Read Sweets Forgotten (Samantha Sweet Mysteries Book 10) for Free Online

be here. Do you know
where I can find her?”
    Chandler shook his head. “She
comes once or twice a week. She coordinates ad campaigns and double-checks the
bookkeeper on tax matters. Zack and me, we’re into the gaming kid’s mind, know
how to come up with action and ideas they love. Not so good with money. Jo
coordinates all that other stuff.”
    “I should probably be the one to
notify her about Zack,” Beau said, placing one of his business cards on the
desk. “If you hear from her can you find out where she is and give me a call?
Until then, I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention this to anyone else. It
would be devastating to a widow to find out from someone on the street if the
word gets out.”
    “Agreed. Totally.” Chandler made
a zipping motion across his lips.
    “Do you still plan to attend the
trade show?”
    Chandler stared at his clasped
hands. “I suppose I’d better. We sent out all these advance press releases about
our new product. The sales team is going along to write up orders, but if no
one’s there to introduce it and do the demos, we’ve invested about a million
dollars in development that we’ll have a hard time getting back.”
    Beau stepped toward the door. “I’m
sorry I brought sad news.”
    Chandler Lane merely stared at
the floor and shook his head slowly.
    Down in the parking lot, Beau got
into his department SUV and had barely reached to stick the key in the ignition
when his cell phone rang.
    “Sheriff? It’s Kent Taylor here
in Albuquerque.”
    “Yes, Detective Taylor. I was
about to call you. I’ve located and notified the parents and the business
partner of your victim, but haven’t found the wife yet.”
    “Okay. I mean, let me know when
you do. Meanwhile, I’ve rushed the OMI on this and have some startling results
on the autopsy. Robinet didn’t die from asphyxiation, as we first thought.
Looks like a drug overdose. Heroin.”
    “Whoa. But the marks on his
neck?”
    “Yeah, he’s got those all right,
but that wasn’t the COD.”
    “Meaning—sex and drugs at the little party?”
    “The Medical Investigator
questions whether the victim injected the heroin himself. He definitely wasn’t
a habitual user. He’s thinks Robinet could have been unconscious at the time
the drug entered his system.”
    Beau thought of the clean-cut
appearance of Zack Robinet from his ID photo. Apparently there was a lot more
to this situation.
    “We’re looking for the woman who
was in the room with him, but there were a lot of prints. Unfortunately, hotel
maids don’t exactly wipe down every surface when they clean so we can’t be sure
when the various prints were left. The desk clerk remembers Robinet heading
upstairs with a glamorous woman, so we’re running all the prints. Too bad it
doesn’t go as quickly in real life as on TV.”
    “So this investigation is going
to focus both in Albuquerque and in Taos.”
    “You got it.” A tired sigh came
over the line.
    “I’ll get whatever I can in
background on the victim,” Beau said, telling Taylor the little he knew after
talking with Chandler Lane. “These guys have made a lot of money. That’s always
good as a motive. The partners were headed to a trade show in Vegas to
introduce another hot product so maybe a competitor is somehow involved. I
think I’ll warn Lane to be careful.”
    “Let’s check in frequently,”
Taylor suggested. “I have a feeling developments will come from both of our
jurisdictions.”
    Beau took a deep breath after
disconnecting from the call. A complicated murder case was the last thing he
needed with half his department sick. The phone rang again. Sam. He’d forgotten
all about the missing persons reports he was supposed to be checking for her.

 
 
    Chapter
5

 
    Sam slid an anxious glance toward
the clock above the stove, wondering what was going on with Beau’s inquiries
about the identity of her mysterious visitor. Four o’clock. It wasn’t as if
Jane Doe was causing