Milo Everhart isn’t ready for love. Nor is she ready to find a dead body
in the tower of the Torpedo Factory Art Center that snowy December night. She
doesn’t have time for the handsome lawyer who wants to destroy the Art Center.
Nor does she have time to worry about who has murdered whom and why. She has
needlepoint to do.
The
Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, is a hulking
former munitions factory right on the waterfront. Since the 1970s it has been
host to art studios, a museum, and an art school. It’s never been renovated and
is still a vast open central space surrounded by meandering corridors and rooms
tucked away here and there. It is topped by a tower reached by hidden stairs.
So you can imagine how our heroine, Milo Everhart, felt when she found herself
alone in a dark, empty building. Alone, except for the murderer, that is.
“Hello! Hello? 911?”
“Please
state the nature of your emergency.”
“A
body. There’s a b…b…body.” The word came out as a gurgle.
“Yes,
ma’am. Now tell me where you are.”
Milo
looked wildly around the darkened corridor. “Second floor. No lights.”
“Ma’am?
Second floor of what?”
“Oh,
er, the Torpedo Factory. I ran downstairs. I…”
“The
Torpedo Factory? You mean the building at 105 North Union Street?”
Milo
almost snapped, “How many torpedo factories do you know?” but thought better of
it. “Yes.”
“All
right, ma’am. Now, you say you’ve found a body? Is it dead?”
“Don’t
be ridiculous. Of course it’s dead. Dead. A dead body. In the office.”
“The
office?”
“The
tower. Look, can you send the police? I’m all alone in the building. Except for
the body, of course. I mean, it’s pitch black in here. Please?” She knew she
sounded less than rational, but weren’t 911 operators trained to weed out the
gibberish and cut to the chase?
“I’ve
already sent out a call. The police should be arriving any minute. Now, will
they be able to enter the building?”
“Oh!
Er. I don’t know. Archie’s already locked up.”
“Archie?”
“The
super. He’s long gone, though.”
“Can
you get to a door to let them in?”
Milo’s shoes must have found bubble gum on the floor all by themselves, since they appeared to be stuck. “I…uh…I can’t get to the doors.” Nothing but silence on the other end. She must think I’m lazy. Or a coward. I’ll bet she knows how to wait people out, to force them to do her bidding. “I’m not lazy, miss. I’m just…I’m wondering. What if the murderer is hiding somewhere, still in the building?”
“Murderer? You think the victim was murdered?”
The Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria
You can find Artful Dodging here:
Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory
Murders
Wild Rose Press, 7/20/2016;
Imprint Crimson Rose
Theme(s): Mystery/Cozy
Mystery
Contemporary romantic Suspense, M/F, 2 flames
Ebook, 66,830 words; Print 268
p
Rating: Hot (R)
