The Death Card: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Read Free

and call the sheriff as soon as you get there. Seth can tell the
sheriff you were going to meet him at the police station to see if he could
give you some advice about providing special protection for some VIP clients
who asked if they could get private protection if they stayed at the spa. Tell
Seth if he didn’t do it, and I believe he didn’t, the truth will come out, and
the murderer will be found. And Liz, take Winston with you and keep him with
you from now on. Whoever wanted to make it look like Seth did it may also be
looking to see who he talks to and who’s he’s with from now on.”
    “Thanks, Roger, I’ll call
you later.” She ended the call. “Seth, I’ll meet you at the station. I need to
tell Emily she may have to handle dinner by herself. Come on Winston, we’re off
to the police station.”

CHAPTER 2
     
    Leroy knocked on the front
door of Madame Dika’s house. There was a sign on it inviting people to come in
and wait until it was their turn for a reading. Leroy wasn’t there for a
reading. He wanted to see if Madame Dika could tell him something about Seth Williams,
the chief of police of Red Cedar. He was considering running against Seth in
the upcoming election for police chief and he knew Seth visited Madame Dika
with regularity. He hoped that if he could find out something negative about
Seth, he could use it in the campaign
    A
few moments later the front door was opened by Madame Dika. “Yes, may I help
you?” she asked in a heavy foreign accent.
    “My
name’s Leroy Moore. I’m the deputy police chief in Red Cedar. May I come in?
I’d like to talk to you for a few moments.”
    “What’s
it about?” she said in a voice that insinuated there was no way she was going
to let him into her home.
    Leroy
swallowed and said, “I’d like to ask you some questions about Seth Williams.”
    “I’m
sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name,” she said closing the door.
    “Better
open that door, or I’ll arrest you,” he said in a loud voice. “It’s against the
law here in Red Cedar to conduct any type of psychic business without a license
from the city. That includes palm readers, crystal ball gazers,
fortune-tellers, tarot card readers, and numerous other types of phony scams. I
checked you out before I came out here, and you don’t have a valid license
according to the records at city hall.”
    Madame
Dika immediately opened the door, and Leroy walked in and looked around.
“Always wondered what these fortune tellin’ places looked like,” he said.
    “This
is not a fortune-telling place. I am a tarot card reader, and my qualifications
are impeccable. I’m from a distinguished line of tarot card readers in Romania,
the finest in the world. We are not fortune tellers,” she said haughtily.
    “Whatever.
I want to know about your meetins’ with Seth. I know he comes out here a lot,
and you gotta know somethin’ about him. I’m thinkin’ of runnin’ for police
chief against him, and if you got any dirt on him, I want to know all about
it.”
    “Number
one, I don’t have any dirt as you call it on him and number two, why would I
tell you anything about a client? That’s privileged information.”
    “There,”
Leroy said. “You just admitted he was a client of yours. That’s a start. Here’s
the thing. I came into a little money yesterday. Longshot pony I was bettin’
heavy on came in, and I got some what do you call it? Oh yeah, got me some
disposable cash I’m willin’ to share with you for a little information. How
does five thousand dollars sound in exchange for that information I want?”
    “You’ll
have to leave. There is nothing I can tell you about Chief Williams. You can’t
possibly think I’d take a bribe from you and tell you about a client of mine.”
    “Lady,
don’t think you’re legit. In fact, I suspect you’re a complete fraud stealing
money from unsuspectin’ dupes. It wouldn’t bother me none to close you down and
arrest you for