In the quaint town of Eagle Lake, nestled sixty miles southwest of the sprawling chaos of Houston, a tale unfolded on a Wednesday morning that seemed plucked from the annals of the surreal. It was a murder that would challenge the very boundaries of reality, a macabre puzzle veiled in mystery, as if scripted by a novelist with a penchant for the inexplicable.
The stage was a Checker Cab, where an unsuspecting passenger found not refuge, but a sinister end in the backseat. What sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community was the accusation that befell one of its pillars, a leading citizen whose very presence exuded respectability. Yet, as the ominous cloud of suspicion descended upon him, he clung to a steadfast proclamation of innocence. An alibi lay hidden within the labyrinth of his secrets, one he dared not unveil, for it held the power to devastate the heart of the woman he loved, the enigmatic Patti Merritt.
Into this web of intrigue stepped two figures, determined to pry open the lid on this Pandora's box of enigma. Daniel McCormick, a lawyer hailing from the neighboring Wharton, Texas, brought with him a resolute pursuit of justice. Beside him stood Vincent Gideon, a detective with a reputation that whispered in hushed tones across the county. Their quest was not merely to uncover the truth but to unearth the long-protected skeletons that lurked in the shadowy corners of the town's history.
In the heart of this intricate puzzle, Vincent Gideon played a role that could only be compared to the greatest detectives of literary lore. With a mind as sharp as a honed blade and an eye trained to discern the minutest of clues, he possessed an uncanny ability to solve the unexplainable. He could deduce why an escalator handrail lagged behind its mechanical companion or illuminate the mysteries of vanishing socks. Yet, the most compelling enigma he faced was the identity of the killer lurking in the shadows of the Checker Cab's backseat. Gideon tantalized the reader with breadcrumbs of revelation, but the ultimate answer, the identity of the assassin, remained veiled in obscurity until the very last page.
A week before the grisly murder, the killer had sat in the flickering darkness of the Rice Theater, downtown, watching a horror movie that stirred the darkest corners of his mind. With each chilling scene, he concocted elaborate schemes of how to commit the perfect murder. He meticulously crafted a sinister menu of methods: the precipitous plunge off a cliff, a lethal concoction of poison, or the insidious sabotage of brake pads. His mind raced, contemplating where to hide the lifeless body, and in a chilling epiphany, he settled upon the backseat of a taxi cab. There, the unsuspecting driver would unwittingly become a harbinger of doom.
But even as he reveled in the macabre tapestry he wove within his thoughts, he was haunted by the specter of damning evidence. The fingerprints, like ghostly imprints of guilt, the possibility of a single incriminating footprint, or the chilling prospect of an unexpected witness?all were demons that danced upon the precipice of his malevolent plan. For over a week, he kept the storm of his murderous intent locked inside the recesses of his mind, until an inscrutable trigger would finally send him hurtling into the abyss of action.
Autorentext
Sidney St. James is a Texas native and outdoor enthusiast living in Georgetown, Texas near Sun City. James, a lifelong storyteller, specializes in crafting thrilling adventures and suspense with heaping doses of romance and mystery. When he's not writing, Sidney enjoys hunting and fishing in Alaska, Montana, Colorado, and Texas. He enjoys the old country music dance halls around central Texas, complete with Gentleman Jack and laughing until his face hurts with his wonderful wife of many years!
Three to four days a week, when not writing, you can find him on the Pickleball court at the Rec Center in Georgetown and twice a month at the Rec Center in Burnet, Texas smacking the ball around with his baby brother!
Klappentext
The Checker Cab Murder Mystery
Featuring Gwendoline LaRue
with Vincent James Gideon
Book 6 in the Whodunnit Series
Sometimes the truth is said to be stranger than fiction, and indeed, the bizarre murder that took place in Eagle Lake, Texas Wednesday morning, goes a long way toward verifying that saying.
A man is found dead in the backseat of a Checker Cab in a small city sixty miles southwest of Houston. One of the community's leading citizens is accused of the murder. He pleads his innocence yet refuses to give an alibi as it would have devastating repercussions for the woman he loves, Patti Merritt. The case falls into the hands of a determined lawyer, Daniel McCormick from Wharton, Texas, and an intrepid detective, Vincent Gideon, to find the truth, revealing long-kept secrets along the way.
Oh, to have the skills of the great detectives. To have the mind and eye for clues equal to those of the famed detective, Vincent Gideon. Ask this detective why the escalator handrail moves slower than the escalator, and he will give you an answer. Ask him what happens to all one's missing socks. Or, ask him who killed the victim in the backseat of the Checker Cab. He will give the reader answers throughout the book but won't answer who the assassin is until the very end.
A week before the murder, our killer watched the latest horror movie at Rice Theater, downtown. He thought over and over how he would commit the murder. He drew up a long list of ideas… throw the body over a cliff, poison, or degrade the man's brake pads. He also thought about where he was going to hide the body. That's when he decided to kill his victim in the backseat of a taxi cab and let the cab driver discover the body later, after he had made his escape. Yet, he thought about the evidence he would leave behind… fingerprints, a footprint, or maybe even a witness. For over a week, he kept the murder inside of his own head until something made him snap!