Ride of Your Life: The 20th Murray Barber P. I. Case

By Julie Burns-Sweeney

Murray Barber is a private investigator with a difference, he can hear dead people talk! Along with some 'late' friends he solves a variety of cases.
The fair is in town and someone is messing with the equipment. Murray's girlfriend Debbie is playing dangerous games with a Ouija board and a scorned woman at a stable yard leads Murray in search of the truth about an old fatality. Can Murray keep calm and find all the answers?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326310493

Book preview

Ride of Your Life: The 20th Murray Barber P. I. Case

RIDE OF YOUR LIFE:

THE 20TH

MURRAY BARBER P.I.

CASE

By Julie Burns Sweeney

Copyright: 2015

Published by: Lulu.com

ISBN: 978-326-31049-3

CHAPTER ONE

Someone is going to die if this doesn’t stop! Tony Crocker was sounding annoyed and Murray had to agree, this was pretty scary. Someone was loosening bolts on the rides at Crocker’s Fair. So far it had only been the smaller rides but they didn’t know how long it would be before the roller coaster was meddled with or even the Loopster which did a full 360 degree twist.

I think the first thing I should recommend is to put in some cctv on the more at risk rides. I take it the staff are already being as observant as possible? …. And I can patrol in the evenings as well. Do you think this is being done during the day before you open or later on when it gets busy? Murray asked.

It must be when we’re open as we have always had, and are even stricter about it now, a thorough check of all the equipment before we start up. Thing is once we’re open we can’t watch everyone and anyone can get near enough to meddle and they won’t necessarily be seen.

This made things much more difficult but he would just have to reflect that in his price. Along with the cctv he would use the help of Jake and Michelle whom he had left back at his flat having a full scale argument over who should stay and who should ‘move on’. The two ghosts that now filled his life just didn’t seem capable of getting along. It had been ok at first but Jake, having seen how fond of Murray Michelle was, had gone into full wind-up mode and this had caused non-stop friction which had escalated into the on-going arguments. His life was getting very complicated!

His thoughts on solving the case in hand were distracted by the sound of someone whistling. He glanced around expecting to see a member of the fair’s staff but he saw no-one, just the empty stalls and shut up rides. It was just after lunchtime on a warm and sunny Thursday with just the Bank Holiday weekend before the kids all went back to school for the start of the Autumn term. He turned back to Tony.

Right, if you’re happy I’ll get started straight away putting in some cameras. I’ll give you the recording equipment if you have an office or somewhere quiet to store it. Then I’ll be back tonight and hopefully everyone will stay safe.

That’s great. You can have free run of the place and the equipment can go in my van which only I have a key to. Just get someone to give me a shout when you’re ready. You’ll find Barry, Sam and Cooper around, they should have finished lunch by now, and young Jessie will be in the catering truck preparing for tonight. She might even make you a doughnut or two if you ask her nicely! Tony joked as he headed off towards one of the campervans. Murray looked around him again. He could hear what sounded like a youngster giggling.

Who is that? he asked quietly. There was a sudden gasp and then nothing. Whoever it was obviously shouldn’t have been there! Murray shook his head. It could just have been a kid messing about? He walked back to his car and started getting all his stuff together and got on with the task at hand.

He found that putting cameras on top of some of the various stands he could get good views of more than one ride on each camera. He was in the middle of aiming one lens at the Hearts and Diamonds spin ride when a voice from behind made him jump. He looked down behind the Hook a Duck stand which he was poised on top of using a tall step ladder and saw a young girl with a mug of coffee in her hand. She was tall and skinny and wore two tee shirts and a skinny pair of tatty jeans. Her hair was mousy in colour, long and curly.

Sorry. She apologised with a smile. I thought you might need a drink. I put sugar in, I hope that’s ok?

Ah, lovely! Murray climbed down and took the mug. Just the thing! he smiled back. You must be Jessie? he asked.

Yeah that’s me. This is bad isn’t it? She glanced around the fair ground.

It’s not good. Confirmed Murray sipping his coffee. What do you make of it?

I think it’s creepy. Who would want to hurt loads of people? I mean, why?

When did it start? Your boss reckons it was down in Truro.

Yeah… I think it was? She sounded uncertain.

There’s not many staff travelling with the group is there?

No. There’s only seven of us including Tony’s wife Mandy and Sam’s other half Donna. We’re a close bunch. The rest of the staff are locals usually who we pick up along the way.

You’re very young if you don’t mind me saying? You someone’s daughter?

No I’m not. … And I’m not that young. I’m twenty two. I’ve been with the fair since I was seventeen. It just suits me. Her answers were pretty abrupt so Murray didn’t try to pry any further.

Do you use the same locals? Do they travel with you at all? I’m just trying to work out if there are any likely suspects, just to make my job a bit easier.

Sometimes we do. You get to know who is reliable. But this time, here, we have all new ones so they weren’t with us in Truro, St Austell or Bodmin. Her tone was friendlier again.

Can you show me which one of the vans is Tony’s office? He said I could put the recording equipment in there?

Sure, follow me. She led him over to a small white campervan and rapped on the door. Tony, a grey-haired man in his late fifties who was getting a little on the heavy side, opened the door and ushered Murray in. Jessie went off back to what she had been doing. Inside the van Tony wasn’t alone, the man named Cooper was with him. He was tall with dark hair and a thick short beard. Having been introduced Murray got on with plugging the equipment in. While Murray checked the angles that he had set the cameras at the men chatted.

It’s like one problem after another with this place now. Cooper started. Those notes stop and now this starts.

What notes? Tony looked confused.

Those poems, you know? Every time we were here in town these notes would appear stuck up on the stalls. Cooper had turned towards Murray. This is the first time in years they ain’t been put up.

"Oh those! They weren’t up for years and