The police stated that he died of an overdose of heroin, read the next line. So, Ricky’s cause of death was the same as John’s. I'm more confused than ever.

I placed the newspaper on the counter near the register. The first customer who came in was Walter. He picked up the paper after a cheerful greeting to me and sat at one of the smaller tables for two. Other customers followed him in soon after. It wasn’t long before I heard snippets of conversations about the death of Ricky Thomas.

"It’s too bad how some people end up like that," said a lady sipping a cappuccino. The man who sat across from her nodded his head in agreement.

The bell on the door jangled again, and I looked up to see Ronald Larch come in. He was alone. I watched as he glanced at the newspaper Walter had.

"Do you want the paper?" he asked. "I’m finished with it." Larch took the paper, thanked him, and sat down in his usual spot near the window.

Lily took Larch's order and handed it to me. I waited with my eyes on him before I turned to the espresso machine, but he only stared at the newspaper and read the article with great interest.

I knew I was overly distracted when Lily had to nudge me. "Two more orders for your, Laila," she said. Her eyes twinkled with teasing when I apologized and then got busy.

The door opened again and Councilman Carpenter walked in. He caught my eye and waved. I smiled back in greeting. Before he joined his campaign manager, Ronald Larch, Carpenter greeted several customers by name and entered into short conversations with them.

When he finally got to Larch's table, Lily was there to take his order. I saw Larch push the newspaper across to Carpenter and point to the article, but I couldn't hear them over the buzz of other conversations in the coffee house.

Carpenter shook his head. I wondered what he was thinking. I couldn’t tell if he looked disgusted or compassionate. It appeared Larch was doing most of the talking.

# # #

When I left work around two o'clock, I went back down to the precinct house hoping to find the Chief. I was in luck – he was in and invited me right into his office.

"Remember when I asked you about Ricky Thomas?" I said. Donald nodded. "He wasn’t arrested at all. He's dead."

"Yes. I know. We were notified last night that he was found dead," said the Chief. "Unfortunately, that answers your question as to where he was."

I thought for a minute. "Then why would that man on the street tell me he'd been arrested?" I said. "Do you think maybe he was arrested, but then let out again?"

"Well, it depends on what he was arrested for, or if there was anyone willing and able to bail him out. But again, Laila, there's no record that he was ever arrested to begin with."

He leaned back in his chair. "The man you talked to probably just assumed that Ricky had been arrested. But two of my officers were down there last night patrolling the area. They were called to break up a fight near the grocery store, and that's when they found Ricky Thomas’ body."

"How did he die?"

The chief shrugged. "As far as we can tell, he overdosed. Of course, there are no autopsy or toxicology results yet. Why do you ask?"

"Oh – I’m just wondering if the fight had anything to do with his death. I mean – was he part of the fight?"

"From the initial reports, he didn’t appear to have been in a fight of any kind. The ruckus was in front of the store. The officers took that report and then checked the alley to make sure nobody was hiding out back there. That’s when they found Thomas's body."

# # #

When I left Chief Hayes's office, all I could think about was finding out what Daniel could do for me when it came to getting hold of Ricky Thomas’s autopsy report.

Though for once, I did hesitate about asking for it. That would mean telling Daniel more about my connection with Ricky than I was ready to let on about. Daniel and I were back on a good track together right now, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that again.

And it had been a while since I'd seen Licorice Billy. It was obvious from my earlier observations that Billy and Ricky were friends. I wondered how much he knew about Ricky’s death.

I thought about the DEA man I'd seen twice down on Skid Row. The DEA and the Chief of Police were working together on cleaning up West River's homeless and drug problems in the old downtown area. Maybe part of their plan included the visible presence of an agent down on Skid Row.

When I got into my car, I noticed the same DEA man pull up and park in a reserved spot outside the precinct house. Our eyes met as he got out of the car and started towards the door. We didn’t acknowledge one another. I wanted to ask him what he knew about the death of a dealer named Ricky Thomas, but I wasn't sure what I would say.

I shook my head and decided to let it go. I didn't want to get mixed up in another death – a death that could very well be murder. Ricky Thomas had been a drug dealer, after all, and it shouldn’t surprise me if he'd overdosed – or been taken out by a rival or even a dissatisfied customer.

Besides, I still had to figure out what had really happened to Homeless John. That alone gave me plenty to think about.

# # #

Tags: Cam Larson Roasted Love Cozy Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net