by Maher Tegan
“Is that standard for him? Does he usually balk at doing smaller repairs?” Hunter asked.
She shrugged. “Sometimes. He was of the mind that it was easier to replace things than fix them, so I suppose he did balk some at it, though. That was what the fight was about. That and I think he’s the jealous type. He coulda gotten mad when he heard we were going out.”
It wouldn’t have been the first time a man killed a woman out of jealousy.
Hunter nodded. ‘Is there anything else you can tell us that you think might help?”
Noreen shook her head. “Not that I can think of, Sheriff.”
“If anything pops to mind, here’s my card. Please, call me any time.”
“Of course,” she said, taking it, then paused. “This wasn’t the first time she and Miranda had butted heads, just so you know. Miranda dated Frank way back when, and I think maybe she still had a thing for him.”
I sighed because as bad as I hated to admit it, Miranda was looking more guilty by the minute.
Chapter 13
“What did you think?” Hunter said when we were back in the truck.
“I think she was lying about Barbie making her a partner, but that’s the only time my meter dinged. I also think the two of them were perfectly matched. I’m surprised they’re not friends with Olivia and her crew. They’re cut from the same cloth.”
He nodded. “That they are. I gotta say, I’m a little worried about the fact that Miranda dated Frank. She never mentioned that, and I’d think she would have.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that doesn’t do anything toward clearing her, for sure. I think we should go talk to Frank. You think he’s working?”
Hunter shook his head. “No, I talked to him this morning. He said he’d be puttering around his house working on a renovation if I needed him again. He lives down by the north end of the lake.”
“Then I think that’s where we should go next.”
“So,” I said on the ride there, deciding that now was as good a time as ever to tell him about the new gift fate had thrust upon me. “I have something to tell you.”
I wrung my hands and shifted my weight, avoiding eye contact as I figured out how to tell him I was apparently a psychic now, too. I was still hoping it was just a weird phase, so sharing it wasn’t the easiest thing for me to do.
“Just spit it out,” he said, anxiety etching his features. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.”
I pulled in a deep breath and blew it out through my cheeks. “I’m having visions.”
He shot me a sideways glance. “Of what, sugarplums?”
I scowled at him. “I’m serious. Twice now, I’ve had flashes of something, and both times, it’s come true.”
He sighed. “Well, that’s not as bad as what I thought you were going to say. I was worried you were getting cold feet or something.”
“So me being psychic is better than if I had wedding jitters?” I didn’t feel like he was grasping the full importance of the development.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You’re a witch, and you’ve been developing weird powers ever since Shelby got herself stuck in that snow globe. It’s nothing new. Is it going to be a pain? Maybe, but it’s something I’m sure you’ll manage. After all, you learned how to manage stopping time and blowing things up and reading minds, and all the other new gifts you’ve picked up. I’m sure you’ll get a grasp on this, too.”
“Don’t you wonder why I got this particular gift?”
He shrugged. “Does it really matter? Would knowing why you got it change anything?”
“No, I suppose not. I guess between it and the weird dreams, I’m just rattled.” I plucked at the hem of my shorts. “It just feels like one more change, you know what I mean?”
He reached over and took my hand. “I do, but we’ll manage. You’ll manage. You always do. Wanna talk about the dreams?”
I shook my head. “I really don’t.”
“Then you don’t have to. But know I’m here if you change your mind.”
I gave him a small smile. “Thanks, and I do know that. I also know that you’re amazing and I’m lucky to have you.”
He preened as he flicked on his blinker to turn onto a well-maintained driveway. “I know. I’m just all that and a bag of chips.”
I smacked his arm and grinned. “I don’t know about all that. Don’t go getting a big head.”
I thought about talking about a date but decided against it. Solve the murder first, then decide on the rest of our life. A girl had to have priorities.
Frank’s house was different than what I expected from a man who owned an AC repair business. I’d anticipated a small older house with a couple outbuildings and maybe an old car or two that he tinkered on just for fun. Instead, he had a neat bungalow with nice landscaping and a new aluminum garage big enough to hold at least four or five cars. A sixties-model GTO gleamed from inside of it, and two four-wheelers sat off to the side. I couldn’t see anything else, but I imagined there were probably more toys in there.
A lean, tanned middle-aged man wearing jeans and a work shirt sat in a rocker on the porch, a cold beer beside him.
We climbed out of the truck and I followed Hunter across the gravel drive to the steps.
“Frank?” Hunter asked.
The man nodded. “I reckon you’re the sheriff,” he said, then turned to me, his gaze questioning.
“Noelle Flynn,” I said. “I’m just along for the ride.”
He nodded once, then looked out over the yard, his expression pensive.
“I don’t know anything else, but I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have. Want a beer? Or a Coke? I reckon you’re on duty and can’t do a beer.”
“I’d love a Coke,” Hunter replied, and I nodded.
“C’mon in, then,” Frank said, motioning for us to follow him. “Just look over the mess. I’m remodeling the living room. The stones on the fireplace were a mess, so that’s my current project. I just finished the drywall and ain’t got a chance to clean that mess up yet, either. I figured I’d do it all at once when I’m finished.”
We followed him inside. He was right—the place was sort of a mess, but only because sheets covered all the furniture and everything seemed to be coated in a fine layer of white dust. The kitchen was in the back of the house, and unlike the living room, it was neat as a pin. He’d apparently started the remodel there because all the appliances sitting on the gleaming black countertop were brand new along with the refrigerator. Four black ladder-back stools sat on one side of a kitchen island, and he waved toward them for us to take a seat.
“This is great,” I said, taking a seat on one stool while Hunter sat on another. My island was one of the things I liked most about my kitchen, and his was every bit as nice.
“Thanks,” he replied, a touch of pride in his voice. “This place needed a lot of work when I bought it, but I got it for dirt cheap. I’ve fixed it up as I’ve gotten the money to do it. I’d rather take my time and do it right than just go cheap and do it all at once.”
He pulled two bottles of Coke and a fresh beer from the fridge and handed the Cokes across to us, then leaned back against the counter on the other side.
“So what can I do for you?”
“We just talked to Noreen Hinkle, and she said a couple things that raised some questions,” Hunter replied, taking a long pull from his drink.
“Shoot,” Frank said.
“She said you two got in a fight Friday, and another witness corroborated it.”
He nodded. “We sure did. It had been comin’ to a head for a while. I don’t like to do anything half-assed, and she was bad about that. That woman could make a penny scream for mercy when it came to fixin’ things. It’s frustrating on a couple levels. First, I think if a hot water heater needs replaced, you replace it. Second, repairs take longer than replacements a lot of the time and if they’re just a patch, it means I’m gonna be back in a week or a month to fix it again. Tenants get
cranky and I have to listen to it from them. Truth be told, I can’t blame ’em. I’m sure they’re probably more tired of dealing with it than I am fixin’ it over and over.”
“Was it something in particular that you got in a fight about, or was it just general? We know you bought parts to fix a hot water heater, and then of course there’s Miranda’s AC.”
He shook his head, and the fine lines around his eyes deepened. “No, it was the AC, mostly. I’d sent my assistant out to check it. He didn’t find anything wrong with the thermostat or the inside handler, but when he checked outside, it was iced over and the motor was seized. It needed to be replaced, but she told me to thaw it out and make due. There’s no making due in that situation. Those buildings were built in the early eighties. It’s about time for the units to start going bad. She won’t invest in regular maintenance, so it’s not like I can catch problems before they go clear south.”
I assume from the fact that people said you stormed out that you didn’t get the answer you were looking for,” I said.
He shook his head. “No, so I told her I wasn’t going to keep wasting my time hobblin’ things along. I can make more on solo clients than I can from doin’ that.”
“Noreen says maybe you were fighting over her going to Fancy’s last night,” Hunter said. I watched Frank’s face for signs of anger or deception, and I turned my meter up full blast.
“Sheriff, I learned a long time ago that jealousy don’t do nothin’ but eat you up inside. If I was worried about her goin’ out, then she’s not the right woman for me and I wouldn’t have been wastin’ her time.”
That, of course, brought up the obvious question. He seemed to be a decent guy, which was the exact opposite of Barbie Lee.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, “but you don’t exactly seem like her type.”
One side of his mouth curled up in a half-grin. “Yeah, you wouldn’t think so, would you? But the truth is, she wasn’t horrible aside from bein’ greedy, and at my age, I thought maybe I could work her through that. She was raised poor, so I figured if I could give her some security, that might abate some. Besides, I didn’t know that about her when we started datin’ and it just got to where it was easier to deal with it than to scrap the relationship and start over.”
“How long were you together?” Hunter asked.
“Only about six months,” he said. “And I only started contractin’ to do her stuff about three months ago. I’d been doin’ ad-hoc repairs for her for a while, but then her regular guy quit—I know now why—and she asked if I’d pick it up.”
“And you weren’t having any doubts about the relationship?” I asked and was a little surprised when his ruddy cheeks pinked under his tan.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “She was an okay woman, but I doubt we would have made it to the year mark.”
“Did you kill her?” I asked. I figured if I could catch him by surprise, he might get flustered.
“What? No!” There was no pause, and the outrage on his face was real. Also, my meter didn’t so much as quiver.
I nodded. “Okay. I believe you. I had to ask though.”
“What about Noreen?” Hunter asked, shooting me a dirty look. I supposed that was probably a question I should have let him get around to in his own time.
Frank thought for a minute before answering. “I don’t imagine so. They were friends. About the only close one Barbie had. She was a member of the Keyhole Lake Chamber of Commerce and had some girls from there that she’d hang out with sometimes, but mostly it was just her and Noreen. They did somethin’ at least twice a week.”
“Noreen said Barbie Lee was gonna make her a partner,” I said.
He pressed his lips together in thought. “Maybe so. I know Barbie was tryin’ to take on new clients and that Noreen had found her a few leads. I suppose it’s possible.”
“Had they fought recently?” Hunter asked.
“Not that I know of,” Frank said, taking a pull from his beer. “Last I knew, they were goin’ out to Fancy’s last night. I don’t know why Noreen wasn’t with her.”
Hunter nodded. “Okay, then, we’ll get out of your hair. Can you think of anybody else—tenants, owners, anybody—who might have wanted her dead bad enough to do it?”
He shrugged. “Miranda was spittin’ mad when I went out there yesterday afternoon and told her I had to order a unit. Can’t say as I blame her because it was hot as Hades in that apartment and it had already been three days. She was lookin’ at another three because I had to order the AC, plus another day on top of that at least for me to install it. That’s a two-man job and my assistant only works on certain days because he’s goin’ to trade school to become a tech.”
“Was she murderin’ mad though?” I asked.
He cast Hunter a guilty look. “I hate to say it, but yeah, maybe. This wasn’t the first time she’s had to wait on maintenance. She had a whole slew of choice words that I don’t care to repeat. She did her best not to take it out on me, but if Barbie’d been standin’ there, she’da been pickin’ her teeth up off the ground.”
I sighed. That was another check in the Miranda column, and we were starting to run out of options.
Chapter 14
“I hate to ask it, but how well do you really know Miranda?” Hunter asked once we were back in the truck.
I shrugged, starting to wonder myself if maybe we already had our murderer. It wasn’t looking good for her. “Not well. Just from talking to her at Fancy’s, I suppose. But I’d like to think I’m a better judge of character than to miss that.”
“Anybody’s capable of murder under the right circumstances,” he said, casting me a sideways glance.
“Do you really believe that?” I asked, and he nodded.
“I do, especially in this circumstance. I don’t think most people would commit premeditated murder, but I think that most of us could do it if we were mad enough or if there was enough at stake. Think about it. Can you imagine killing somebody if it was them or Shelby?”
When he put it that way, I had to nod. After all, I’d been in that situation. I hadn’t killed any of the witches that had attacked us, but I would have in a heartbeat if I’d had no other choice.
“Yeah, I suppose I can. But we also live under much different rules than most people. I mean, we have people with deadly magic that would like to remove us from the planet.”
“Is that really different, though?” he asked. “The concept is the same and so are the emotions. If it came down to Shelby or the person who was threatening her, it wouldn’t matter if they were magical or not. If a bank robber had a gun to her head, or if somebody tried to kidnap her in a parking lot, you wouldn’t even think twice. You’d just react. Or if somebody was attacking you, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine hitting them with a rock to get them off of you. You might not even mean to kill them, but it could happen.”
“So you think maybe this was an accident? Maybe Miranda and Barbie got into it and Miranda hit her in self-defense?”
“Maybe, he said, lifting a shoulder. “Or maybe she just got so mad that she whacked her in the spur of the moment.”
I shivered and kicked the freezing AC down a little. “I suppose so. Have you gotten anything back on the hair that was wrapped around her fingers?”
His gaze whipped to me. “How did you know about that?”
“I do have eyes,” I said, smiling. “Before you got there, I took a look for myself. I was afraid somebody would do somethin’ goofy like move her, so I figured I’d take a look while I could.”
He huffed a breath out through his nose and smiled. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. But to answer your question, no. It’s too soon yet. Jim said he’d do his best to have something back to us today. Tomorrow at the latest. I got a search warrant for Miranda’s house and sent her hairbrush along with the sample. We might not know who did it if there’s not a DNA match, but we will know for sure whether or not that hair was Miranda’s.”<
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Jim was Keyhole’s coroner and forensics expert. He was born and raised here but had moved to Atlanta after he’d graduated from college to work for the FBI. He still spent most weekends and as many of his days off as he could here. If we needed anything at all, we just had to ship it to him and he gave us priority if he didn’t have any outstanding cases of his own.
“So until then, we have diddly squat.” I was frustrated even though I knew from experience that murders weren’t usually solved in a day.
“Well,” he said with a deep breath. “Yeah, we do. We have Miranda.”
Something occurred to me. “Were you able to unlock Barbie Lee’s phone?”
He nodded. Yeah. The only people she talked to all day were Miranda, another tenant who had a leaky ceiling according to the voice mail, Harvey Jackson—that’s the guy she was with at Bobbie Sue’s—and Frank. She had texts from Frank, too, and several from Noreen. Some were about work, then there was the one call, where I assume she canceled their trip to Fancy’s.”
That was disappointing, but again, it wasn’t like I expected somebody to call her and say, “Hey, Barbie Lee, this is so-and-so, and I’m on my way to Fancy’s. Come out the back door so I can smash you in the head with a rock.” Though that would have been handy for sure.
“What are you doing now?” I asked.
“There’s not much to do. I’d like to talk to the people Barbie worked for, but it’s Sunday and all of their offices are closed. None of them are local, so it’s not like I can hop in the truck and go question them in person.”
“No, I suppose you can’t. If you don’t mind, drop me off at my truck. I’m gonna swing by and grab my truck. I brought it and the trailer to town. Do you gotta go back to the office?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I locked up when we left, and like I said, there’s not much else I can do before tomorrow anyway.”