by Nora Kane
Margot Harris Mystery Series Box Set Two by Nora Kane Copyright © 2021 by Nora Kane.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to real people or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors imagination and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Books by Nora Kane
1. Secrets of Woodcrest Manor
2. Wolverine Harbor Novellas Series
Book 1 - The Veil of Deceit
Book 2 - The Veil of Envy
Book 3 - The Veil of Vengeance
3. Emmy Grimm Series
Book 1 - Lured
Book 2 - Chased
Book 3 - Blindsided
4. Margot Harris Series
Book 1 - Shadow of Greed
Book 2 - Shadow of Pretense
Book 3 - Shadow of Suspicion
Book 4 - Shadow of Betrayal
Book 5 - Shadow of Misgivings
Book 6 - Twisted Game
Book 7 - Twisted Interest
Book 8 - Twisted Hopes
Book 9 - Twisted Judgment
Book 10 - Twisted Redemption
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When the Patriarch of the Woodcrest Family was found dead in the flowerbed under his bedroom window, the local police department called it suicide. His son hired Private detective Emmy wanting to uncover the real truth behind his father's death. Surrounded by so many individuals who could benefit from his death, now the responsibility is on Emmy to figure out who was responsible. When Emmy starts to talk to the heirs the Woodcrest family's secrets begin to emerge.
Table of Content
Twisted Game
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Twisted Interest
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Twisted Hopes
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Twisted Judgment
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Twisted Redemption
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
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Twisted Game
Margot Harris Book 6
Nora Kane
Prologue
“What do you think that sissy is doing right now?”
“You shouldn’t call him that. You used to be friends,” Rita said as she slipped out of her clothes and stepped into Tim’s hot tub.
“We were partners. It’s not the same thing,” Tim told her as he watched her lower her naked body into the water.
“Well, I could ask you where your wife is.”
“She won’t be my wife for long, but I’m guessing she’s doing something similar to what you're doing,” Tim said as Rita straddled his naked body.
“Good for her then,” Rita replied as she leaned in and kissed him.
After she pulled back, Tim said, “I’m glad you're not mad at me anymore.”
“I can’t stay mad at you,” she whispered as they kissed again.
They both moved apart as they heard the back door shut.
Tim looked over and saw the silhouette move toward his backyard hot tub.
“Who’s there?” he called.
The figure stepped into the light.
“What are you doing here?” Tim asked, and then he saw the knife.
He tried to climb out of the tub, but the blade was jabbing into his neck and shoulders before he could get close.
Rita screamed as he stumbled back, trying to stop the bleeding with his hands, and slipped so he fell under the water. He didn’t come back up.
Rita tried to climb out, but like Tim, a series of stab wounds had her sliding back into the hot water.
Chapter 1
“Hey Phoebe, this is Margot.”
“Huh, I was expecting an upgrade.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Margot replied as she sat down across from Phoebe at the table the county saw fit to weld to the floor.
Phoebe Masterson ignored her and looked at Detective Rick Radcliff. “So, I see you’ve been slumming since I left. I’m disappointed.”
“Be nice. She’s here to help.”
“I figured you’d like them with a little more meat on their bones,” Phoebe said, adding, “I’m not sure that pant suit is showing off your best attributes, honey.”
“The name’s Margot and I don’t know if the person wearing the orange jumpsuit should be lecturing me about fashion.”
“Only one of us picked our outfit this morning,” Phoebe said with a smile.
It was a good smile. Margot could see why Radcliff would find her attractive. Even in jailhouse clothes, she was a nice-looking woman. Margot had no reason to be jealous; Detective Radcliff made no secret about how much he liked her. The woman sitting at the other end of the table had moved on, finding a new husband who made more in a month than Radcliff would in a year. At least until someone killed him. The main suspect was the pretty brunette in jailhouse orange.
Radcliff believed her cries of innocence, or at least he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. The most damning evidence was a dress Phoebe owned that was covered in the victim's blood and had been hastily stuffed in their trash can. There was also the matter of the
missing butcher’s knife, which the maid swore was there when she cleaned the kitchen earlier in the day. It was all very circumstantial, but since Tim Masterson had died in the nude with an equally nude woman who was not Phoebe, they had motive as well.
She’d get a bail hearing on Monday, but that meant she was stuck in jail at least two more days. Despite all this, Margot couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy for the woman whose job description could be summed up nicely as ‘trophy wife.’
Before Phoebe could say anything more, Radcliff said, “What part of ‘She’s here to help,’ did you miss?”
“I thought you were helping me.”
Radcliff sighed, “This is me helping.”
“By passing me off to your little girlfriend?”
“I’m a homicide detective; I play for the other team on this one.”
“What does that even mean? Isn’t it your job to find the truth? In this case, the truth being I had nothing to do with that horror show that took place in my backyard.”
“If it was my case then it would be my job. Since it’s not, then my job requires I stay out of the way.”
“Even when you had a relationship…”
‘Especially when I had a relationship with the suspect.”
“I’m not under any requirements,” Margot told her.
“But you’re not a cop.”
“I used to be though. I know the job, but if you don’t want to hire me, that’s your business.”
“Hire you? I thought maybe you’d do this as a favor to Rick, who was doing this as a favor to me.”
“You want a favor? This is a favor,” Radcliff said to her. “I talked to your lawyer, he’s thinking about making a plea agreement, but I twisted his arm into hiring Margot. If you’re telling the truth, she’s your best chance.”
“You know my lawyer will just pass the expense on to me.”
Radcliff shrugged. “I can’t ask her to put in the kind of time this requires for nothing.”
Phoebe looked at Margot, “Are you worth it?”
“She is…”
“I was asking her.”
“Yeah, I’m worth it.”
“Do you believe I didn’t kill my husband?”
“I haven’t done enough work to draw a conclusion. So, I don’t believe you did either.”
“You have an open mind?”
“It’s the best way to get to the truth. So, yeah.”
Phoebe seemed to like that.
“Tell me your side of the story,” Margot said as she took the digital recorder out of her purse and set it down in front of Phoebe.
“I don’t really like to be recorded.”
Margot shrugged and waited. She wasn’t all that concerned about what Phoebe liked or didn’t like.
“Where should I start?”
“Wherever you want.”
“Can’t you talk to the lawyers? I already gave them the whole sad story.”
“I’d prefer to hear it from you.”
“Why?”
“It’s your story, not theirs.”
When Phoebe stayed silent, Margot added, “You have an appointment or something?”
Phoebe smiled again as she took a cigarette out of the pack in front of her. She lit it up with a disposable lighter and blew a smoke ring before she said, “I came home, changed clothes, and noticed the hot tub was running. I went out and found Tim and Rita floating in hot red water. I screamed for a while and then called the police. There’s not much more to tell.”
“There’s always more to tell.”
After a long pause Phoebe asked Margot, “Did Rick tell you I left him for Tim?”
“Until today I never knew you existed.”
“You thought you were the first?”
“No, I just didn’t care.”
“It wasn’t Rick’s fault that Tim drove a Ferrari. Though it was his fault he chose a profession that ensured he never would.”
“It’s not always about money.”
“No, but most of the time it is. I bet you’d be leaving poor Rick behind if the guy driving the Ferrari was looking your way.”
Margot didn’t reply to that. Instead, she asked, “How’d Tim make his money?”
“Wholesale imports, mostly garments, was his job, but he really made his money the old-fashioned way. He inherited it from his dad who did the same from his dad. That’s not to say he didn’t do all right, but Rick does alright solving crimes and no one would ever mistake him for rich.”
Margot didn’t reply to that either. Instead, she waited patiently for Phoebe to tell her more.
“Our marriage wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad. Even when it was bad, it was never that bad. I had no reason to kill him.”
“He was having an affair.”
“He had more than one. So did I. Neither of us liked the other one stepping out, but we were adults about it. We never left each other.”
“It’s usually only one who does the leaving.”
“Are you buying that whole ‘he was going to leave me, so I killed him’ nonsense?”
“I haven’t bought anything yet.”
“You know I’d get half if he divorced me. I could do fine with that. I’ve got expensive tastes, but I’m not greedy. Plus, I’m still more or less in my prime. He’s not the only man out there who has a few bucks in his pocket.”
“Did you know Rita Helms was one of his affairs?”
Phoebe blew out some more smoke before she said, “I wouldn’t kill her. I liked her.”
“You knew her?”
“Of course, her husband and Tim are business partners—or they were.”
“The way you say that makes it sounds like the partnership didn’t end well.”
“That depends on who you ask. We did fine, but from what I understand Derek was disappointed in the way things worked out.”
“What happened?”
“You’d have to ask Derek. I tried to stay out of my husband's business as much as possible. I just know he was unhappy.”
“Tim seeing his wife probably didn’t help.”
“As far as I know, Derek didn’t discover his wife was stepping out on him until they found her body floating in my hot tub.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“No, but I don’t see Derek doing anything like that. He’s not the type.”
“Anyone else unhappy with your husband?”
Phoebe shrugged. “As I said, I tried to stay out of his business as much as possible. I’m sure he had a few; Tim liked to throw his weight around.”
Again the room became silent as Margot waited for Phoebe to expand on what she said. When she didn’t, Margot asked, “What else can you tell me about what happened the night of the murder?”.
“I don’t know what else I can tell you. I wasn’t there,” Phoebe replied.
“Where were you?”
“I was out.”
“Alone?”
“With someone who would prefer to be discreet.”
‘Even if his discretion sends you to prison?”
“It seems that way. He must know. It was all over the news.”
“You can tell me. I work for your lawyer. It’s confidential.”