Page 30 of Death By Llama
Oliver did the same with his light.“I think you’re right, and I don’t know how well that works for me in a relationship.”
Something white on the lawn close to the wall caught the light.I bent down to pick it up.
“What did you find?”Oliver moved beside me to see it.
“It’s a business card for Opulent Occasions.”
“Anyone could have dropped that.”He shined his own light on the rectangular card stock with its foil font.
“I don’t even have business cards,” I said, still studying it.
“Why would you have business cards?Everyone already knows Steamy’s Pub,” Oliver pointed out, starting to wave his flashlight systematically along the ground again.“Plus, you aren’t going to events like these.Social media is where it’s at anyway.”
He was right.Maybe I should be trying to get people on a mailing list for the pub or something.I flipped the card over.
I held my phone light right over the blank side of the card.Except it wasn’t blank.
Meet me at the cliffs.
“Oliver, look at this.”
He whipped toward me, his phone light blinding me for a second.
“What?”
I blinked a couple times, then thrust the card out to him.
Oliver read it, then gave me a surprised look.“I’m not sure this is solid evidence of Peanut being murdered, but it does seem as if someone might have been up to something suspicious.”
“Agreed, and maybe Peanut saw something that got him killed.”
“Maybe, but that seems like a stretch.It sounds more like someone arranging a hookup.And Peanut was very drunk.I’m still leaning toward an accident.”
“Yeah.”I was leaning that direction too, but I still tucked the business card in the pocket of the windbreaker.
I walked up to the wall.I scanned the rocks.None of the stones appeared missing or knocked loose.Aiming my phone light down over the edge of the cliff, leaning over the wall as much as I dared.I held out my phone and peered down.The light didn’t cut through the darkness to the water and rocks below.
“Do you think the tide is out?”I called out to Oliver, who still swept his phone flashlight over the lawn.
The beam of light shone over me again as he turned in my direction.“Soph, could you get away from that wall likeright now?Especially in those shoes.”
He was right.I straightened up from where I still leaned on it and asked again.“Do you think it’s high or low tide?”
“I have no idea.My maritime knowledge is limited to “Blue moon at night, sailors take flight.”
I shook my head.“I don’t think even that is right.”
Oliver shrugged.“See, I know nothing.”
I didn’t either, which seemed like bad etiquette for living in a coastal town.“Let’s go down the steps to see.My light isn’t powerful enough to tell from here.”
He gaped at me.“Why would we do that?”
“To see if we can walk along the shoreline.There could be evidence down there.”
“Have you seen those steps?They’re uneven and slippery.”
“There’s a handrail, isn’t there?”
