Case of the One-Eyed Tiger Read online

  Case of the

  One-Eyed Tiger

  By

  J.M. Poole

  www.AuthorJMPoole.com

  Smashwords Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters and locations appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or real locations, is purely coincidental.

  Published in the United States of America

  TRUE HAPPINESS IS BEING OWNED BY A CORGI!

  For a complete list of titles available by Jeffrey M. Poole, including the best-selling fantasy series Bakkian Chronicles and Tales of Lentari, and the cozy mystery series Corgi Case Files, please click here!

  Case of the

  One-Eyed Tiger

  By

  J.M. Poole

  Acknowledgments

  This book would not be here without the help of a number of people. First and foremost, my wife, Giliane. I never would have imagined what was necessary when you’re building your own fictional town. We spent many late night sessions dreaming up what a town needs, where it should be found on a map, who runs it, and so on. You have my eternal love, babe!

  I must also thank my beta readers. Diane, Deb, Jason, Barb, Caroline, Sorcha, Laura, and Michelle – thank you for volunteering your time. Your amazing abilities in locating typos, grammatical errors, plot holes, and so on provide a valuable resource I plan on continuing to use just as much as I can. :)

  The cover illustration and typography was done by a gifted artist I found on DeviantArt, where she’s known as Marikobard. She’s done some fine work and was incredibly patient with me as we worked to get everything the way I felt it should be. In case you missed it that was code for I was a pain in the ass. Krystyna, thanks again!

  And I must acknowledge you, the reader. Thank you for giving my first foray into the mystery genre a try. I hope you like it!

  J.

  Table of Contents

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  For my father, Jim…

  Life has recently thrown you some curve balls. While not pleasant, and I certainly wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, I do believe it has been for the best. I hope certain parts of this book will make you smile. Trust me, you’ll know what I mean when you get there. :)

  ONE

  This had to be a record.

  What the hell happened? How did I end up in this mess? For crying out loud, I just moved here. Tell you what, let’s do a recap, shall we? In less than 24 hours I had managed to piss off family members I never knew I had, run afoul of the local cops, AND land my sorry ass in jail accused of – you’ll love this – theft and murder. Oh, I mustn’t forget that my name is now on a set of adoption papers making me the legal guardian and owner of…

  You know what? I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

  My name is Zachary Anderson. Zack to my friends. I’m 43, six feet tall, have brown hair (with more gray than I care to admit), blue eyes, and am reasonably built (especially for someone my age). How? I have a date with my elliptical five nights a week that I have learned I really shouldn’t miss.

  Why would you care about how I look? The short answer is, you don’t. So why bother telling you? Because it’s my story and it helps set the scene. I could go into details but you really don’t care to hear about that. Besides, I have a nasty habit of veering off topic. I’ll try to keep it under control.

  As I was saying, I try to keep myself in good shape. Not only for myself but for Samantha as well. At least, I used to.

  My darling Samantha. We had been childhood sweethearts. We married right out of high school, much to our family’s chagrin. My own mother decided the marriage would never last, seeing how both Samantha and I were incredibly strong willed. Over twenty years later our marriage was still going strong. We lasted well past our family's expectations and then some. Nobody gave us a chance but we made it. Siblings, friends, even my own parent’s marriages crumbled in front of our eyes. Not us. Our love for each other was special. Unique. Everyone saw it. Everyone said as much.

  Six months ago, in less time than it takes to say ‘I told you so’, Samantha’s SUV unexpectedly swerved into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a semi, effectively ending the utopia we had created together. The stink of it was no one could find a reason why. Had Samantha lost control of her car? Had she suffered some type of medical trauma? A seizure, maybe? The investigators were beside themselves trying to figure out what had happened. It was the only logical explanation, they said. The problem with that line of thinking was Samantha had been in perfect health.

  Before you suggest mechanical problems, I know it wasn’t her SUV. I had just bought her that car two months prior to the accident. It had been running perfectly. Had the detectives been able to examine it they would have backed me up on that. However, there hadn’t been anything recognizable left after the collision.

  Yes, the wreck was that bad. Thankfully I was told Samantha had been killed instantly. More than likely she never knew what had hit her.

  With a heavy heart I packed up our house and sold it, along with 95% of the contents, just as soon as I was able to function again. I had to get out of the house. Everything reminded me of Samantha, and the last thing I wanted to do was fall back into a funk. I needed a change of scenery. I had planned on finding a quiet corner of the desert to bury myself in my work when…

  Oh. I should mention what I do. I’m a self-employed writer. A storyteller. Before I tell you what kind, however, I should warn you that you’ll probably be surprised. Really. When I tell you, don’t laugh, and don’t judge me.

  I’m a romance writer. I, uh, discovered I have a knack for writing romance novels. The real steamy kind. Before you jump to any conclusions, I'm not the typical back room writer of dirty romance novels. I am a legitimate author just trying to make a living, so get your mind out of the gutter. These are genuine, R-rated stories that appeal to men just as much as they appeal to women. I know. Much to my dismay I’ve had just as many male fans write to me as I’ve had female fans.

  I learned that romance readers were voracious and snapped up anything that had an attractive, scantily clad couple on the cover. They’d preorder the next book in the series before even finishing the one they were presently reading. That was the type of market I wanted as my readers.

  It’s not something I’m proud of, but the pay is good. So good that it enables me to stay self-employed and set my own hours. I just don’t volunteer any specifics about my profession. The last thing I want to admit is that behind a computer, I’m known as Chastity Wadsworth.

  I can’t have it known that a guy, and a boring, normal guy such as myself, was the person behind that outlandish pseudonym. So that’s why I chose an exotic nomme de plume to pen all my romance novels. The steamier the overall image, the more sales they tend to make.

  I said no laughing.

  Ah. I can just hear you now. You’re wondering what Samantha thought of this unusual profession. Would you be surprised to learn she thought it was hysterical? She encouraged me to make the books just as steamy as it could be without pushing them into mainstream erotica.

  Trust me, guys, when you’re an author, and your wife suggests making your novels as sensual as they could be, it can only be a good thing. Our lives were perfect. Until that damn day when…

  Sorry. See what I did there? I saw the tangent coming and veered back on track. You’re welcome.

  Back to the story. I was feeling depressed. I lacked motivation. Inspiration. My novels reflected that. As a result, for the first time ever, my sales began to drop. After a few months I had become desperate to reverse the worrying trend. The problem was, I knew what it was that was dragging me down. Samantha’s death. However, that wasn’t something that I could quickly bounce back from. I challenge you to lose a spouse and see how great you feel about it.

  Thankfully, that’s when news came that would forever change my life. Whether or not it’s for best has yet to be determined.

  I received a letter from some attorney I didn’t know, living in a city I’ve never heard of, telling me that due to Samantha’s death, I had become the sole beneficiary of a large estate that included a private winery in southwestern Oregon. I had to ask the attorney if he had the right guy. As far as I was aware, neither Samantha nor I had any ties to the Pacific Northwest.

  As it turns out, I was wrong. You’ll soon see that I’m wrong quite often. Anyway, my wife had a great aunt living up there, and as fortune would have it, the old lady had passed away. Great Aunt Bonnie had left her estate not to her kids, which is what I would have thought she would have done, but to us. Specifically, the two of us. I had thought the request was odd, but the attorney assured me he had his facts straight. Apparently Aunt Bonnie had been adamant. Samantha and I
were specifically named as the only two she wanted to leave her estate to. Why? I don’t know. I suppose I’ll never know. Unfortunately, thanks to Samantha’s accident, I was it.

  So I had a choice to make. After months of sluggish book sales, with numerous reviewers telling me I had lost my ‘unique edge’, I could either try to reinvent myself in the deserts of Phoenix or I could pull up stakes and move north for a complete change of scenery. With no ties left in Arizona, and no desire to be constantly reminded of my wife’s tragic demise, the decision was an easy one. I moved.

  If I had known then what I know now, I would have reconsidered my decision to move to the Pacific Northwest.

  My first day as an Oregonian started as you would have expected it to. It was raining. It was raining when I crossed into Oregon and it has been pretty much raining ever since with only brief patches of sunshine. Grumbling, I checked the forecast. Guess what? There was a 100% chance it was going to rain tonight, tomorrow, and for the next ten days. Guess I should’ve checked the Weather Channel to see what I was getting myself into. Apparently there’s a reason why the Pacific Northwest stays so green. The amount of rainfall Oregon receives is in no way exaggerated.

  Thankfully I didn’t have to lift a finger to move my stuff. Not only did I not bring much with me – the attorney had indicated that the house I had inherited was fully furnished – but I had also hired movers. I had a great time sitting on my ass playing traffic cop for a bunch of guys that were bigger than me.

  Oh, yeah. I guess I should have mentioned this, as if you couldn’t figure it out based on my chosen profession. I’m a lazy shit. I could afford the movers, so why not have someone else do all the work? I’ll bet the movers never had to haul such a small load across that many states before.

  I’m paying your bill, monkey-boy. You may put that box over there, please.

  I hadn’t even had a chance to go through the sprawling house yet, let alone unpack the small stack of boxes the movers had deposited in one of the bedrooms, when my day started to turn for the worst. Everything happened so fast. The attorney had met me at the house the same time the movers had arrived. He had me sign a stack of paperwork and then dropped a ring of keys into my hand. Thirty minutes later I was telling the movers where to put all my crap.

  I had just watched the movers drive away when the phone rang. Answering it gave me a welcoming surprise. It was the last voice I had ever expected to hear in Pomme Valley, Oregon.

  “Zack! What’s up, bro? Is it really you? Did you really move to Pomme Valley?”

  “Who is this?”

  “It’s Harry!”

  “Harry? Harry Watts? I’ll be damned. You’re kidding! You’re in Pomme Valley, too? What are the odds the two of us would end up in the same dinky town?”

  Harrison Watts had been a classmate of mine during my second set of high school years. I guess I should explain. No, I didn’t flunk out and repeat any years. I had attended school in the same school district from 2nd grade all the way through the 10th. However, as luck would have it, I had been forced to move away and therefore attend a new high school for my junior and senior years. Harry had been one of the group of friends I had hung out with after the move. What the hell he was doing all the way over here, in the same Podunk little town that I had moved to, was beyond me. As long as I have him on the phone I guess I should ask a few questions, huh?

  “How long have you been living out here, Harry?”

  “Five years now. I love it out here.”

  “How did you even know I was here? I literally just watched the movers drive their truck away. I haven’t unpacked or anything. How’d you get my number?”

  “First rule of living in a small town. Get used to the fact that everyone knows everything about you.”

  “Well, that’s… unsettling. What in the world possessed you to move out here, Harry?”

  “I might ask you the same question, pal. As for me, I’m a respectable part of the community now. Can you believe it?”

  Absolutely not. Harry was the biggest troublemaker I had ever met. Stolen street signs, borrowing cars without permission, petty theft, you name it, he did it. In fact, now that I think about it, not once did I ever hear about him landing in jail or even getting questioned by the police. I had always assumed he had some sort of inside connection at the police department. Turns out I was right. You’ll find out how in just a little bit.

  “Not in a million years, pal.”

  “You ought to stop by so we can catch up. We can grab a bite to eat. Whaddya say?”

  “Sure. Just remember I’m new to town and haven’t a clue where everything is yet. Where would you like to meet?”

  “Why don’t you stop by my office?”

  “You say that as though I know where you are.”

  “I’m on the corner of Main and 5th.”

  “How about some directions?”

  “Get with the times! Don’t you have a smartphone? Tell it to give you directions.”

  I had a smartphone, only it was smarter than I was. I missed my old flip phone.

  “No problem. I’ll find you. I want to check the town out anyway.”

  “You weren’t kidding, were you? Is this your first day here? You’re going to love this town. See you in, what, an hour?”

  My sense of direction was terrible. I needed some time to check the area out.

  “Why don’t we make it noon? I’ve got to open an account at the bank, set up the utilities, pray that this town has a faster internet connection than dial-up, and run a few other errands. It’ll give me some time to check the place out.”

  “Sounds great, pal. I’ll have Julie meet us there. She has her lunch hour at noon.”

  “Julie?”

  “Yeah, my wife. Didn’t I tell you I was married?”

  “You? You’re kidding! I seem to recall you swearing off relationships after Tami Bowen dumped you.”

  “Ah. Tami. I had forgotten about her. Just do me a favor. When you meet Julie? Try not to bring anything up that might make me look bad. My wife hasn’t even touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my youth.”

  Lunch was starting to look up.

  “Sure thing.” I crossed my fingers. Harry had embarrassed me on more than one occasion. I smelled payback. “Whatever you say.”

  While I’m hopelessly navigating through this quaint little town looking for City Hall, a grocery store, a pizza joint, and several other businesses that were on my ‘Must Find’ list, I should tell you what the internet taught me about Pomme Valley. Or PV, as the locals call it.

  Less than 3,000 people call PV home. I have to admit that when I saw those numbers after I Googled the city, I almost spewed my drink all over my laptop. It’s a small city. A very small city. I’ll even go so far as to say that it’s a really freakin’ small town. There were only two traffic lights in the entire town. I know. I counted ‘em. Hell, there were more than twice that number of lights just getting from my old house to the gas station back in Phoenix.

  Main Street consisted of a neat row of shops on either side of the street. Cute, artsy fartsy shops were offering any number of bizarre trinkets, woven rugs and blankets, and strange sculptures being passed off as art. In fact, as I drove by the small shop with the bright purple door, I swore I could see crime scene tape forming an ‘X’ over the door. I chalked it up to some artist wanting to express themselves. Hippies, all of ‘em.

  I parked my Jeep in a parking lot off of Oregon Street and stepped out into the fresh cool air. The street name had me turning back to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Oregon Street? Really? Yep. I had read that right. Not very original, guys.