by Laura Greene
LAURA GREENE
BEHIND
THE CRIME
FROZEN IN TIME
Copyright © 2020 Laura Greene – All rights Reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Also by Laura Greene
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About the Author
Chapter 1
Champagne is in abundance. Wide-brimmed glasses on silver plates flow between the guests, carried by servers in white uniforms. Some of New Orleans' finest are in attendance. A string quartet plays in the corner of the hall as the guests mingle in their black tie evening suits and sequined gowns. Priceless paintings adorn the walls, punctuated by occasional stone statues and sculptures of every shape and size. Jessy has never been to something like this before. She is dazzled by the affluence on display, though deep down she would rather be wearing her blue jeans than the expensive sky-blue dress Danny bought for her.
It is a night of celebration. Danny's first restoration project has finally been completed. It is the LeToire Museum’s grand reopening. The building has been in disarray for several years – damaged, some believed permanently, by a bad flood. But Danny is now the man of the hour. He conceived of a way to restore the museum to its previous glory and protect it, as best as possible, from future flooding.
“Well done, Danny, my boy,” a stout faced man says, patting him on the back and continuing on through the crowded room.
“Who is that?” asks Jessy.
“I have no idea,” replies Danny. “Probably a board member. They put up a pretty penny for this project.”
“I'm so proud of you,” says Jessy. They kiss beneath a large oil painting of a family in a boat on a summer's day. The walls are lined with similar paintings, and the sculptures, which accompany them sporadically, gaze around the room with watchful eyes. “It would be great if you got another project like this in New Orleans.”
“I know, Jessy. And I will. But for now, they have me on this shopping mall refit in New York, and they expect results.”
Jessy does not sigh. At least, not audibly. She has learned to accept that Danny is away from her all too often. It still cuts deep, but she is doing her best not to swim against the tide. Instead, she has brought her own wedding stationery business back from the dead. Each day is a small step towards her finally putting down roots in New Orleans.
“What is this?” a familiar, brassy voice says.
Jessy turns to see Mia rubbing food off her tongue with a napkin.
“I've had caviar before, honey,” Mia says to the server, “and I'm telling ya, this ain't it.”
“Can we pretend we don't know her?” Danny says into Jessy's ear, jokingly.
Mia runs up to her two friends, her unnecessarily high heels clip-clopping against the marble floor of the museum. She is wearing an expensive pink cocktail dress, and showing a little more than Danny hoped to see. Some of the other guests eye her with a mix of adoration and disapproval.
“Well done, honey!” she says, opening her arms and embracing Danny while leaving a large red lipstick mark on his cheek.
“Jessy, doll, great to see ya. You must be so proud of this one.” The two friends embrace.
It's been a few weeks since they've seen each other. Jessy has felt the need to distance herself from her friend, at least temporarily. Mia will not drop the issue of Harlan's remaining two case files and what they might contain. Jessy has made her mind up to leave that secret room and all its notes and mysteries to gather dust as she works on her relationship with Danny. Daily visits from Mia have been the casualty of that decision.
“Thanks, Mia,” Danny says. “It's lovely to see you again. We should have you around for supper one night.”
“I'd love that.” She pats Danny on the cheek. With no threat of chasing Harlan's cases, Danny and Mia's relationship is no longer an antagonistic one and has reset somewhat to the friendly banter they once enjoyed.
Someone catches Danny's eye. “I better go and do the rounds, networking and all that. You don't mind, do you?”
“No, not at all,” says Jessy, kissing him on the lips. “It's a big night. Make the most of it.”
Danny nods and then walks across the room, disappearing into the sea of countless dinner suits and dresses.
“Thanks for inviting me, honey,” Mia says. “I know I've been too pushy about opening up Harlan's files, but I get it now.”
“Oh?” Jessy laughs. “I've never known you to give up anything, Mia.”
“I'm giving up on this,” she says. “You two have a chance to make it. I think maybe I'm a bit too cynical these days after my marriages. That doesn't mean you two will end up the same way.”
They embrace.
“I've missed you,” Jessy says.
“You too. Tiff has been asking where you've been as well.”
“We'll need to sort that soon, then. Go in and surprise her. After all, we are her only two customers.” Jessy smiles kindly and then takes a sip from her champagne glass.
“Come on, I want to look at some fine art, and some even finer men in their dinner suits.” Mia puts her arm in Jessy's and leads her into the next room where there aren't quite as many people. Paintings continue to line the walls. This room has a forest theme.
“I didn't have you down as a lover of art, Mia?”
“I wasn't, not until my second husband. He loved this sort of thing. It's about the only thing he left me, the cheap b...” Mia stops herself from swearing. She knows Jessy doesn't like it.
“This one here,” Mia says, pointing to it. “It's from the impressionist school. You can tell by the way the painter used light an' all that. I love these ones. They're their own thing, ya know? They don't try to paint the world as it really looks. I mean, we have cameras for that.” Mia's voice booms, and Jessy shirks slightly at her friend’s ability to dominate most rooms without realizing it.
They move along each painting and then head into another room with more canvases and sculptures on display. This room has fewer people in it still. As they walk, Jessy notices something odd. There is a man not too far behind them. She hasn't looked directly at his face, but she has seen him out of the side of her eye. It feels as though he is following Mia and Jessy from room to room. To test her theory, Jessy takes Mia into a different room, then walks straight back out again with her, back in the direction they came from.
“What are you doing?” Mia asks.
“Shhh,” says Jessy. “Keep an eye on the doorway we just came through.”
For a moment, nothing happens, but then a man appears. He is tall and slender, in his 50s and with dark rings under his eyes. He gives both Mia and Jessy a knowing glance from across the room.
“Who's this bozo?” Mia asks Jessy.
“It can't be...” Jessy stares at the m
an in disbelief until he disappears into another room, glancing over his shoulder at both women before crossing the threshold.
“You look like you've seen a ghost, Jessy. Are you okay?”
Jessy turns to Mia. “That man... This is the third time I've seen him. Remember when we were at the docks hiding and watching Falcone?”
“No way... is that the guy who sold you your house?”
“The very one. I'm certain of it. He was there that night on the docks. Oh Mia...” Jessy rubs her forehead with worry. “What's he doing here?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Cautiously, Jessy and Mia follow the man, entering the next room. Standing in the corner by a large gray sculpture of a woman is the man in question. He looks around shiftily, and then motions Mia and Jessy to go over to him.
Jessy and Mia do just that, but each step closer to the man fills them with dread.
“I'm sorry for meeting you like this, Jessy,” the man says with a low voice. “I know you remember me.”
“I do...”
“After the incident at the docks, Detective Garrett and others have been looking for me. But the second I land in jail, I'm a dead man. Even being here is dangerous.” He looks around once more to make sure there is no one listening to his words as best he can.
“You're Kilburn Price, aren't you? The man who sold Danny and me our house.”
The man nods. “That's one of my names, yes. I've been meaning to contact you, Jessy. But phone calls, emails, letters; they can all be intercepted. The people moving against us will not stand for me passing on information to you. But I must do just that, and a place like this, in public, is the safest environment I can think of. I don't think they'll make their move, even if they have people in the room.”
“Us?” says Mia with incredulity clear in her voice. “There's no us, buddy. You were at those docks when all sorts of illegal shipments were comin' in.”
“I am no common criminal, Mia...”
Mia is shocked that he has used her name.
“Yes, I know who you are. But there is little time for pleasant introductions.”
“Did you know about Harlan's room when you sold us our house?” Jessy pushes straight to the point. She needs answers.
“Of course. I helped him build it,” Kilburn says, his eyes still looking around for any sign of being watched. “I knew Harlan well, Jessy, but when he lived in your house, he went by a different name. I can't even be sure if Harlan is the first identity he ever had. I was under strict instructions to compile a list of interested buyers, and ensure that the house fell into the right hands.”
“Why Danny and me?”
“Because,” Kilburn says, “we psychologically profiled you and your husband. We believed that your husband, being a man within the construction business, would one day find the room and, given his difficult history with his father growing up which has led Danny to always try and prove himself worthy, he would attempt to follow the case files on his own.”
“But Danny didn't find the room,” says Mia.
“True,” replied Kilburn. “But you did, Jessy. You seem to be a talented detective in your own right. Then you brought Mia aboard. Quite unexpected, but it has worked well so far.”
“So far?” asks Jessy.
“There's much for me to tell you, Jessy. But what's most important, no matter how this goes or what happens to me, is that you must continue with Harlan's work. You must open the fourth case file and complete what he started. Why have you stopped?”
“Is this why you've come out of the woodwork, fella?” Mia is as curious now as Jessy is.
“My hand has been forced. You have both ruffled a few feathers with the previous cases, but there is something larger at stake. You must...” Kilburn stops for a moment and glances across the room. Two men have just entered, both tall and wide–shouldered, in tuxedos, and both are grimly staring at Jessy and her companions.
“They are here. I must go...this is too dangerous...” Kilburn rushes through a door to the side.
“Now what?” asks Mia.
“We need to follow him!”
Jessy continues after Kilburn, Mia in tow. They both notice that the two tall men who have been observing them are not far behind, their shoes snapping against the marble floors as they run. Kilburn is moving fast. One room leads to another. A passing buzz of dinner conversations and artistic observations swirl around them as Jessy and Mia pick up the pace to keep up, but Mia is struggling. Up ahead, Kilburn dashes through a stone arch and out through the sprawling sandstone exit.
“I can't keep up in these heels!” Mia shouts, falling behind. But Jessy continues on. She can't lose track of Kilburn. He can answer all of her questions once and for all.
The cool night air greets Jessy outside in a large courtyard at the front of the museum. A large water fountain and wishing pool sit as the centrepiece, water streaming out from the top and countless coins in the water glistening in the moonlight. Each one a wish, many unanswered. Jessy reaches the fountain and sees the shadowy figure of Kilburn up ahead, running through the gates into the nearest street.
“Kilburn, wait!” Jessy cries.
Kilburn stops. A streetlight casts his shadow long behind him. Two bright flashes emanate from a darkened corner of the courtyard and Kilburn clutches his chest before dropping to the ground.
“No!” Jessy screams. She is about to rush forward to help him when she sees a reflection in the fountain water streaming down in front of her. Someone is standing behind her, and they have something in their hand.
Jessy reaches back quickly and knocks a gun from a man's hand. The gun falls into the water of the fountain. Enraged, the man grabs Jessy by the throat and pushes her backwards into the icy water of the fountain. Jessy's heart nearly stops at how cold the water is as the man pushes down on her head. She fights. Water seeps into her mouth. She coughs under the water. Her attacker's hands squeeze tightly around her neck.
Suddenly she hears the sound of feet on the concrete courtyard coming at speed. A man yells. Jessy opens her eyes and, through the water, sees the tall figure of Danny behind the attacker as he shoulder-barges the man into the water next to Jessy. She is free, and in the confusion she is pulled out of the water by Mia. Jessy coughs and wheezes; her lungs feel like glass. Mia and Jessy watch momentarily as Danny fights with Jessy's attacker. Before Jessy and Mia can help, the attacker falls out of the fountain pool and then rushes away into the dark of the night.
Catching his breath and soaking from head to toe, Danny steps out of the water fountain, exhausted. But his only thought is for his wife. He rushes over to her and wraps his arms around her in an embrace.
“Are you okay?” he says between panting breaths.
Jessy nods and then peers over Danny's shoulder. In the courtyard, Kilburn lies on the ground.
Mia and Jessy rush over to him, but he is barely conscious.
“The fourth case file...” Kilburn says, his voice weak and blood oozing from his mouth. “Don't let it be in vain...” At that, the light flickers from his eyes and he breathes his last. Mia tries to resuscitate him, but it is only minutes before an ambulance arrives – called, no doubt, by one of the now many onlookers on the steps of the museum.
The paramedics cannot save Kilburn, and so his secrets die with him.
Chapter 2
Two days have passed. Both Danny and Jessy have their own cuts and bruises from the fight in the water fountain. Jessy's throat is still sore from her attacker's grip. However, there is more potential pain ahead. Tonight is a big night for Jessy; it is time to reveal to Danny what Kilburn told her before he was chased into the courtyard. They sit now around their wooden kitchen table – Danny and Jessy on one side, and joined on the opposite side by Mia and her cousin, Detective Garrett, an ally who is as enthralled by Harlan's cases as any of them.
“I've called you all here tonight because I don't know what to do,” says Jessy, sipping hot chocolate from her favouri
te cup for comfort.
“Did you ID Kilburn?” Mia asks Garrett.
“No,” he says. “He seems to have had a number of aliases. I know the guys investigating are still looking into it, but they haven't found out his true identity yet.”
Danny eyes Detective Garrett across the table. This is the man who was spending a lot of time with Jessy when she was investigating Harlan's case files. Danny feels suspicious of him, but tries to dismiss this as the quite understandable jealousy arising from his wife spending time away from home around another man. Especially when they are both involved in a world he doesn't fully understand. Danny just wants his life back, the one he was building with Jessy before all this happened.