to hand him ready-made financial independence. And what better business for Ricky Havers than a store selling his beloved marijuana?

Dennis’s decision attracted controversy. The Smoke Room was located in the run-down, deserted strip mall near the Coffin Cove trailer park. Dennis owned the strip mall, and while everyone agreed the property was an eyesore and badly in need of upgrading, there were rumblings of dissent in the community when Dennis proposed opening a legal weed store.

Dennis pushed it through the planning committee, despite a lengthy petition from disgruntled nearby residents. One name that caught Jim’s eye in Andi’s notes was Summer Thompson. Andi had underlined it, and in the margins, written a date. Jim thumbed through the file. He saw the date referenced and an interview between Andi, Summer and Jade Thompson.

Jim vaguely remembered Andi wanting to interview Summer. He checked the date again. It was a few days before Ricky went missing. He shrugged. Probably Andi wanted to get a few comments on record about the Smoke Room. Summer Thompson was the organizer of the petition opposing the store. The trailer park tenants were worried the store would attract customers looking for more than weed. Drug dealers on the island had switched to opioids almost immediately after recreational marijuana became legal.

Jim smiled ruefully. The petitioners were probably right. It was likely Ricky Havers would dabble in a more lucrative, illegal inventory, along with the government-sanctioned weed, oil and edibles. When Ricky went missing, the most popular theory was that he’d encroached on someone’s territory. Someone who didn’t resolve their business differences around a conference table.

Andi hadn’t found a shred of evidence to connect Jade Thompson with Ricky Havers, let alone his disappearance. Jim read through her interview notes. All she had were a series of coincidences. Jade had apparently reacted “in fear” when she heard Ricky’s name. She had been evasive when Andi questioned her about Ricky and the Smoke Room. Summer Thompson clearly disliked Dennis Havers, and not just because of the Smoke Room. She had hinted at Dennis’s nefarious past. All Andi had was her intuition, but was it sheer coincidence that Ricky disappeared a few days after Jade appeared in town?

Jim wondered if Andi was still traumatized. A gut feeling for a story was one thing, but Andi was imagining bogeymen and conspiracies. It wasn’t like her. One sentence in her notes stood out to Jim: “Summer Thompson is not what she seems.” Andi sounded like one of those crazy bloggers, not a serious investigative journalist.

The thing was, Coffin Cove did have a questionable history. It was an isolated town, accessible only by one potholed road or by boat. The location was perfect for anyone wanting to drop off the grid. From the coal mining days to the boom years of fishing, Coffin Cove had always attracted the shadiest characters. Nobody asked questions, and they got paid in cash. Draft-dodgers assimilated into the population in the sixties, and as far back as Prohibition, Coffin Cove had been a favourite with smugglers and drug dealers.

Newcomers were viewed with suspicion. Despite having a very healthy gossip network, residents clammed up around people they didn’t know. There was a mistrust of any kind of authority — police, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Jim could see how Andi had got caught up in Coffin Cove’s outlaw mythology. Andi was getting carried away with the thought of criminal masterminds around every corner. The reality was that most people in Coffin Cove were trying to scrape a living and were working for cash under the table. The worst crimes committed here were undeclared income and unpaid payroll tax, Jim thought.

That was why the new mayor was making so many waves. Her plans to revitalize Coffin Cove’s economy were not being met with enthusiasm from everyone. With new businesses, provincial grants and municipal improvements came increased regulations, property taxes and closer scrutiny of those operating in the grey area of legality.

Jade Thompson was a disrupter. And disruption, in this small community, was not popular.

Jim gathered up all Andi’s paperwork and replaced the files in her desk drawer. As he ran his fingers over the file hangers in Andi’s drawers, he noticed an oversized manila envelope jammed at the back. He pulled it out. It had been hand-delivered to Andi and had her apartment address at the Fat Chicken scrawled on the front. Jim frowned. That was strange. Andi usually had her mail delivered to the office. Knowing he was now really invading Andi’s privacy, Jim shook out the papers from the envelope. Then he wished he hadn’t.

“Damn it, Andi,” he said out loud. Sometimes Andi operated in the grey area too. This was one of those times. The papers were from the British Columbia Business and Incorporation Registry. It took Jim less than a few seconds to see Andi had got a search from the Transparency Registry of Private Companies.

The provincial government required private companies to register, among other things, the names of individuals who had significant interest in their businesses. Someone had sent Andi the results of a search on Dennis Havers.

Jim groaned. There was no way Andi had obtained this legally. Only authorized representatives of certain agencies could get this information.

He stuffed the documents back in the envelope, resisting his journalistic curiosity to examine them. He couldn’t help noticing one company name because Andi had marked it with a bold question mark. Abandoning his misgivings, Jim had a quick peek. He