Murdered By The Mist (Derrick Mallow Mysteries Book 2)

Book summary

As summer blooms in Lake Tisdale, a dense mist shrouds the town, and two bodies are discovered. What seems like an accident becomes a murder investigation as detectives Derrick Mallow and Greta McCall suspect foul play. With a powerful figure obstructing their efforts, they race against time to uncover the truth.

Excerpt from Murdered By The Mist (Derrick Mallow Mysteries Book 2)

Summertime is here in Lake Tisdale. This is the peak tourist season in Jenkins County. All the hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast accommodations are at full capacity.

This is when the population of Lake Tisdale grows by thousands.

It is Friday morning, June 20, 2025, and the first day of summer. It began with a thick gray mist hovering over the lake, the town, and most of Jenkins County.

At Toby’s Bakery and Coffee Shop are the entire Lake Tisdale police force, including the new Homicide Investigations Department detectives led by Derrick Mallow.

The bakery and coffee shop are busy this morning, with the regular crowd and the vacationing tourists.

The law enforcement officers are sitting at their favorite table in the corner: Chief Adams and his wife Alice, Derrick Mallow and Greta McCall, Lucinda Brooks, Gail Stephens, Mason Briggs, Martin and Angela Taylor, and Franklin Stokes. They are having breakfast and morning conversation.

“I am glad we were all able to get together this morning. We can enjoy a great breakfast and talk about the first official day of the new Homicide Investigations Department, which begins Monday morning,” the chief said happily.

“And I am glad that Toby finally decided to serve grits, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and hash browns for breakfast. It’s a good change from doughnuts and pastries,” Franklin said, stuffing his face with bacon.

“Greta, you like the lake so far?” Lucinda asked curiously while buttering her toast.

“It’s a beautiful place. I am looking forward to working with all of you and living here for a long time,” Greta said sincerely.

“Chief, when do we get the other six police officers?” Assistant Chief Mason Briggs asked while pouring more coffee into his cup.

“The interviews are completed, and the mayor and I will have to decide on the six best applicants out of nearly a hundred.”

“DM, you eager to get started as the head of detectives next week?” Martin asked while watching the reaction of Mallow and the others.

“Martin, I am eager as I am going to get. I feel we will do a good job, and hopefully, keep our beautiful town, lake, and county safe,” Mallow said as he looked at Greta and smiled.

“I know we will finally be able to keep our town safe for the good people of Lake Tisdale,” the chief said, smiling and taking a swallow of coffee.

“Did y’all see how thick that mist was this morning? I could barely see the road,” Greta said.

“Yes, I noticed that too, Greta. I have never seen it that dense before,” Alice said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“Now that y’all mentioned it. It was denser than usual this time of year,” Lucinda said as she got up to pick out a couple of doughnuts from the ‘sweets counter.’

“So, it is not usually this dense in the mornings?” Greta asked curiously as she watched two sheriff deputy cruisers park in front of the bakery and coffee shop.

“Derrick, is that Jim Matthews in one of those cruisers?” Greta asked as she watched Deputy Matthews and two other deputies enter.

“I believe it is, Greta.”

Jim Matthews saw the chief, Mallow, and the others, then he quickly approached their table holding his gloves in his right hand.

“Good morning, chief, Derrick, Greta, Martin, Mason, Lucinda, Angela, Franklin, and Mrs. Adams, how are y’all doing?” Deputy Matthews said politely.

“I would like to introduce two new additions to the sheriff’s department. This is Deputy Susan Davis, and this tall gentleman is Deputy Mark Barefoot. They just started today and already have been busy as…hell,” Deputy Matthews said while pulling up a chair to the table and gesturing for the new deputies to do the same.

Susan Davis is in her forties, petite, with long brown hair, and green eyes.

Mark Barefoot is in his thirties, tall, with his head shaved smooth, with a mustache, and brown eyes.

“I hope y’all don’t mind us joining you.”

“Not at all, please have a seat,” Chief Adams said.

“We have had a busy day. There have been several wrecks this morning because of the dense mist we’re having this morning. We also got a call from the dock manager Paul Chambers. He reported a pontoon floating to shore near the docks. There were two people on board, a man and a woman, probably the man’s wife, we think. They had been fishing, and it looked like maybe they both had heart attacks and died at the same time. Which is a bit…unusual. The coroner is down at the docks now.”

“They haven’t been identified yet. It doesn’t look like ‘foul play’ at the moment, but the fact that they both had a heart attack at the same time is certainly suspicious. I called the sheriff and he said to let you know, chief. You might want to send Derrick and some of the detectives to investigate further. We will be going back there later ourselves,” Deputy Matthews said while he looked over the breakfast menu.

“We will send a team with Derrick as soon as they finish eating. Something seems to be not right about the couple dying of heart attacks at the same time. How old are they, do you think, Jim?” Chief Adams asked curiously.

“I would say they were both in their late fifties, chief. But I could be wrong.”

“Derrick, I want you, Greta, and Lucinda to go to the docks and see if you can find out anything about the couple: who they are, where they are from, and where were they staying. We will have to check for next of kin also.”

“Okay, chief, we will head there as soon as we leave here,” Mallow replied.

“I knew it was going to be an unusual day because Derrick’s bird, Speaks, talked this morning, and he said, Trouble! Trouble! Trouble!” Greta said as she took the last swallow of her coffee.

“Derrick, you named your bird, Speaks?” Deputy Matthews asked, amazed.

“Yes, I did. He only speaks when there’s something ominous going on, or if Greta’s coming in the apartment.”

“Well, so far this week, we have had plenty of…trouble,” Deputy Matthews said, smiling at the waitress who was bringing his breakfast.

“Susan and Mark, how do you like your first day so far?” Lucinda asked with a slight smile.

“We didn’t expect all this on the first day, but from what we heard about Lake Tisdale, the summer months can be a bit dreadful,” Deputy Davis said while she took a swallow of coffee the waitress had just poured her.

“All I can say is ‘welcome to Lake Tisdale’ y’all,” Lucinda said as she got up from the table and headed to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Derrick Mallow, Greta McCall, and Lucinda Brooks were on their way to the docks in Mallow’s SUV.

***

At the docks, it is chaos. People getting ready to go fishing and having to wait because the coroner, the sheriff, deputies, Natural Resources Department agents, and now Derrick Mallow, Greta, and Lucinda are at the docks investigating the possibility of a homicide in the deaths of the couple on the pontoon.

“Good morning, Sheriff Daniels, Coroner Potts,” Mallow said as they approached the pontoon.

“Good morning, Derrick, Greta, and Lucinda. I wanted y’all here to do some checking to see if this could be a possible homicide. According to the paramedics and Coroner Potts, it looks like they mysteriously died of heart attacks,” Sheriff Daniels said.

“Did they have any ID on them?” Mallow asked curiously while examining the bodies, while Greta and Lucinda inspected the pontoon.

“We didn’t find any ID on them. No wallets, purses…nothing.”

“We looked for a vehicle with a trailer without an owner at the landing, but there wasn’t one. Only two vehicles with trailers were at the landing, and the people who were driving them were just getting ready to put their boats in the lake,” the sheriff said, concerned.

“Mitch Johnson, an agent with the NRD, and two other agents checked the pontoon from top to bottom. They couldn’t find anything. They used gloves during their inspection and were careful not to contaminate any evidence that might be on the pontoon,” the sheriff said as he put his hands on his hips, leaned his head down, and exhaled heavily.

“There aren’t any registration numbers on the pontoon, but there were numbers on it. The outline for the numbers is still on the pontoon. That’s all we see,” Greta said, leaning over and looking at a large gash in the metal frame of the pontoon’s guardrail.

“Did the dock manager register them in his logs for a boat outing?” Lucinda asked while walking on the pontoon to the captain’s chair.

In the chair was a folded piece of paper stuck under the back support. Lucinda put rubber gloves on and gently pulled the paper out. She unfolded it and discovered it was a rental agreement with Rogers Boat Rentals. It was an agreement for the weekend: Friday through Sunday. But there wasn’t a name of the renters on the paper.

“Good find, Lucinda,” Greta said.

“Well, we know they rented the boat, but we still don’t know who they are. We will go by Rogers Boat Rentals when we leave here,” Mallow said, perplexed about the mysterious deaths of the couple.

“Derrick, any ideas…at all?” the sheriff asked curiously as he watched Coroner Potts finish filling out his report.

“I am as perplexed as you are, sheriff. But we will do our best to find out what happened to this man and woman. Heart attacks at the same time don’t seem logical…to me,” Mallow said as he walked around the pontoon.

“Derrick, Bruce, we will need to do an autopsy on these people to see if there indeed was ‘foul play’ involved. The ambulance will take them back to the morgue at the sheriff’s department. We can get DNA samples and see if that helps us find out who they are. But hopefully, y’all will find out something at the boat rental place,” Coroner Potts said as he nodded his head, got into his car, and left.

“We will continue investigating here for a few more minutes. Then we will go to Rogers Boat Rentals to see what they can tell us. Surely, they must have used a debit or credit card to pay for the rental. But they could have paid with cash and told them not to put their names on the agreement,” Mallow said as he gestured for Greta and Lucinda to follow him to the end of the dock that the boat hit before it floated to the shore.

“Derrick, we are going to head out. Another incident in the county concerning tourists. If y’all find out anything…let me know,” Sheriff Daniels said as he and the deputies left the docks.

“I will, sheriff,” Mallow replied.

Mallow, Greta, and Lucinda walked to the end of the dock, and Mallow knelt and looked at the left side where the boat hit as it floated into the shore.

“Derrick, what are you looking for?” Greta asked curiously as she and Lucinda knelt beside Mallow.

“That! Do you two see the broken board…there,” Mallow said, pointing at the support board near the guardrail.

“Yes, we do, but what does it have to do with the pontoon, Derrick?” Lucinda asked while she took a picture with her mobile phone.

“That break is new; the wood has been freshly broken. Something hit the dock hard enough to cause that. A pontoon floating with the motor not running would have scratched the board but not broken it like that.”

“That was broken by another boat that probably was pulling the pontoon to shore,” Mallow said as he removed his pad from his coat pocket and started writing notes.

“So there was another boat involved?” Greta asked.

“Yes, I am almost ninety-nine percent sure that another boat was involved. And if that is what happened, then this is a homicide.”

“Let’s check with the dock manager before we go to Rogers Boat Rentals. Maybe he can check the CCTV cameras to see if there was another boat?” Mallow said as he stood up and gestured for Greta and Lucinda to follow him.