Murder Read online

His words were sobering. Even though I had checked out of the human race for five days, I felt deep inside I wouldn’t have allowed myself to wallow in self-pity much longer. I would have pulled myself up and moved on with my life. I also knew if I got to that point, nothing Glenn could have said or done would have convinced me to go back to him. The stubborn streak I inherited from Mama would have moved on and refused to look back.

  “I’m fine. Consider my time off as a week of vacation, and I’m positive this will never happen again – even if things go sideways with Glenn. Let’s move on.”

  He nodded and picked up the cup of strong black coffee Parker had just set in front of him. “Ok, what do you want to do?”

  “For starters, extremely thorough background checks on Barbie.”

  He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head slightly. “You’re telling me you haven’t done that yet?”

  “I haven’t. She’s a police officer, and I didn’t have any reason to run her information.” He still looked like he didn’t believe me. “Arnie, I don’t abuse our privileges as private investigators.”

  He nodded. “Ok, you take the standard checks. I’ll do some deep web digging and see what pops up.”

  I appreciated his offer. I didn’t mind running our basic background checks, but once you accessed the deep web, you could easily run into illegal activity and porn sites. I preferred to stay above ground on the internet.

  “After we run checks, we’ll know where she’s worked.” I said. “I want to visit a few of those police stations and talk to some of the people who worked with her. Maybe I can spot a pattern, or someone will have information that might be helpful. If someone really did try to shoot her, then she has an enemy, and that person might be an ex-coworker.”

  He agreed. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll look into the murder of the officer’s wife in Youngstown. Since Barbie just came from there, you might want to stay away from that one. If she finds out you’re sniffing around up there, she might leave town before you get this resolved.”

  I hadn’t thought about that. I was thinking of going to Youngstown first, but I probably should start with one of the departments from a year or two ago.

  My bowl of stew was getting cold. I’d only eaten half of it and a couple bites of bread. I wanted to eat, but it wasn’t taking much to feel full.

  “I suppose I should try to get some work done today,” I said. “Is there anything on my desk?”

  “Nothing that can’t wait, but I did have two inquiries come in this morning. Can you handle something new?”

  I stared hard into his eyes, so he would know I was serious. “Arnie, I told you. I’m fine. I was on vacation. Of course, I can handle a new case. What have you got?”

  “The first is Kay Walker. She’s got a spot in Estelle’s Emporium of Wonders, and her wonders are disappearing.”

  I smiled. Mama and Roger were still going great guns with their new flea market. It was open Wednesday through Sunday every week and had loads of traffic - not only from locals but from out-of-towners, too. It helped they had contracted space on a billboard just before the interstate exit ramp to Buxley. Mama wanted her headshot on the billboard, but Hank talked her out of it. He told her people were more likely to come if she was one of the wonders herself. I suspected he was afraid Mama’s face on a billboard would keep people away.

  “What’s the other case?” I asked.

  He almost looked like he didn’t want to tell me. “Jean Young, the dame who manages the dry cleaners over on Third Street, thinks her husband is steppin’ out on her.” He waited for a reaction from me.

  “No problem,” I said. “I’ll take both of them. Kay probably has kids at the root of her disappearing wonders, and the sooner I find out about Harvey, the sooner Jean can quit torturing herself.”

  “How’d you know his name was Harvey? Do you know him?”

  “Jean is friends with Pepper. They sold cosmetics together for a while, and I heard Jean mention her husband a few times. So, no, I don’t know him, but I know of him.”

  “Ok, if you’re sure you’re up to it,” he said. “Tell Nancy she can start on the files.”

  I stood from my stool. “I’m up. I’m up. Stop treating me like I’m fragile, and thanks for lunch.”

  I left the bill on the counter for Arnie to pay and walked through the door behind me into our offices. After I told Nancy I would be handling both new cases, the phone rang. I took advantage of her busy moment to slip into my office and shut the door.

  Arnie was right. There wasn’t anything important on my desk. He had taken care of all my work while I was on vacation.

  Kay Walker wouldn’t be at the flea market until tomorrow, so I’d have to start with Jean Young. I grabbed my satchel, which doubled as my everyday purse, and dumped it out on my desk. The bag was roomy enough to carry everything I needed for work, including my camera and a new stun gun, while still having enough interior pockets to hold my personal items.

  I discarded scraps of paper, unnecessary receipts, and tissues. I removed notebooks I no longer needed and put an inordinate amount of change from the bottom of the bag into a jar on the credenza behind me.

  As I refilled the bag with only essential items, I added a new notebook. The lovely leather planner-organizer Jackie had given to me for my birthday was on my desk. I had tried to use it to jot down notes and keep track of appointments, but I was too much of an old dog to change my notebook system.

  When I stepped out of my office, Nancy was using the copier in the supply closet that also served as a kitchenette and copier room. I stuck my head through the doorway, let her know I wouldn’t be back, and rushed out the front door before she could stop the machine and ask questions.

  Nancy and Hank were getting married in two months. Although I was happy for her and my brother, and I didn’t usually mind sharing my personal life with her, I knew she would press for details of what happened with Glenn. I didn’t want to risk slipping up and giving away that the breakup was a farce. I’d have to watch my words carefully for a while.

  I climbed into my truck and buckled my seatbelt before taking a deep breath and resolving to get my life back on track. I wasn’t looking forward to covering an infidelity case, but I didn’t want Arnie to have any reservations about me. I planned to put all my efforts into finding out what Harvey Young was up to, so I could have the case settled quickly.

  I glanced at my bag on the passenger seat. I was in such a hurry to get out of the office before Nancy could start asking questions, I forgot to get Jean Young’s address. However, she should be working today, so I pulled out of our lot and headed for Faye’s Dry Cleaning. Third Street was a cross thoroughfare through town and was busier than Main Street. Faye’s was next to Buxley Mortgage, where I had been a glorified receptionist before quitting to work with Arnie.

  Faye’s shared the same building as Chester’s Pipes and Cigars. Faye’s side was busy, so I pulled in front of the cigar shop. I couldn’t believe the scene that greeted me through the front window.

  I marched into the store, nodded to Chester behind the counter, and barged into the public smoking room. When I opened the door, the smell of good old-fashioned cigar, cherry, a hint of vanilla, and a bit of flatulence hit me full in the face.

  “Mama! What are you doing? I thought you were trying to quit smoking.”

  She stood next to Aunt Bee, who had chosen to sit in an overstuffed, leather chair to puff on a pipe. Mama held a fat cigar in her hand. Both women smiled, took a few puffs, and blew the smoke toward me.

  “I’m trying to cut back on cigarettes,” she said in her deep, raspy, smoker’s voice. “I didn’t say anything about cigars or pipes.”

  Lucille and Rita were seated on a leather loveseat. Both were smoking smaller, skinny cigars.

  “You’re all going to die,” I said, shaking my head.

  Mama shot back, “So are you. We’ve all got to go some time. You need to stop being so uptight. Pick a vice and have some fun.” She snap
ped her fingers. “I know. You need to join one of those online dating places. Date a different guy every night. Get more nookie.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “No, that’s not for Jo,” Aunt Bee said. “She needs something that doesn’t involve a man.”

  “She’s not lucky in the man department,” Lucille said. “What’s your sign, dear? Maybe you were born under a bad moon, and men aren’t for you. Do you ever feel like you should date a woman? Do you like to look at women?”

  Mama’s eyes widened and she nodded in agreement. “You might be right. I’ve seen the way she looks at Jackie. There’s definitely some chemistry there.”

  Aunt Bee smiled and gave me a wink.

  I sighed. “Everyone looks at Jackie.” I tried to steer the conversation back to them. “What are you guys doing here? This isn’t good for you.”

  Rita pointed to Mama and said, “Estelle’s going to be the Sherlock Holmes of our Blue Hat Society.”

  Lucille accidentally took a deeper drag of her cigar than she intended and began choke-coughing. With every attempt to clear her lungs, she passed gas. She finally managed to say, “And the rest of us are going to be the Watsons to her Holmes. We need pipes to smoke while we work on your case.”

  “We’re just sampling the goods,” Mama said. “No harm in that. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m on my way to the dry cleaners.” I looked around at all of them and said, “Don’t smoke. Why not be like Kojack and suck on suckers instead?”

  Lucille jumped up from her chair. A loud poot jumped up with her. “We can shave our heads!” she exclaimed.

  The odor in the room was becoming more like Lucille’s gas problem than it was the cigars. I turned to leave the room as Aunt Bee flicked a lighter to light her pipe again.

  “You’re all going to die when the methane in this room explodes,” I said.

  I bought a pack of spearmint gum from Chester and walked next door.

  All the cars parked in front of Faye’s were now gone. The bell above the door tinkled when I walked in.

  I expected to see elderly Mrs. Murgatroyd working behind the counter, but a new employee turned from the floor-to-ceiling conveyer and smiled. This was a nice change. Mrs. Murgatroyd never smiled.

  The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, same as me. Her long dark brown hair resembled mine as well, right down to the slight natural curl at the ends. The striking difference was that her eyes were a bright blue instead of my deep green, and her skin was clear and white resembling porcelain. I couldn’t help staring at her for a few moments.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  I closed my eyes and shook my head for a brief second to clear my thoughts. “I’m looking for Jean Young. Is she working today?”

  “She called off. She’s got a sick child at home.”

  I marveled at her beauty again. If I didn’t quit staring at her, Lucille would be over here in a flash, encouraging me to ask her out on a date. “Ok. Thanks,” I said and turned to leave.

  “You’re Jo Ravens, aren’t you?”

  I faced her again. I thought it odd she would stop me to ask – unless it was for business.

  “I am,” I said.

  “I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry about you and Glenn.”

  I couldn’t help that my eyes flew open. I didn’t know her, and I certainly didn’t want her sympathy.

  She didn’t stop there. “I heard you moved out – for good.” She wasn’t actually smiling, but the look on her face was inappropriate for the concern she was attempting to show. “If that’s true, I believe Officer Wheeler is on the market. Yes? I hate going out with a man only to have the ex-girlfriend show up in the picture.”

  I was stunned. My brain shorted a few synapses. I blurted out, “Glenn asked you out on a date?”

  She shrugged. “Let’s just say we’re going out for dinner soon.”

  Anger flooded my body. “He’s all yours,” I said and stomped out the door.

  Mama and her cronies we’re still laughing and acting childish in Chester’s smoking room. Aunt Bee’s boyfriend, Max, had joined them. He stood next to Mama and waved a cigar bigger than hers at me.

  I didn’t wave at any of them. I jumped in my truck and pealed out of the lot to the convenience store across the street. I was a woman possessed as I grabbed a burner phone from a tall rack of phones. I didn’t even check the features. I growled at another customer as I raced in front of him to the counter and tossed the phone to the clerk.

  When I was back in my truck, had the darn thing activated, and had tapped Glenn’s number into it, I called him.

  “Wheeler,” he said with a bit of uncertainty in his voice. I’m sure he wondered who was calling from the unfamiliar number.

  “Don’t say anything,” I said. “I know you’re working, so answering yes or no will be fine.”

  “Ok.”

  “I just left Faye’s Dry Cleaning. Did you ask her new employee out to dinner?”

  He answered immediately and with conviction, “Absolutely not.”

  It killed me to ask, but I had to know. “There are going to be a lot of women interested in you now that you’re back on the market. Are you sure you don’t want to date for a while to be sure how you feel?”

  He must have moved away from Barbie, because he whispered into the phone, “Jo, no. I promised you that you’re the only one for me, and I’m going to marry you at Christmas. I love you, and you have to promise me that you won’t believe any of this crap you hear. I need you to trust me.”

  I felt foolish. The woman at the cleaners never actually said she had met Glenn or that he had asked her out. I did need to trust him and not let rumors and gossip eat away at me.

  “I will. I promise.”

  “Good. I have to get back. We’re following a lead on the stolen mascot costume at the school. It’s kind of rough when you have to go around asking people if they’ve seen a beaver in the area.”

  I couldn’t help laughing. It had to be a slow day if they were working on Keith and Jimmy Faust’s caper.

  We hung up, and I felt emotionally stronger than I had earlier in the day. Glenn and I were going to make it just fine. I suddenly wanted to talk with Nancy. I drove back to the office.

  “You forgot this,” she said when I walked in. She handed Jean Young’s folder to me.

  “I know. I can’t help her if I don’t know where she lives.” I looked over toward Arnie’s office, back to Nancy, and raised my eyebrows.

  “He never came back. I expect he’s still shooting the breeze with Parker.”

  I sat in the chair next to her desk and said, “I want to talk with you about something.”

  She leaned forward with her eyes fearful, as if she was awaiting a terrifying secret. I laughed at her intensity.

  “It might be a good thing,” I said. “You know Glenn and I have broken up, right?”

  She looked sad. “All the gory details have been on the beauty shop gossip line. I’m sorry.”

  “I know. It’s ok. I want to discuss something with you, but you have to keep it a secret. You can’t slip and let Mama get wind of this. You can talk to Hank, but you have to swear him to secrecy. This will blow up in my face if the two of you can’t keep my secret.”

  The frightened look came back into her face. “I will. I promise. My mother always said I could keep a secret better than anyone she knew.”

  She was adorable. She was so sweet and had such an innocence about her, it was easy to see how Hank had fallen so hard for her.

  A little voice in my head reminded me to focus or Lucille would show up and make me ask her out on a date.

  “I wasn’t going to fight for Glenn, but I changed my mind.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Nancy said, happy to hear my news.

  “I’m not going to do it right away. I have to play this smart,” I said. “But I will get him back, and when I do, I want you to consider something.”

  Her eyes went
wider and she threw her hand against her chest. “Me? What would I have to do with you and Glenn getting back together?”

  “Nothing. But did you know he doesn’t have any family? Both of his parents died when he was a teenager, and he moved back to Buxley when his grandfather died a few years ago. Some of his family is in Italy, and he never kept in touch with the few aunts and uncles who are in the States.”

  “Hank told me some of that. I didn’t realize he didn’t have any family close to him at all.” She looked incredibly sad. I couldn’t help smiling again.

  “When I get him back, our wedding at Christmas will be on again. But I wonder … since he doesn’t have any family and guest seating in the church will be lopsided, would you consider having a double wedding with us in June?”

  She didn’t even pause. She jumped from her chair, threw her arms around my neck, and squealed. “Yes! Oh, Jo, it was always a dream of mine to have a double wedding. When I was a little girl, my best friend and I would spend hours planning our double wedding, right down to designing our dresses and the cake.” She became even more animated. “There’s so much to do. I have to change my plans. Where do you want to have the reception?”

  I laughed loudly for the first time in days. “Slow down,” I told her. “I have to get the guy back first.” My countenance sobered. “Nancy, you absolutely have to keep this between you, me, and Hank. If either of you let this out, it will never happen, and I’ll lose Glenn forever.”

  She couldn’t pull her smile down if she tried. “I know. I’ll keep your secret, I promise.” There was a lot of promising going around lately. “But let me know the minute you two are back together. We’ll need to pick out matching dresses.”

  I gave her a hug and walked out the door. Matching dresses. I hadn’t planned to wear a white gown when I married Glenn. Knowing how things always went with my family, I was certain this wedding would be a fiasco on the grandest of scales.

  I checked Jean’s address in the folder. Nancy had highlighted six words: two large Rottweilers on the property.

  Swell.

  Chapter Six

  There weren’t any dogs in sight when I pulled into the circular drive in front of Jean and Harvey Young’s home. The remodeled farmhouse was set high on a hill, and the circular drive was more for function than for beauty.