Mysteries | CW Hawes

The Game’s the Thing

The Wordle craze has highlighted the fact that we all love games. Be they word games, boardgames, or computer games — we love a good challenge.

From Scrabble, Clue, and Monopoly to Bananagrams, Hang Man, Battleship, and Catan to Warhammer 40,000 and Dungeons and Dragons to Minecraft, Super Mario, and Civilization — the game’s the thing.

If this is the case, and it is, then why isn’t the classic murder mystery more popular?

If genres such as LitRPG and Gamebooks have strong niche followings, what happened to the original literary puzzle game — the murder mystery?

It’s clear that the murder mystery’s star began to wane in the 1950s, being supplanted by the thriller. The question I ask is, why? We love games. And the murder mystery is at heart a game.

The murder mystery is a contest between the writer and the reader. The writer lays down the challenge: whodunit? Who killed Mr. Body? The reader must then find the clues and solve the murder before the detective’s big reveal at the end.

In addition, though, to being a puzzle, the best murder mysteries are also stupendously good stories. And who doesn’t like a good story? Where would campfires or the office party be without them?

Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe novels are challenging mysteries, but even more they are entertaining reads. It’s like getting 2 of the price of 1!

Or take Caleb Pirtle’s Boom Town Saga. The books are magnificently crafted historical novels with atmosphere you can feel and characters you can touch. When you close the book, there’s a sadness within you that you’re leaving Eudora’s and Doc’s world. They are also doggone challenging murder mysteries. In other words, a good game.

Or what about Richard Schwindt’s Death in Sioux Lookout trilogy? Superbly introspective tales with a magnificent sense of place. And a doggone good puzzle to solve in each book.

Joe Congel, with the Razzman, gives you a good detective yarn filled with characters you can touch and feel. A satisfyingly entertaining story and a brain-challenging puzzle. In one enjoyable package. What’s not to like?

Yet the mystery story gets passed over. For some reason, readers prefer violence to order, chaos to reason. They’d rather run virtual races to escape death, then try to restore order to a world violated and torn apart by murder.

When I was a working stiff, my job was stressful enough as it was. I certainly didn’t want my reading to be stressful as well. Perhaps that’s why I liked the closed world of the murder mystery and the chance to restore order to chaos and to quash those feelings of fear, instead of promoting them.

If you like games, and who doesn’t, then give the classic murder mystery a try. It’s the original literary game. If you like Wordle, you’ll love a good mystery.

The classic murder mystery: a game disguised as a book.

You can try my own brain teasers, the Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries and Death Wears a Crimson Hat, because the game is afoot!

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright, award-winning poet, and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles – Part 2

Had a wonderful time Wednesday, April 6 with my fellow Underground Authors, Caleb Pirtle III and Cindy Davis, and hosts Rob and Joan Carter on the Meet the Authors podcast.

If you missed the live show, watch the replay:

Carters’s website at: https://indiebooksource.com/podcast/ . This is the best place to go, because you can see all the links for the show.

Video: https://youtu.be/pZ8SW7lRKc4

Audio: https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/49347972/download.mp3

Now, on to the books!

April – Death Wears A Crimson Hat

April 21st is the official launch day of Book 1 in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles by The Underground Authors. And that book is my Death Wears A Crimson Hat.

It’s an honor for me to launch what is going to be a fabulous series.

So what’s the book about? It’s about Harry Thurgood and the Rev. Ember Cole. And murder, of course.

Harry and Ember have known each other for about 3 years when the story begins. Three years ago being when they arrived in Magnolia Bluff. Harry to get away from, well, we don’t really know, and Ember to take charge of the flock at St Luke’s Methodist Church. As the story opens, Harry’s come to the realization that he’s in love with Ember.

However, both have a secret past. Things get further complicated when one of Ember’s parishioners decides she wants Ember gone.

And if that isn’t enough to scuttle a relationship, murder splashes right down in the middle of the puddle — with Ember as the chief suspect.

Does Harry ever have his work cut out for him. But will he get Ember off the hook, and put a ring on her finger? Will he be able to find out whodunit? You’ll find out on April 21st.

Death Wears A Crimson Hat is a classic whodunit (with a heartwarming splash of romance) that will have you scratching your head trying to figure out, well, whodunit!

May – Eulogy in Black and White

Eulogy in Black and White is about murder and revenge. It’s also about life and death. It’s about what the dead know, that we, the living, don’t: how precious life is. It’s also about what’s just and unjust.

Graham Huston should have died in Afghanistan. He didn’t. His friend, Harley, did. Harley was from Magnolia Bluff, the town where someone dies every May 23rd.

And Huston, as if by Fate, has the chance to unravel the mystery of the murders plaguing Magnolia Bluff. His chance to earn redemption for the bullet that killed Harley instead of himself.

Caleb Pirtle knows how to write a powerful novel, and this is one heck of a powerful novel. It’s one heck of a whodunit, with things twisting and turning right up to the end.

The Traditional Mystery

Riddles have been with us throughout our recorded history, and probably into our pre-history.

There’s something about the challenge of riddles and puzzles that draws us. Perhaps it’s like any other game: we want to be a winner.

In the world of literature, the traditional mystery, the mystery that began with Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin, became popular with Sherlock Holmes, and entered its Golden Age in the 1930s, is at base a riddle — a puzzle that demands to be solved.

Some of the finest examples are those penned by Agatha Christie. But other excellent mystery writers were Patricia Wentworth, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Rex Stout, S.S. Van Dine, Jacques Futrelle, Edmund Crispin, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Ellery Queen.

The traditional mystery is a game, as it were, between the author and his/her readers. The author must play fair by giving all of the clues to the reader so that he or she has the chance to figure out whodunit before the detective makes the great reveal at the end of the book.

This game aspect of the classic mystery story pushes it into the realm of fantasy. The classic mystery is, in fact, guilty of Raymond Chandler’s accusation that it isn’t real, or true to life. I’d argue that it was never intended to be true to life.

The traditional detective story is a literary game. It is not meant to be a slice of life. Its purpose is not to expose us to the mean streets and the sordid folk who populate them. The classic mystery is not about the people who really commit murder.

The classic detective novel is a game of Clue in book form. Nothing more, and nothing less. It’s a game, pure and simple. And as such, it is great fun.

Sad to say, the traditional mystery has been on the decline since the 1940s, when, first, the hardboiled novel and then the thriller pushed the classic detective story into the backwater of crime fiction.

And while the number of mystery aficionados continues to dwindle, I have to say that the older I get the more I prefer the mystery to any other genre.

There is something about its simplicity, its gentler pacing, its eccentric characters, and the formulaic settings that I like. After all, the world is too often mean, nasty, and brutish — why do I want my entertainment to also be that way? Isn’t the nightly news enough?

And isn’t life hectic enough? Why do I want my fiction to also proceed at a breakneck pace? Well, I don’t. Which is why I prefer the gentler and more natural pacing of the classic mystery novel.

For me, fiction is a ticket to another world. A world where I can vicariously experience triumph and victory through the exploits of the main character. I read to be entertained. I don’t want a rehash of the nightly news. I read to escape my world. I don’t want my books to put me back into what I’m trying to leave.

Fiction is for fun. And perhaps that is why I so very much enjoy the classic detective mystery: it is first and foremost entertainment. No different than a game of Scrabble, or Clue, or a crossword puzzle, or a riddle. It is a fantasy dressed up in a pseudo-reality. A world that we perhaps wish were our own.

The classic detective mystery is not meant to mimic real life. It’s meant to be a challengingly fun bit of diverting entertainment. And the best mysteries most assuredly are.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

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A Nest of Spies

The sale is now over — hope you got your copy!

Murder and mayhem. Plus Tina’s being framed for murder!

A Nest of Spies is the 5th book in the Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries series.

Starting 5 am PDT on Wednesday, August 18th, the book will be on a 137 hour sale. For only 99¢! That’s a 76% deep discount.

Get A Nest of Spies on Amazon!

Joe Congel, author of the wonderful Tony Razzolito mysteries, had this to say about A Nest of Spies:

If you’re not reading this wonderful Private Investigator Mystery series, you should be.

CW Hawes has created a cast of characters that I believe stand tall next to any traditional detective, whodunnit mystery you want to put them up against. In this, the 5th installment of the series, the reader gets a peek into private eye, Justinia Wright’s secretive government past. A past that she never talks about, not even with her brother, Harry.

But when government (the U.S as well as other countries) spies and contract killers start appearing on her doorstep, it becomes obvious to Harry that his baby sister may still have at least one toe dipped in a pool filled with espionage and treason.

When a former agency partner tries to unsuccessfully hire Tina to help secure a flash drive with plans for a top-secret weapon by posing as the buyer, it is just the beginning of a fun, interesting mystery filled with lots of twists and turns.

As more and more people from Tina’s past show up wanting to talk with and hire the great detective’s services, the lies… and the body count begin to grow. And when Tina is accused of murder, she and her team of sleuths devise a scheme to recover the missing flash drive, catch a murderer, clear their names, and in the process make a little profit for their troubles.

With all that is going on in this story, you would think that the Wrights would have time for nothing else. And as interesting as the main plot of this novel is, the subplot that fleshes out the on again, off again relationship saga between Tina and police Lieutenant Cal Swenson, all the fabulous meals cooked up by Harry and his wife Bea, and the side characters like Tina’s tenant, the quirky artist wannabe, Solstice, is perhaps what really makes this series special.

Hawes has developed characters that you can’t help but care about. It’s what makes me continue to buy and read every book in this series. I really want to know what’s going on in Tina and Harry’s personal life as well as how they will solve the mystery at hand.

I highly recommend A Nest of Spies. It is my favorite Justinia Wright Mystery so far, and I can’t wait to dive into the next one to see where the mystery and mayhem takes this talented brother and sister detective duo.

KD McNiven, author of the very fine Detective Brock Scanlin mystery series, had this to say:

…I have read several of CW Hawes’s books and have thoroughly enjoyed each one. I especially like his Justina Wright books because they are the traditional whodunit mysteries that keep you flipping the pages. And CW just writes darned outstanding books. Justinia (Tina) is a colorful six-foot-tall redhead character who is a private investigator, a connoisseur of painting, and an accomplished pianist. Her brother Harry works alongside her, and they make a great team.

There are plenty of twists and turns in A Nest of Spies to keep you reading through the night. You can’t help but join in on the fun and mayhem. I highly recommend A Nest of Spies! A fantastic mystery series.

High praise, which I feel very honored to receive as it comes from such fine writers.

Below is a snippet, from Chapters 7 and 8, for your reading pleasure.

All was quiet for a few moments and then Cal spoke. “Gaddison was shot with a thirty-two. There aren’t many of those around. Mind if I take a look at yours, Tina?”

The look on Tina’s face would’ve iced over the Amazon.

“Yes, I mind. I didn’t shoot Gaddison, Swenson. And if I had, all I needed to do was make one phone call and the crime scene would have been cleaned to the point where even God would’ve thought He’d just made the place.”

“Look, Wright, I’m just doing my job. Don’t make this any tougher for me than it already is.”

She paused long enough for the temperature in her demeanor to thaw out and actually exude some warmth.

“Okay, Swenson, I’ll humor you. Harry, get my revolvers.”

We keep most of our guns locked up, although we each have one or two in a drawer in our respective desks and I know I have one in my room upstairs. I unlocked the safe and got out her two revolvers. A nod of her head in Cal’s direction indicated I should take them to him. He looked them over, smelled them, popped out the cylinders, put them back, and handed the guns back to me.

“Satisfied?” Tina asked.

“On the revolvers? Yes, they don’t appear to have been fired recently.”

“They haven’t, Swenson.”

“Still might want to run a ballistics check on them. What ammo do you use?”

“Federal eighty-five grain jacketed hollow points.”

“Do you own a thirty-two caliber semi-auto?”

“What the hell, Swenson? No, I don’t.”

“You mind telling me what you did last night?”

“Am I a suspect?”

“Well, we found what we think is the murder weapon. A little Yugoslav CZ Model 70 in thirty-two.”

“I don’t own one and, as I already told you, I don’t own any semi-autos in thirty-two.”

“Care to tell me why your fingerprints are on the gun?”

I know Tina pretty well. She’s as cool as that proverbial cucumber under pressure. But when Cal asked her that question, I could swear she blanched.

“I have no idea, Swenson.”

“I had them hold off doing a ballistics test until I talked to you. So you don’t own any thirty-two caliber semi-autos. Just the two revolvers.”

“Correct.”

“I won’t get any surprises doing a registration check.”

“No.”

“So where were you last night?”

Tina took in a deep breath and exhaled. “I went out with a friend. We had supper and took in a movie. Then I went to his place for a bit, we got into an argument, and I left. I was pissed and drove around for awhile before coming home.”

“When did you leave his place?”

“Around eleven.”

“When did you get home?”

“About one.”

“You were out driving around for two hours?”

“Yes, Swenson. I was driving around by myself for two hours and therefore no one can corroborate where I was. Hell, I’m not sure I know where I went. I was pissed and just drove around. When was Gaddison shot?”

“Around midnight. Give or take a half-hour. Which means you don’t have an alibi.”

“My prints just on the gun or are they on the ammo too?”

“As far as I know, just the gun.”

“Cal, I didn’t shoot him. I would have loved to have been the one to pull the trigger, but I didn’t. As for my prints, I have no explanation.”

“We’ll run a ballistics test. If it is the murder weapon… Well, you know what that means. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.”

“Thanks, Cal.”

“Any idea who might want to frame you?”

“No one in Minneapolis.”

He nodded and stood. “That should do it for now.”

Cal left and Bea followed him out, returning in a couple of minutes. She sat on the chesterfield and asked, “Is this spy stuff, Tina?”

“Don’t know for sure. Probably.”

“What I want to know,” I began, “is how did your prints get on a gun you don’t even own?”

Tina shook her head. “I have no idea.” She turned to Bea. “What did the guy look like who delivered the special delivery letter?”

“It wasn’t a guy. It was a woman. Kind of masculine looking, but she looked like a woman to me.”

Tina shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“If this is spy stuff, governments sure do a lot of bad things, don’t they.”

Tina had a far away look on her face. “Yes, they do, Bea. Yes, they do.”

I hope you enjoyed that little morsel.

Get A Nest of Spies for only 99¢ starting tomorrow, August 18th. Sale ends 10 pm PDT on August 23rd. So don’t wait!

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The Hardboiled Detective

I just finished reading Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely. I’ve previously read his The Big Sleep, and several of his novelettes.

Way in the past, I read Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and a few of his Continental Op stories.

My opinion of hardboiled fiction is that I like it and want to read more. In fact, I like it so much I may decide to write some of my own.

There’s a lot of confusion between hardboiled and noir. Some people think the two are the same thing, but they are not. I actually see them as being something of opposites.

Noir is about victims and everyone loses in the end. It’s pretty nihilistic.

Hardboiled is about the detective hero, and in the end he wins. The victory may be small, but he still wins.

In a sense, Noir and Hardboiled are the two sides of existentialist philosophy. The one which says life has no meaning, no purpose, and it’s probably best if we just die. And the other, which says life is meaningless in and of itself, and we have to give it meaning. In other words, we find our own meaning and value in life and that’s what makes it meaningful to us.

Let’s look a little deeper at the characteristics of the hardboiled detective.

The hardboiled detective sub-genre was created by Carrol John Daly in the 1920s, and was refined by Dashiell Hammett. It was raised to the level of fine literature by Raymond Chandler, and given an unparalleled psychological depth by Ross Macdonald.

In the hardboiled world

- - the private investigator is the hero
  - he acts tough, talks tough, and often is tough
  - the PI is a loner
  - he has a code of honor and justice that is moral, if not strictly legal
  - no matter what, the PI won’t give up the case, or betray a client
  - individuals battle a corrupt political organization, or a criminal one — it’s the one agains the many
  - the PI prevails because he’s true to himself and his code
  - he’s a smart-aleck, and talks that way
  - he’s cynical about the world at large
  - even though the PI solved the case, the solution does little to alter the larger picture of political, societal, and human corruption
  - the PI wins a small victory, and that’s all he can hope for, but he was true to himself

I think the hardboiled worldview is very apropos for today. There is so much crap going on in the world that one can easily despair, or become insanely angry.

What the hardboiled detective teaches us is that the world ain’t gonna change — but we can rise a little bit above the dirt, the corruption, the wickedness by being true to ourselves, and by sticking to a standard of right and wrong no matter what.

The personal integrity of the individual honoring his word and sticking to his moral principles — no matter what’s going on around him — is, for me, a source of inspiration. Because, it means, no matter how hopeless things are or seem to be, in a small way I can make a difference.

What I do may not change the world, but it may help someone, it may bring peace of mind, or a bit of fairness to someone else’s life. And, realistically speaking, that is probably all we can ever hope for.

The hardboiled world is dark and grim, and slightly dystopian. It’s a world where the big forces crush the little people. And it’s a world where the PI keeps the hope of fairness, equity, and justice alive.

Every day we read of political corruption, corporate corruption, of society’s indifference, of people making money from destroying the environment, and from using other people.

The hardboiled PI shows us that we, as individuals, can keep the goodness that is in humanity alive.

And I like that.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

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To Right A Wrong

The newest Justinia Wright mystery, To Right A Wrong, number 8 in the series, is formatted and waiting on Amazon’s approval, and, barring any problems, will be available to the public on Cyber Monday.

This traditional whodunit murder mystery sees Tina (Justinia) and Harry trying to gather the necessary evidence to overturn a wrongful conviction, and put the right person behind bars.

To Right A Wrong is about justice. About justice having been sacrificed to get a conviction, and about justice restored so that crime does not pay.

Tina’s lawyer, Harold Feingold, wants to reopen a case even though the evidence is very slim that indicates there was a miscarriage of justice. He comes to Tina seeking her help, and Tina accepts the challenge.

A murdered uncle. Four nephews vying for the inheritance. One fingered by the others for the murder. But what about the servants? Could it be that, in this case, the butler really did do it?

This is a murder mystery that will have you scratching your head with Harry, or arranging puzzle pieces with Tina.

Along the way, there is wise-cracking humor, sibling rivalry, good food and wine, enough action to keep things interesting, and plenty of exercise for those little gray cells.

Stay tuned, so you can experience a little goodwill towards people this holiday season.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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The Nine Deadly Dolls is live!

The Nine Deadly Dolls
A Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mystery

About the Book

Nine little dolls. Voodoo dolls. A suicide. Or was it?

When Bobby Joseph Frieden visits Justinia Wright with a mysterious demand letter and the belief his uncle was murdered, Tina takes his case.

But how are the dolls connected to Frieden’s uncle’s death? And what is with the mysterious box that is the subject of the demand letter?

What begins as a cozy little mystery, turns ugly real fast, and Tina has to work quickly to stop the killers.

The Nine Deadly Dolls is live today! Pick up a copy at Amazon!

About the Series

Set in Minneapolis, home of Minnesota Nice, the sister and brother detective team of Tina and Harry Wright catch the bad guys and make sure Minnesota stays Nice.

This series has thrills and spills aplenty — along with good food, wine, and wisecracking humor — it’s as if Nero Wolfe moved to Minnesota.

What Readers are Saying About the Series

“Some fictional universes are just places you want to be…”

“CW Hawes has created a cast of characters that stand tall next to any traditional detective, whodunit mystery you want to put them up against. … Hawes has developed characters that you can’t help but care about.”

“The story line is wonderful, creative, and kept me expectant throughout. Hawes is wonderfully descriptive, drawing the reader in and holding them until the final page.”

Pick up a copy of The Nine Deadly Dolls at Amazon. The game is afoot!

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The Nine Deadly Dolls

Next week a new Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mystery will hit the ebookstores: The Nine Deadly Dolls.

The novelette is a whodunit involving a Voodoo cult, terrorism, and, of course, murder. We even see Tina leave the comforts of home to get her hands dirty — not that she’ll admit to anything.

If you enjoy the classic whodunit, then The Nine Deadly Dolls should be right up your alley.

And if you’d like advance news of upcoming new releases, free stories, and other assorted goodies, then please sign up for my monthly email.

It’s no secret that of all my fictional children, Tina and Harry are my favorites. They’ve been with me the longest, springing from my forehead in the early 1980s. I’m glad I’ve lived long enough to enable them to come alive.

And I hope you enjoy their escapades and banter as much as I do.

Stay tuned!

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Peer Reviewed

Every professional desires recognition by his peers. Especially those peers who have the greatest recognition by the public and critics, and who are considered the best in the field.

Unfortunately for me, Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Earl Stanley Gardner have passed on to the great writing desk in the sky.

However, in my little pond, I am very honored that I’ve been able to garner recognition from and support of writers who I very much respect. Writers such as Crispian Thurlborn, Richard Schwindt, Joe Congel, and Caleb Pirtle III.

And that means a lot to me. There’s a reason why scientists submit their papers to peer-reviewed journals.

Now there is a danger in peer review. The old, entrenched establishment can use peer pressure to squash new ideas, enforce political correctness, and derail change. We also see the same when the old guard is kicked out and a new group takes over.

This is what has happened in the writing world. For the most part, writing organizations have been taken over by radical elements that are enforcing extreme political correctness on what may be published. And have been extending that censorship to works of the past. Book burning has given way to book suppression and shaming.

Consequently, I find it very refreshing that there is no censoriousness amongst the writers in my corner of the world.

The other day, Joe Congel posted a fabulous review of my book, A Nest of Spies. He is the author of the Tony Razzolito, P.I. mysteries. And he is a doggone good writer.

In Tony Razzolito, Congel has given us a contemporary P.I. who is in the tradition of the hardboiled greats. Reading the Tony Razzolito mysteries reminds me of Hammett and Chandler. There’s none of the frenzied thriller in Congel’s books. Sure there’s action and excitement, but done in the classic whodunit tradition. And done quite well. Quite well, indeed.

You can find the Tony Razzolito mysteries on Amazon.

So when a mystery writer I admire takes a liking to my mystery series, it’s an honor I cherish.

Here’s Joe Congel’s review of A Nest of Spies.

Hawes has hit his stride. A worthy addition to this already fabulous series!

If you’re not reading this wonderful Private Investigator Mystery series, you should be. CW Hawes has created a cast of characters that I believe stand tall next to any traditional detective, whodunit mystery you want to put them up against.

In this, the 5th installment of the series, the reader gets a peek into private eye, Justinia Wright’s secret government past. A past that she never talks about, not even with her brother, Harry. But when government (the U.S as well as other countries) spies and contract killers start appearing on her doorstep, it becomes obvious to Harry that his baby sister may still have at least one toe dipped in a pool filled with espionage and treason.

Spies can be a funny bunch; they will put their mutual trust in one another when it’s beneficial to them, but will not hesitate to pull the trigger to save themselves. And all the while, you cannot believe a word any of them say. When a former agency partner tries to unsuccessfully hire Tina to help secure a flash drive with plans for a top-secret weapon by posing as the buyer, it is just the beginning of a fun, interesting mystery filled with lots of twists and turns.

That is high praise. Reviews such as that one get me through the occasional dark day.

If you haven’t read A Nest of Spies, you can find the book on Amazon, along with the entire Justinia Wright series.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Snippet Time

It’s been a while since I’ve offered a snippet of one of my works in progress.

At present, I’m writing two Justinia Wright mysteries, and editing a third.

Today’s snippet is from the Justinia Wright novella I’m working on. (Please note: this is the initial draft prior to any editing.) Enjoy!

***

We were in the office digesting our lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, and cream of kale and butternut squash soup, when the doorbell rang.

On the doorstep, was a tall, heavy-set fellow. He wore a dark brown suit. His shirt was white, and his tie was intricately patterned with irregularly shaped orange-red dots.

I opened the door and asked what he wanted.

“I’d like to see Justinia Wright. My name is Helmar Johanson. I’m on the orchestra’s board of directors, and I understand Ms Wright is investigating the death of Juliette Boudreau.”

“Wait right there. I’ll see if Miss Wright is available.”

Back to the office. I poked my head inside the doorway. “Helmar Johanson from the orchestra’s board is here to see you. Shall I let him in?”

Tina looked at her cigar, turned her gaze in my direction, and with a frown on her face, said, “Yes.”

Back out to the front door. I let in our guest, took a look at the curb, and had to pick my jaw up off the floor. At the curb was a white sports car.

As I took Johanson’s jacket, I asked as calmly as I could, “Is that car out front, yours?”

“The Porsche?”

I nodded, and hung his jacket on a peg.

“Yes, it’s mine. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. Do you like it? Does it handle well?”

“Of course. It’s a Porsche.”

I nodded, led him into the office, made introductions, and indicated he should sit in the oversized oxblood wingback. The chair was certainly not oversized for him.

“What may I do for you, Mr Johanson?” Tina asked.

“I’m on the chamber orchestra board, and I contribute significantly towards the operating expenses.”

Tina shrugged. “Okay, I’m impressed.”

A look of surprise swept across his face and disappeared. “I want to know what you are doing to find Miss Boudreau’s killer. Are you, in fact, doing anything?”

“Is there a reason I should tell you?”

This time incredulity swept across his face, lingering a moment before disappearing. Apparently, Mr Johanson wasn’t used to people talking to him that way.

“I just told you I’m on the board. I have a right to know.”

“Is this right written down somewhere?”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s not written down.”

“Then what makes you think you have the right to know?”

“What? Of course I do.”

“Of course you don’t. We have no contractual obligation to each other. Therefore, you have no right to demand anything of me. Natural rights do not infringe on another person’s freedom. In other words, they are not coercive. Free speech takes nothing away from anyone. It is not coercive.”

“What the hell are you going on about?”

“Just this, Mr Johanson: you have no right to demand that I give you information about my client and his case. In other words, you have no right to know anything. You may earn the privilege of my willingness to share. Or you may simply ask me to share. But you have no right to know anything about my investigation.”

“I help fund the orchestra. I’m on the board.”

“So?”

“I’m entitled to know what’s going on.”

“Who says so? I don’t. You have no right, legal or moral, to the information that I have about my client. I may choose to share it with you. And for me to consider doing so, you must ask. Demanding will get you nowhere. However, you must realize that I have a duty to protect my client’s interests — and that may mean I tell you nothing.”

Now, my sister has resorted to a lot of tricks to get people to leave her office, but when she opened the humidor and took out a cigar that was a first.

“Are you going to smoke that thing?”

“That is what one generally does with a cigar. Personally, I don’t like chewing on them.”

“I have a lung condition.”

“No one is forcing you to stay.”

“Well, I’ll be…” He looked at me, I suppose expecting I come to his aid, both of us being men and all. I just shrugged.

He stood, opened his mouth, no words came out, so we closed it. He turned around and left. I followed to make sure he didn’t forget his jacket and that the door got closed, which it did after I watched his white sports car drive off.

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