Marriage and Murder (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 4) Page 8

  Kelly pushed herself away from the desk. It’s kind of like finding the .38 caliber gun and not being able to find out who pulled the trigger. This guy could have all the motives in the world for killing Jesse, and it looks like he does, but was he the one at the scene of the crime who fired the .38 that killed Jesse? That’s the question that needs to be answered.

  She heard Mike open the door and went to greet him. Don’t want to have to tell him any more fibs than necessary, she thought, and if he looked over my shoulder while I’m sitting in front of the computer, he’d probably want to know who the guy is, and this information about Richard Larson isn’t quite ready for a prime time fireside chat just yet.

  CHAPTER 15

  “How goes the Jesse Allen case? Come up with any new information today?” Kelly asked when Mike joined her in the kitchen after changing out of his uniform.

  “I did, but I’m just not sure what to make of it. First of all, I told you that Jesse was in debt, but I had no idea how bad it was. From going through his records yesterday and today, I found out he owed over $300,000. That’s a lot of money to pay back, and on top of that it looks like The Crush has been losing money every month for the last year or so. I’m amazed he could even keep the doors open. He owned the building, so he didn’t have to pay rent to a landlord, but I’m surprised his creditors didn’t try to close him down. The only thing I can figure out is that any money he got in he shuffled around, first paying one creditor, and then another.”

  “Poor guy. That must have been horrible for him. He was so passionate about his wine and so knowledgeable. It’s a shame he couldn’t make a go of it. Now I feel guilty about his having brought us all the wine for our wedding and then he gave it to us at cost.”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Normally I’d think suicide in a case where someone was that deeply in debt, but if he had commited suicide, the gun would have been in his hand and it wasn’t, so I can rule that out.”

  “I would too, but like you said, there was definitely no gun in his hand.” She opened the oven door and put the salmon they were going to have for dinner in it.

  “Remember how I said last night that I was going to contact the local paper and television station and ask for help?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, the newspaper is probably just being delivered now, but the television station interviewed me on their noon broadcast. Part of the interview was how people could get in touch with me if they had information regarding the murder. This afternoon I got an anonymous call from a male individual. Usually anyone who calls with information in a murder case wants to remain anonymous, and this person told me he’d been driving by the rear of The Crush a little before the approximate time of the murder. I asked him if he’d noticed anything unusual. He told me he’d seen someone going into The Crush, but when I asked him if he could tell me if it was a man or a woman, he said no.”

  “That’s interesting. What do you make of it?”

  “I don’t know. It could have just been a customer who saw Jesse going in and thought he was open for business. On the other hand, it could have been the killer. I asked him if the person he’d seen was small or large and if there was any kind of physical description he could give me. He said he wasn’t paying that much attention, just that he’d noticed someone walking into the store. It doesn’t really give me much information, but the fact that someone went into the store so close to the time of the murder might mean something.”

  “Have you established where the people who are on your list of possible suspects were at the time of murder?”

  “No. That’s what I’m going to do tomorrow. By the way, Roxie called me and said to tell you that she’d locked up and gotten everything ready for tomorrow. I asked her why you hadn’t locked up, and she said you had an errand you had to run and that you never returned to the coffee shop after you left today. Is this something I should know about?” he asked, looking closely at her with an almost suspicious look on his face.

  “No, not really,” she said, quickly turning her back on him while she made the salad.

  “Well, since we’re married I think it would be nice if we trusted each other enough to tell the other one where we were when one of our business associates had to do something for us because we weren’t available to do it. Something the spouse had always been able to do before. Seems to me that would kind of be an important thing to do in our marriage. What do you think?”

  Lady barked, indicating she was ready for dinner. Saved by the bark, Kelly thought, sending a silent thank you to Lady. “Okay, girl, I know it’s dinner time for you and Rebel. Give me just a minute.”

  As she poured some dog food into their dog dishes, she heard Mike say “This is Sheriff Mike,” into his cell phone. Mike listened intently to what was being said. “I appreciate your call, sir, and if you can think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to call me again.”

  “What was that all about?” she asked.

  “The newspaper I told you about was delivered a little while ago, and the article about Jesse and my call for help to the community was on the front page. The man who just called said he was walking by The Crush on his way home from church, and he heard loud voices coming from inside the store. He said it sounded like people were arguing, but he couldn’t tell whether it was a man’s voice or a woman’s voice.”

  “That would certainly fit in with the time frame of the murder. It almost had to be Jesse, but I wonder who he was arguing with.”

  “If I, and I repeat the word I, knew, I could probably solve the case. Now back to what we were discussing before the phone call. I won’t force it, but I would like to know where you were this afternoon. Kelly, I love you, and I worry about you. Sometimes you go off half-cocked, and it could be dangerous for you. All of my instincts tell me your absence from the coffee shop was one of those times. Would I be right?”

  “All right Mike, you got me. You’re probably not going to be too happy about what I did, but you have to believe me when I tell you I was just trying to help you.” She told him about calling Dave, the AA meeting, following Richard Larson, and finally researching him on the Internet.

  For a long time Mike looked at her. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe you took such a risk. Honey, please, please, please don’t do things like that. I’m scared to death something’s going to happen to you. What if he is the one who murdered Jesse, and if he’d spotted you, who knows what might have happened? On the other hand, I have to give you credit for coming up with a pretty ingenuous plan for finding out the identity of this AA mystery man.”

  “See Mike, I’ve been telling you that you need me. I really can help you.”

  “Let me say a couple of things, and then let’s talk about something else. I want the information you found out about the guy. I need to establish his whereabouts on the day of the murder. Secondly, I want you to keep the gun I bought you in your purse, and I want Lady with you at all times. If you can promise me you’ll do that, I’ll forget about what you did this afternoon, and I won’t get angry.”

  “You have my word. Remember, it’s not good to eat when you’re angry, and you probably wouldn’t enjoy dinner if you were. I promise you Mike, Lady and the gun will be with me from now on, but I don’t know exactly what I should be frightened of.”

  “I don’t either, but I just have a hunch you need to do those two things, and I’ve been in this game long enough to know that if I have a hunch about something, I better follow it. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  CHAPTER 16

  The coffee shop was just as busy as it had been during the previous two days. People wanted to find out what was happening in the murder case and commiserate about the crime wave that had descended on their sleepy little town of Cedar Bay.

  I need to take a break, Kelly thought, walking into the kitchen to make sure Charlie had things ready for the lunchtime crowd. She went over to a chair in the corner that was there just for that purpose
. She took her phone out of her purse, wanting to see if Mike had left a message for her.

  No message from Mike, but this is interesting. There’s a voicemail from Sophie this morning asking me to call her. I wonder what she wants. I probably should go out in front, but first I think I’ll return her call. I’m curious.

  “Good morning, Sophie, it’s Kelly Conner, oops, Kelly Reynolds,” she said when Sophie answered her phone. “I received your message to call you.”

  “That was fast. Thank you,” Sophie said in her soft voice with a heavy French accent. “I’ve been debating about calling you, because I wanted to tell you a couple of things. I don’t think very many people knew that Jesse owed money to his creditors. He was getting panicked about where he could find the money to pay them back. He told me they were making harassing calls to him day and night. I offered to loan him the money many times, but he wouldn’t take my money. He told me that only weak men took money from women. He said I would think the only reason he was with me was because of my money. I didn’t tell you this, but the morning he was killed we had a bitter argument over it. I went to see him at the store after church, and I told him his refusal to accept my offer was affecting our relationship. I could tell he was getting depressed, and I begged him to take my money. I have more than I need, but he refused. Now I wonder if someone killed him over some debt that he owed.” Kelly heard her sobbing softly on the other end of the phone.

  “Do you know if any of his creditors had ever threatened him? How did he deal with them when they called? Do you know if he borrowed money from individual people, or was it more that he owed companies that did business with him?”

  “I don’t know, Kelly. He didn’t like to talk about it. I only found out when I overheard him talking to someone on the phone a few weeks ago. I asked him about the call, and that was when he told me he owed a lot of money. I asked him how much, and he told me it was around $300,000. I asked him if he had been sued or if people had tried to take his business from him. He said no, because as soon as he received any money, he would give some of it first to one creditor, then to another. He said it was getting harder and harder to juggle the money he received. That’s all I know. Like I said, he didn’t want to talk about it, and he wouldn’t accept my money.” Kelly heard her sigh and take a deep breath.

  She continued, “When I left The Crush, he told me after the store closed that evening he would come to my house, and we would have dinner. As I drove away from the rear parking lot and turned the corner to drive home, I noticed someone going into his store.”

  “Did you recognize who it was?”

  “No. I don’t even know if it was a man or a woman. The only thing I remember is that they were bundled up in a hat and a coat. That’s all I know.”

  “Thanks for calling, Sophie. I’ll tell Mike. I’m sure he can find out who Jesse’s major creditors were. How are you doing?”

  “Well, to be honest, not so good. I really cared for him, and I’m so sad now that he’s gone. Several of my friends here in Portland have been helping me get through this. They are trying to keep me busy by taking me out to lunch and dinner. My life has not been an easy one, and I’ve gotten through bad things before. I know I can do it again this time.

  “One of my friends even volunteered to drive to my home on the coast and oversee a moving company load up everything in the house. I think I’ll probably put most of the things that were in the house up for auction. It would be too painful for me to see things like the art glass that Jesse and I bought together. I’ve called a real estate agent, and the house will be put up for sale soon. I have to go, someone’s at that door. Au revoir,” she said as she hung up the phone.

  Yes, Kelly thought, I think you will get through this. I imagine you’re already looking to the future and letting go of the past, and who am I to judge? Au revoir. I don’t want to think that you killed Jesse, but you certainly seem to be letting go of your grief awfully fast and selling the house and all the contents within it just days after Jesse’s death. Gives a new meaning to the old slang saying, “Getting out of Dodge.” Oh well, who knows how any of us would react in that situation?

  *****

  “Okay, Lady, just a few more minutes, and we’re out of here for the day,” Kelly said, making sure everything had been turned off in the kitchen. She was just getting ready to turn off the lights when she heard the front door to the coffee shop open and saw Celia Parsons walking in.

  “Hi, Celia, I’m closing up for the day, so I’m afraid I can’t offer you anything. Sorry,” she said, noticing Celia’s eyes, shining like fiery coals, and her hair, unkempt and lank, plastered to her scalp.

  Good grief. I’m not a psychologist, but I’d swear this woman looks like she’s become unhinged. I wonder what’s going on with her, Kelly thought.

  “I didn’t come here to eat. I came here to get your support for the Historical Society. You don’t have a sign in the window showing that you’re a member, and I checked and don’t see where you’ve ever given any money to our organization.”

  “That’s true. I don’t have any extra time to donate to the Society, but I certainly support it. I think it’s wonderful you’re working hard to preserve the history of Cedar Bay.”

  “It’s more than the history. The Society is about preserving a way of life. We consider what we have here in Cedar Bay precious, and we have to work hard to keep it that way. I was really happy that Jeff Black’s son decided not to build that hotel and spa on his property last year after Jeff was killed. Who knows what would have happened if the riffraff that works at those places had come here? It’s bad enough the Planning Commission granted a permit for Sophie Marchant to build that monstrosity of a house overlooking the bay. Best thing that could happen to this town is for that eyesore to burn down.”

  “Surely, you don’t mean that. I agree it’s not in keeping with most of the architectural styles here in Cedar Bay, but I’d hate for anything like that to happen.”

  “Well, if it did, it might keep that woman from ever coming back here. She didn’t fool our members. We know when someone doesn’t belong here, and we sure don’t need any foreigners here, particularly some fancy French woman. Maybe it’s a good thing my brother died. At least she won’t have him as an excuse to stay here in Cedar Bay.”

  “I’m sorry, Celia, but I can’t agree with you. One of the things that has made this town strong and come together in times of tragedy is because of the diversity we have in this community. I mean, look at the number of different church denominations we have. Certainly, you’d have to agree that the townspeople overall get along well with each other. It’s unreasonable to expect that everyone would think and believe the same way. No, if someone is an honest citizen who adds to the community, rather than taking from it, I think there’s a place for that person here in Cedar Bay. You may not agree, and that’s your right, just like it’s the right of other people to live as they wish.”

  “So are you telling me you won’t support the Historical Society? Even if you can’t donate your time, you can donate some of your money. A lot of your customers do, and they’d probably like to see a sign in your window showing that you support the Historical Society. Be a shame if something happened to you or this crummy little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop of yours, considering how long it’s been around,” Celia said in a threatening tone of voice that was rising in intensity as she spoke.

  Lady sensed that something was wrong and walked over to Kelly, facing Celia, a low growl coming from her throat. “Lady, hush,” Kelly said. “Celia, it’s been nice talking to you. I have an appointment, and I don’t want to be late. You’ll have to leave now.”

  “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said, turning around so quickly her purse flew open, and several things fell out of it and onto the floor. Kelly stooped down to help her pick them up.

  That’s weird. Her business card says “Cedar Bay Historical Society – Established in 1907.” I’d swear I’ve seen something re
cently that kind of looked like the logo on her card, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was or where I saw it.

  “Here you are, Celia,” she said, handing the items she’d picked up to Celia. “I’ll think about what you said and let you know. Thanks for stopping by. Lady, come.”

  Celia strode down the pier, not bothering to thank Kelly for helping her pick up what she’d spilled out of her purse.

  I can’t think of two siblings more different from each other. Jesse was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and Celia’s not only one of the most abrasive people I’ve ever met, I’m beginning to think she’s deranged. Maybe it’s a good thing for Sophie that she won’t be marrying Jesse. I can’t imagine having a worse sister-in-law.

  CHAPTER 17

  The next morning when he arrived at his office, Mike said to Angie, his longtime secretary, “Would you hold my calls? I want to do some research this morning, and I need to be able to concentrate.”

  “Sure, Mike. By the way, you know Tony, my husband. He feels real bad about Jesse’s murder. He told me Jesse always took a lot of time with him when he went in The Crush to get wine. He was wondering if you have any leads in his murder.”

  “I’ve got some people I think might qualify as potential suspects, but nothing I’d take to the bank. The killer’s out there, but it’s not easy finding him or her. I feel like I’m getting closer, you know, kind of like that kid’s game – you’re getting warmer when you’re about to guess the right answer. I think I’m getting warmer. Tell him when I get hot, I’ll let everybody know.”

  She laughed. “I haven’t thought of that game for years. When I was in my last month of my pregnancy with Susie, Tony and I used to play it at night when I couldn’t sleep. I don’t think I’ve played it or even thought about it since then. I’ll tell him what you said.”