Prior chapters of the Murder Mystery can be found be clicking on the Murder Mystery category on the right. I checked my watch – it was 4 PM.  I would’ve loved to call it quits and settle in with Ralph and Fanny for a rehash of my day that started so long ago with Sam Todd. …

For prior chapters, click on the “Murder Mystery” category to the right. I got back into the car and headed north again.  I thought that it’d be helpful to find out a bit more about the Murphy finances.  Actually, if the truth be told I was mostly curious, perhaps a little morbidly so as an eye…

I pulled my car over and parked on the shoulder, took a deep breath, sighed, closed my eyes and rested my head on the steering wheel. I could generally divide cases into three categories, those where I was in control of all the information and had total leverage, those where I was in control of some…

Prior chapters of the murder mystery are filed in the “murder mystery”category in the menu on the right. We pulled into the expansive circular driveway in tandem. This time the driveway was vacant, and Sam had wisely decided to park the Cadillac Escalade elsewhere. I went over and gave Grimes our usual vertical handshake in…

Prior chapters can be found in the category “Murder Mystery.” Chapter 18 I started to make a pile of the green puzzle pieces that looked like the grass and trees, and I noticed that Goddard was doing the same with the sky and cloud pieces.  The puzzle was turning out to be a God send…

Prior chapters of the Clean Plate Club murder mystery can be found in the Murder Mystery category listed on the right. We walked into the café together with my shoulder propping Goddard up.  Fanny took one look at him and immediately started putting together another ice pack.  Goddard’s head wobbled as he looked up through…

Prior chapters of the Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery are filed in the murder mystery category.   I was startled to see that it was already 4:30 PM.  I would have to hustle back to Goddard’s studio to make sure that I had time to find a parking space before our 5 PM appointment.  I pulled…

Thursday, with nothing on my schedule for Friday.  First time in a long time that I wasn’t going to be working a weekend.  So I certainly didn’t want to take Penny’s case, but the referral was from Charles Grimes, my father’s old partner on the force.  “Hey Liza, I’ve got a case that I think…

I initially titled my little murder mystery “The Blue Hammer,” in homage to the Lew Archer detective series written by Ross MacDonald.   However, I will definitely need a title of my own if I continue this exercise. After reading a few more Lew Archer books, I realized that the title need only be tenuously related to…

Prior chapters of The Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery are filed in the “Murder Mystery” category.   Chapter 10 My next stop was the University where I thought that I would start with the fencing coach.  I knew that I couldn’t get any information from the administration – schools these days don’t even feel the need…