HER LAST
Mystery, 6,200 words
$2.50 US
.pdf
Her Last by Valerie J. Patterson
Summary
When the body of a beloved schoolteacher is found in a local park, is it a random homicide—or the work of a serial killer thought to be behind bars?
Carla Jamison was enjoying a warm summer day at the park near her suburban home—a habit of hers many people knew about—when she took her last breath.
Olivia Corfont, forensics expert and coroner, now has a tough case on her autopsy table. Very little evidence and too many questions provide her with a conundrum that leads her straight to Inspector Chet Gavin, who relies heavily on Olivia's powers of observation to notice things he might miss.
Chasing down dead-end leads leaves the pair questioning whether the homicide of this popular schoolteacher is the work of a serial killer they thought was behind bars. Or is the murderer someone else so precise he or she leaves behind no forensic evidence?
Will the killer strike again? Can Olivia and Inspector Gavin solve the case before there's another victim? Follow the trail and see if you can solve the case.
“Carla Jamison. Thirty-five. Schoolteacher. Married. Husband’s out of town.”
Inspector Chet Gavin looked up from the female body slumped over the picnic table. His eyes met those of Detective Peter Jannings. “Has he been notified?”
“We’re working on it.”
“Who found her?”
“Ten-year-old boy. He was meeting some friends here at the park when he thought she looked funny. He says he tried to wake her. That’s when he realized she was dead.”
“Tough thing for a kid.”
“She was his teacher.”
“Any reason to suspect he had anything to do with her death?”
Jannings shook his head. “The kid’s not doing too well. We separated him and his two buddies. Questioned them and though their answers match, there’re enough differences to know they weren’t rehearsing a story to give the cops. I think he just had the unfortunate luck to come upon her after she died.”
Gavin shook his head, then turned and studied the child where he sat talking with a female officer. “Someone needs to get his parents down here.”
“Already on that. They’re on their way.”
“What else have you got?”
Jannings shrugged, then flipped through his notepad. “Not much, Inspector. This time of day, the park’s pretty deserted. Most people are at the county fair this week.”
“No witnesses?”
“No. A man walking his dog said he was here at roughly eleven o’clock. She was sitting here eating a sandwich.”
“Her last.”
Credits
Her Last © 2009 by Valerie J. Patterson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic of mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
An Eternal Press Production
Eternal Press
206 - 6059 Pandora St.
Burnaby, British Columbia,
Canada,
V5B 1M4
To order additional copies of this book, contact: www.eternalpress.ca
Cover Art © 2009 by Amanda Kelsey
Edited by Stephanie Parent
Copyedited by Betty Ann Harris
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
ebook: 978-1-926704-16-6
print: 978-1-926704-25-8
First Editions * July 2009
Production by Eternal Press