On the flip side, there was one final option. What if she was in her backyard? That was an easy enough thing to check up on.
I headed around the side of her house and checked out her backyard.
When I reached her yard, a sense of relief washed over me.
I saw Julie leaning back in a lounge chair reading a book. There was a glass of alcohol next to her on a table.
She looked incredibly relaxed.
I spoke up to get her attention. “Excuse me.”
Julie nearly jumped out of her chair when she heard my voice. “Who are you?” she asked. “And what are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” I said.
“Whether you meant it or not, you scared the absolute daylights out of me.”
“Again, I apologize.”
“How about this? Would you mind telling me who you are and what you’re doing in my yard?”
“You didn’t answer your front door when I knocked.”
“I didn’t realize someone was at the door,” she said. “What do you want?”
“I’d like to ask you some questions.”
“About what?”
“About the murder of Connor Taggart.”
“I don’t know anything about his murder.”
“If that’s the truth then this should be a quick interview.”
Julie’s eyebrows knitted. “Interview? Who are you again?”
“My name is Melody Clue. I’m an investigator.”
“And what are you investigating? After all, Connor’s murder has already been solved.”
“Actually, his killer is still at-large.”
“Is that so?” Julie asked.
I nodded.
“That’s unsettling,” Julie said.
“Imagine how I feel, knowing that a murderer is walking the streets.”
“It’s enough to send a shiver down your spine.”
“That’s why I’m praying that I can wrap this case up sooner rather than later.”
“Well, I wish you luck.”
“I was hoping for more than luck. That’s where you come in—”
She put her hand up. “I hate to interrupt you, but I don’t understand what any of this has to do with me.”
“Like I said before, I have some questions for you.”
“What sort of questions?”
“It’s my understanding that you and Connor worked together.”
“Yes.”
“How did you get along?”
“We were friendly with each other.”
“How friendly are we talking?”
“We were strictly co-workers.”
“All right,” I said. “Now, let’s talk about the management position that you were both up for.”
“Okay.”
“You really wanted that promotion, didn’t you?”
“Of course, I did. Who wouldn’t want to get paid more?”
“I guess you’re right,” I said. “That promotion ended up going to Connor, though, didn’t it?”
“Ms. Clue, I think I know where you’re going with all of this.”
“Do you?”
Julie nodded. “You think that I might have murdered Connor over the management job, don’t you?”
“Since you put it so bluntly, I do have my suspicions.”
“I understand.”
My jaw dropped. “You do?”
“Yes. But let me tell you something. I would never kill someone over a promotion.”
“I wish I could tell you that things like that never happened. The sad fact is that people have been killed over far less in the past.”
“I’ll bet. Not in this case, though.”
“I have to say, you are staying surprisingly calm.”
She shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“The other suspects that I’ve questioned have all freaked out.”
“I think that’s very telling.”
“How so?”
“Generally, people don’t freak out unless they have a reason to.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
“Since I’m not guilty of anything, I’m as calm as can be.”
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s refreshing to see you keep an even keel. That said, I still have my suspicions.”
“Why?”
“With Connor dead, isn’t it true that you got promoted to manager?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a pretty interesting turn of events, isn’t it?”
“I can see how you’d feel that way.”
“How could I look at things any other way?”
“Did Connor’s death lead to me getting the promotion? Yes. Did I kill Connor so that I could get promoted? Absolutely not.”
“I wish there was a way of proving that. Unfortunately, according to my source, you don’t have a verifiable alibi for the time of the murder.”
“That’s true. I was all by myself at the time. But I was taking a walk at the beach.”
“So you say.”
“That’s my story.”
“And you’re sticking to it?”
“I sure am.”
“You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t believe you.”
“Trust me, I get it.”
“You do?” I asked.
“Hey, if I was in your position, I’d have my suspicions too.”
“Aren’t you the least bit nervous right now?”
Julie shook her head.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because like I said, I didn’t do anything wrong. And you can’t prove otherwise,” Julie said. “Unless that changes, I have nothing to worry about.”
Chapter Seven
That was probably the weirdest interview I had ever conducted. Julie didn’t sweat for one second. Nor did she raise her voice. She kept her cool as she answered my questions.
Normally, that was exactly what I wanted to see from a suspect. It was amazing how rarely that happened. Even if an interview started off on a calm note, at some point, it would typically take a turn for the worse.
In this instance, Julie remained completely steady.
Rather than feeling good about that, I found the experience really unsettling. Not just because it happened so infrequently. I just didn’t trust Julie. She almost seemed too calm. Too polished. Like she had anticipated my arrival and had rehearsed all of her answers ahead of time.
Of course, I couldn’t prove any of that. It was just a suspicion of mine. It turned out that I had plenty of those. I just didn’t have any answers.
As I drove away from Julie’s house, I decided to head back to my office. I had a lot to think about. Even though I could have headed home to reflect on the events of the day, I knew that my co-worker, Lisa, would be back at our detective agency. It would probably be really helpful to discuss things with her. Perhaps she could bring a new perspective to the situation. Even if she didn’t, I always found that it was beneficial to run ideas by someone.
As I pulled into the parking lot of my office building, a surprise awaited me. Detective Scott Webster stood in the lot, leaning against his police car. Was he waiting to talk to me?
That seemed like the most likely explanation. The question became, what did he have to say? Also, would this be a pleasant conversation, or an awkward discussion?
By that point in the day, I had been yelled at enough. The last thing I wanted was more trouble. The good news was that Scott didn’t appear to be in a foul mood.
I parked my car, got out of the vehicle, and approached the detective.
“Afternoon, stranger,” I joked.
“Has it been a good afternoon?” he asked. “Or a bad one?”
“It definitely could have gone better.”
Scott grimaced. “Did the suspects give you a hard time?”
“They certainly didn’t take it easy on me.”
“Did you really expect them to?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You know, in my experience, they seem to like to make things as difficult as possible.”
“I can’t disagree with that.”
“Does that mean that you had your hands full?”
“You sure have a lot of questions for me.”
“I’m just curious about how things went.”
“Are you asking as a friend, or as a police detective?”
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not.”
“I will say this. As a friend, and as a detective, I’ve been worried about you. From what I’ve heard, you were running around like crazy today.”
“Who did you hear that from?”
“Who do you think?”
My eyes widened. “Have you been keeping tabs on me?”
“Of course, I have. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“Wow. So, you had me followed all afternoon?” I asked.
He nodded.
“I can’t believe it,” I said.
“I did it for your own protection. After all, you rattled some cages. That can lead to dangerous consequences.”
“That wasn’t what I was referring to. What I can’t believe is that someone from your department tailed me all day without me spotting them. Usually, I’m incredibly perceptive. Am I not as sharp as I thought? Or was I just so focused on this case that I lost track of my surroundings?”
“That could be it. Solving a case requires a lot of time and energy,” he said.
“It sure does.”
“Which is why I’m really glad that I assigned that deputy to keep tabs on you. It sounds like you can use all of the help that you can get.”
“Do you know what I can really use right now?” I said. “A break.”
“You realize that there’s a very low probability of that happening, right?”
“Don’t remind me.”
“I didn’t say it to rub it in. I mentioned it because it’s worth repeating. All of this work that you’re doing might not amount to anything.”
“Scott, if this is your idea of a pep talk, you really need to work on your motivational speeches.”
“Melody, I know you don’t want to hear this, but with Amy behind bars, this investigation of yours is probably going to end without producing any tangible results.”
“Do you still believe that Amy is guilty of murder?” I asked.
“Have you uncovered any evidence to convince me otherwise?” he replied.
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
“Well, there you go.”
I put my hand up. “It’s still pretty early in my investigation, though.”
“Do you still think that you’re going to unmask someone else as the killer?”
I nodded. “I sure do.”
“In that case, you really need to watch your back. More than ever before.”
“Are you trying to scare me again?”
“No. I want you to know what you’re up against. When people get desperate, they often do extreme things. And nothing makes people more desperate than when someone is breathing down their neck.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
“Does that mean you’ll be really careful?”
“Of course.”
“Good.”
“That said, by your own logic, if Amy really is the killer, then I shouldn’t have anything to worry about because she’s already in jail.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
“How do you figure?”
“One of the other suspects might not be a murderer, but they still could have secrets that they don’t want getting out,” Scott said. “No one likes to be pushed to the brink.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I’m happy to hear that. I just want you to be careful.”
“I will,” I said. “And I’ll let you know when I uncover enough evidence to arrest the real killer.”
Scott threw out his arms. “When? Don’t you mean if?”
“No. Like I’ve told you before. You arrested the wrong suspect. And I’m going to prove it,” I said.
Chapter Eight
As Scott got back into his car, I could tell that he expected our conversation to go much differently than it had. I was probably the most stubborn friend that he had. Although, he was a pretty head strong guy himself.
When it came to this particular subject, we just couldn’t come to an agreement. That would change. I just needed to uncover some evidence of Amy’s innocence first.
It turned out that was much easier said than done.
After Scott drove away, I went inside my office. As expected, Lisa was there. My co-worker was anxious to hear an update from me. I gave her a rundown of my entire day.
Rather than talking about my suspect interviews first, Lisa seemed more interested in discussing my conversation with Scott.
“I think it says a lot about the state of this case that a police detective is worried about you,” Lisa remarked.
I nodded. “Scott is a good friend.”
“Melody, I don’t think you’re understanding me. As a detective, Scott has seen a lot of crazy things on the job. So, for him to warn you to watch your back is really telling. I hope you’re going to proceed with caution.”
“You know that I’m always as careful as possible.”
“I realize that. But you can never be too cautious when a killer is on the loose. Or when you happen to be staring a murderer in the eyes.”
“Are you trying to scare the daylights out of me?”
“No. I’m just discussing the facts. Whether you thought about it at the time or not, you spoke with Connor’s killer today. You just don’t know which of the suspects is the guilty party.”
“When you put it that way, it makes me look at my afternoon in an entirely difficult light.”
“Put yourself in the killer’s shoes. They murdered a man and went to great lengths to cover their tracks. A few days later, they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that someone else was arrested for the crime. Then, just when it looked like they were going to get away with murder, a private investigator showed up at their door asking a whole bunch of personal questions. Wouldn’t that put you on edge?”
“Absolutely.”
“My guess is that the killer is really scrambling right now. They are probably desperate to come up with a plan to throw you off of their scent.”
“That’s why I need to keep the pressure on the suspects. I can’t let them get comfortable.”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.”
“What other choice do I have?”
“I’m not saying that you should take a different approach. Instead, I’m trying to warn you that your strategy might have unintended consequences.”
“Like what?”
“You think that by applying enough pressure, you’ll get the murderer running scared. But what if the killer decides to take extreme measures? What if they decide to strike again? And set their sights on making you their next victim?”
“You sure know how to paint a terrifying picture.”
“I can’t help it. That was one of the first thoughts that entered my mind when you started talking. And if it crossed my mind, you’d better believe that the killer has thought of it too.”
“You’ve definitely given me a lot to think about.”
“I’m glad I brought it up then. At least now you can be prepared if the worst does come to pass.”
“That’s a big if.”
“Well, yeah. Maybe the killer will end up running scared. I would definitely prefer that.”
“Do you really think that’s going to happen? Is that what your instincts are telling you?”
“I hate to say it, but I feel like it’s much more likely that the killer does something far more extreme,” Lisa said.
I took a deep breath.
Lisa continued. “Do you feel that way too?”
I winced. “Unfortunately.�
�
“Wow. Of all the things to agree about, this is the most concerning.”
“I’m right there with you on that.”
“What a crazy situation. And it might get even wilder.”
I scratched my chin. “True. But maybe I can use that to my advantage.”
Lisa shrugged. “What are you talking about?”
I bit the corner of my lip and then replied, “I just got an interesting idea.”
Chapter Nine
In order to put my plan into action, I needed to track down a reporter. Thankfully, that wasn’t very hard to do. In fact, a conversation with a reporter was only a phone call away.
Maureen Deckhard worked for the local TV station. When I told her that I had a scoop that was related to Connor’s murder, she was very anxious to meet with me.
A few minutes later, I made my way over to the TV station. I gave Maureen a brief interview. I also provided her with just enough information to make things interesting, but I didn’t go into a level of detail that would spoil anything.
Even though Maureen was anxious to throw a bunch of questions at me, my goal was just to tease the viewing audience. The hook was simple.
“I’ve uncovered a crucial piece of evidence that will lead to the arrest of the real killer,” I said. “I have a meeting with the detective tomorrow. I will share it with him then. When I do, it’s going to change this entire case,” I said.
Maureen pressed me for more information, but I didn’t give her anything further.
Instead, I cut the interview short and headed home.
I knew that by the end of the night, my interview would spread like crazy.
In fact, I was counting on that.
***
The question became, would my plan work? I definitely had high hopes. At the same time, there were inherent risks involved.
In my experience, that was just the way life went sometimes. In order to get rewards, risks needed to be taken.
After finishing up my interview with the reporter, I headed home. When I arrived back at my place, it wasn’t long before I headed back to my bedroom and turned the lights out. In fact, it was probably the earliest that I had called it a night in a long time.
Majestic Cove Mysteries Box Set 2 Page 3