Murder Down Under (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 17) Read Free

park?” she asked.
    “There’s not so much to see, really.”  Roy scratched at one cheek.  “Hiking, I wager.  And rocks.  Lots and lots of rocks.  It’s over two hours to the peak.  Not for the faint of heart.  You two like hiking?”
    Darcy exchanged a look with Jon.  Hiking was fine, as long as there wasn’t a dead body at the end of the trail.  The events at Bear Ridge, months ago now, came back to her mind.  That was where they had first met Ellen Gless, formerly JoEllen Meyers the infamous contract killer.  JoEllen Meyers still had one active warrant out for her arrest.  Ellen Gless, on the other hand, was turning her life around and staying at Jon and Darcy’s house back in Misty Hollow.
    There was a very good reason for Ellen to give up her old life and turn things around.  Her ten year old son was depending on her.
    They didn’t mind giving her a place to basically hide out while she straightened out her past.  They’d become good friends.  Ellen was even taking care of Darcy’s black and white tomcat while she was away here in Australia. 
    Smudge.  Darcy smiled.  Somebody had to watch the big goofball.  Not that he couldn’t take care of himself.  He always got into and out of the house in some secret way of his own, whenever the mood struck him.  Still, Darcy felt better knowing that Ellen would be there to give him his catfood and maybe even rub his tummy every once in a while.
    “Just a few clicks away,” Roy said to them.  “Ready to take a sleep for a bit?”
    “Definitely,” Darcy agreed.  “Do you have a card, Roy?  For when we need a taxi again?”
    “Do better than that.  Let me give you the number to me mobile.  You can give me yours.  Sound ripper to you?”
    “I don’t have a cell phone,” Darcy told him.
    “Strewth?”  Roy sounded incredulous.  “Hard to imagine anyone from the States without a mobile.  How do ya get by?”
    “I manage,” was all she told him.  She wasn’t about to explain how ghosts could figure out how to use cell phones, or that they always managed to get her number no matter how often she changed it.
    “I have one,” Jon said, coming to her rescue.  “Use mine.”
    As soon as they finished exchanging numbers the taxi rounded a curve and Roy pointed off ahead of them, down the dirt road, to a collection of buildings set among tall, narrow pine trees at the edge of a lake.
    “There she is, Mates.  Lakeshore.  My home.”
    Darcy looked where Roy was pointing.  The road meandered into the middle of several widely spaced homes, most of them a single story tall, almost all of them painted white.  Here and there side streets turned off at odd angles that gave little glimpses of the rest of the town.
    The taxi suddenly bumped under them.  Just outside of town the road became pavement again, leading them into streets bordered by wide sidewalks where people walked about or stood talking in groups.  Darcy saw a little corner shop with signs in the tall windows that read “Food Here” and “Tobacco” and “Medicines—Traditional and Modern.”
    That last part definitely caught her attention.
    “Ah, where are me manners?” Roy chuckled.  “I should be giving you a tour.  On your left is the Thirsty Roo, local pub and eatery.  Quick tip.  Don’t try the bangers and mash.  Not for the faint of heart.”
    The Thirsty Roo was painted an awful green color, with swinging doors like saloons had in the old black and white movies.  Two guys stood out front, tall glasses of beer in their hands, watching the taxi go by.
    “Hey, guys,” Roy waved.  Darcy noticed he hadn’t rolled the window down to greet them.  “Now, over there is Mrs. Havernathy’s.  She makes a soursop jam to die for.  Teaches music lessons, too.  Right nice old lady.  That place there belonged to me Great Uncle Noah, rest his soul.  Arthur Loren owns it now.  Crazy bird, he is, always out digging in the dirt.  Thinks he’s gonna strike