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    The Last Crooked Paths
    The Last Crooked Paths
    The Last Crooked Paths
    Ebook59 pages47 minutes

    The Last Crooked Paths

    By Dale T. Phillips

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    About this ebook

    Here are five more tales of crime and mystery, telling of those who walk crooked paths and pay the price for it. Here are crooks and cops, killers and victims, and those who walk the line between good and evil. Take a few short trips down the darker side of life, where crime can be a casual or planned event. This set of stories shows people on the run, and police and ordinary citizens solving crimes. Sometimes the perpetrator gets away, but so often people pay for their deeds.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDale T. Phillips
    Release dateNov 5, 2017
    ISBN9781370173846
    The Last Crooked Paths
    Author

    Dale T. Phillips

    A lifelong student of mysteries, Maine, and the martial arts, Dale T. Phillips has combined all of these into the Zack Taylor series. His travels and background allow him to paint a compelling picture of a man with a mission, but one at odds with himself and his new environment. A longtime follower of mystery fiction, the author has crafted a hero in the mold of Travis McGee, Doc Ford, and John Cain, a moral man at heart who finds himself faced with difficult choices in a dangerous world. But Maine is different from the mean, big-city streets of New York, Boston, or L.A., and Zack must learn quickly if he is to survive. Dale studied writing with Stephen King, and has published over 70 short stories, non-fiction, and more. He has appeared on stage, television (including Jeopardy), and in an independent feature film. He co-wrote and acted in a short political satire film. He has traveled to all 50 states, Mexico, Canada, and through Europe. He can be found at www.daletphillips.com

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      Book preview

      The Last Crooked Paths - Dale T. Phillips

      The Last Crooked Paths

      Dale T. Phillips

      ***

      The Last Crooked Paths

      Copyright 2017 Dale T. Phillips

      Cover Design copyright 2017 Melinda Phillips

      Automat was originally published in Level Best Books’ Best New England Crime Stories 2015: Rogue Wave, Nov. 2014

      ---

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, no portion of these stories may be reproduced without written permission from the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It 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. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author and thank you for purchasing this short story.

      ---

      Other works by Dale T. Phillips

      Shadow of the Wendigo (Horror Thriller)

      The Zack Taylor Mystery Series

      A Memory of Grief

      A Fall From Grace

      A Shadow on the Wall

      A Certain Slant of Light

      A Sharp Medicine

      Story Collections

      The Big Book of Genre Stories (Different Genres)

      Apocalypse Tango (Sci-fi, End-of-world)

      Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)

      More Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)

      Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)

      More Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)

      Strange Tales (Magic Realism, Paranormal)

      Halls of Horror (Horror)

      Jumble Sale (Different Genres)

      With Other Authors

      Rogue Wave: Best New England Crime Stories 2015 (Crime/Mystery)

      Red Dawn: Best New England Crime Stories 2016 (Crime/Mystery)

      Windward: Best New England Crime Stories 2017 (Crime/Mystery)

      Insanity Tales (Horror)

      Insanity Tales Two (Horror)

      Non-fiction Career Help

      How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills

      For more information about the author and his works, go to: http://www.daletphillips.com

      ***

      Table of Contents

      No Sign of Forcible Entry

      Landscape, With Gun

      Snowplow

      All Your Eggs

      Automat

      About the Author

      ***

      No Sign of Forcible Entry

      No sign of forcible entry, said the uniformed officer, looking at the intact doorjamb once more.

      Detective Sergeant Dan Caldwell nodded, and glanced back at the living room, where the murdered man lay sprawled in a fan of blood. The Crime Scene people were bustling about, measuring, dusting, photographing.

      Caldwell’s partner, Kowalski, came back out from the bedroom, ferociously chewing a wad of gum. Must have known the shooter, he said. Opened the door for him and let him inside.

      So why does it look like a sloppy robbery attempt? Caldwell rubbed his finger under his nose. And where’s the wife?

      Ten minutes later, they got the answer to that one when the uniform brought a woman to the door. She says she’s Mrs. Harrington, and she lives here. Caldwell opened his mouth, but the uniform had worked with him before. I checked her ID. Caldwell nodded his approval.

      The woman looked at the two detectives. What happened? Where’s my husband?

      Caldwell put on his Notification Face as he moved to block her from entering. I’m afraid I have bad news, Mrs. Harrington. Your husband was shot. He’s dead.

      What? That’s impossible.

      It’s why we’re here.

      I want to see him, she moved to edge by, but Caldwell stopped her.

      No. We’ll have you identify him a bit later, but not here.

      The woman burst into tears, which seemed real, but Caldwell had been on the job for fifteen years, and his gut gave a little hitch. It was usually a good barometer when it told him something was off.

      Can you tell us where you were, Mrs. Harrington?

      She stopped the waterworks long enough to answer. Movies. I was at the movies. She frowned. Oh, God, if I hadn’t gone, I’d have been here, and maybe …

      Maybe you’d be dead, too, said Kowalski.

      He needs another refresher course in diplomacy, Caldwell thought.

      This is all too much, the woman said.

      "Which movie theater was

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