Barbecue and a Murder

by Kathleen Suzette

  “It’s still a convenient piece of information to leave out, don’t you think?” I said to him, putting my hands on my hips. “I also heard that you threatened her after she broke up with you, and she was afraid of you.”

  He shook his head, his eyes going wide. “That is not true. I would never threaten Pamela. If you knew Pamela, you would know how ridiculous that is. Pamela wasn’t easily threatened.”

  That struck me as being true even though I really didn’t know Pamela. Everyone had said she got whatever she wanted. She probably wouldn’t back down to someone threatening her.

  “What really happened?” I asked him, relaxing a bit.

  “Let’s step over here,” he said and led me to the very back corner of the garage. He turned back to me. “I was embarrassed that Pamela broke up with me. I didn’t tell anyone, I let everyone think we were still together. I thought we would get married and settle down after she was done with the Miss America pageant. We always talked about having kids together, and then she suddenly broke up with me.” There were tears in his eyes as he spoke, and it threw me off guard. Was he making this up? Were the tears genuine?

  “Why did she break up with you?”

  He shook his head and looked off into the distance. “She said I was holding her back,” he said, his voice cracking. “Can you believe that? I mean, did she think she was going to be a beauty queen forever? You can only do pageants for so long before you look ridiculous. She was quickly approaching that age. Honestly, the Miss America pageant would have been her last by sheer virtue of the fact that there aren’t many pageants beyond that one.”

  “I’m sure there are pageants for older women,” I said, trying to think of one.

  He chuckled bitterly. “Pamela had too much pride for that. You wouldn’t catch her dead in one of those second rate pageants. It was Miss America or nothing, and if she hadn’t won, that would have been the end of the line. She always said she wasn’t going to be one of those poor pitiful women that couldn’t give up the beauty pageant scene.”

  “Then what did she say was the reason you were holding her back?”

  “She wanted to go to Hollywood after the pageant. She said if she won the pageant she would spend the year making appearances like she was obligated to do, and then she would go to Hollywood. If she didn’t win, she was going straight to Hollywood. She was certain she would make it big in the movies, but doesn’t everyone think that?” He chuckled bitterly as tears traced their way down his cheeks. He brushed at the tears with the back of his hand.

  “Beautiful girls are a dime a dozen in Hollywood,” I said. “A lot of people think they’re going to make it, but anyone with any sense would understand there’s very little chance of that happening.”

  “You know what?” he said looking at me again. “She would have made it. She just had something. When she walked by, people turned to look at her and it wasn’t just because she was beautiful. There was something else about her. People remarked on it all the time. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if she had made it in the movies. And she wasn’t going to let me be the one to stop her. I was shocked that Hollywood was more important to her than I was. But I would never hurt her."

  I studied him, trying to determine if he was telling the truth.

  “Who told you I threatened her?” he asked.

  “Sharon North.”

  Ryan’s eyes went wide and his face turned red. “Oh really? Sharon North? She would say something like that wouldn’t she? Everyone that knew how bad Sharon and Pamela’s relationship was would know it was most likely Sharon who killed her. Sharon hated her. She didn’t just dislike her, she hated her.”

  I had heard all this before, and if Sharon had an alibi, she was off the hook. I knew Cade was going to look into her alibi, so I needed Ryan to tell me where he was.

  “Where were you that night? Where’s your alibi?” I asked, keeping my eye on him to see if he gave something away. “Because here’s something that I happen to know for a fact. My coworker, Luanne, tried to bring her car into the garage the night Pamela was killed. The night you said you were here working on cars. You did say that, didn’t you? At first, I didn’t realize that the same night Luanne told me about the garage being locked up was the night Pamela was killed. But it was, wasn’t it?”

  I had remembered what was scratching at my memory when I was talking to Sharon on the way over. The garage had been closed the night Pamela was murdered and Ryan’s boss had vouched for him without realizing he had lied about being here.

  His eyes went to the other mechanic and the guy on the computer, then he looked back at me. “I was supposed to be here,” he whispered. “But I wasn’t and my boss doesn’t know that. I can’t have him knowing that I forged my timecard.”

  Just as I thought, he had no alibi. “Where were you?” I repeated. “Did you kill Pamela North?”

  His eyes darted back to the other mechanics again, and then he looked back at me. “No, I didn’t kill Pamela. I was with a girl.”

  Now it was time for me to be surprised. “Wait, you loved Pamela so much that you were sure you would have gotten back together with her if she hadn’t died, but two weeks after she broke up with you, you were with another girl?” None of this was making any sense. Ryan Sparks was a liar.

  “It wasn’t like that,” he said through clenched teeth. “I was mad. Pamela didn’t care about my feelings. She didn’t care about our relationship. I meant nothing to her. And when Ashley Diaz stopped in at the garage earlier that day and asked if I wanted to get a pizza, I said yes. I went out where there would be a lot of people on a Friday night, hoping that Pamela would hear about it, get jealous, and want me back. Unfortunately, that never happened.”

  I shook my head. “Ryan, you don’t make any sense. You were supposed to be here at the garage and you don’t want your boss to know you forged your timecard, but you went out in public hoping to be seen?”

  He sighed and clenched his fists. “I figured if I ran into anyone from the garage, I would change my timecard back the next day before my boss saw it, but I never saw anyone from work that night. I figured it was worth the risk if Pamela knew I wasn’t sitting at home crying over her.”

  I bit my lower lip, thinking. I wasn’t sure I believed a word of what he was saying. “What time were you done with dinner?” I asked.

  “Around 8:30, and before you ask, I stayed the night with Ashley.”

  I chuckled. “So, you just wanted to make Pamela jealous by having people see you with another girl at a restaurant? And you loved Pamela so much, but you didn’t hesitate to jump into bed with another girl?”

  His eyes went to the ceiling for a moment then he looked at me. “I did something I regret. It was stupid, I know. But I still hoped I could make it up to Pamela.”

  I shook my head. “Why did you lie about it to me? Why not tell the truth?”

  “Because when Pamela ended up dead, I realized what a horrible thing I had done. I was ashamed and was hoping no one would know the truth,” he said sadly. “I hoped no one would figure it out.”

  I sighed. This guy was either a champion liar or he had the worst luck. “This Ashley had better stand up for you. Because you’re going to hear from the detective about this."

  “Listen, please don’t tell my boss. I need this job and if he finds out that I lied on my timecard, he’ll probably fire me.”

  I shrugged. “I really don’t care whether you forged your timecard or not. What I care about is finding Pamela North’s killer. It’s not like I’m going to run and tell him you did it. Whether the detective says anything about it or not, isn’t my business, either. I have to get going now.” I shook my head. Had I ever been that young and stupid? I didn’t think so.

  I headed across the garage and out the office door. This case was frustrating me. Did either Sharon or Ryan truly have an ironclad alibi? That was going to have to be something Cade looked into. But my two prime suspects quite possibly had alibis, and I didn’t know what
I was going to do now.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “I know you can’t wait to spill about what you found out,” Cade said, sitting back in his seat. “So why don’t you go ahead and tell me.”

  We were at a sweet little Italian restaurant located in the heart of Sparrow and the waitress had just taken our orders. I was excited. Cade and I were on a second date.

  I picked up my glass of water, took a sip and set the glass down. “You don’t have to say it like that, you know,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “But since you asked, I’ll tell you. I saw Sharon North again. I was filling in at my mother’s flower shop and she came in to order an arrangement for Pamela’s funeral. I just really felt like she had to be the one responsible for Pamela’s death after all I’d heard about her terrible relationship with Pamela.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Wait a minute, you’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say, are you?”

  I stared at him for a moment before answering. “I might be. I asked her if she killed her stepdaughter.”

  Cade sighed loudly. “Rainey, why did you do that? You’re just supposed to be asking around to see if you can find anything out, not accusing people of murder.”

  “Now, I don’t know if you could call it accusing, exactly,” I said and then I remembered some of the details of our conversation. Actually, I guess I did accuse her. “I just told her there were people who said she and Pamela had a bad relationship and some thought she may have killed Pamela.”

  He shook his head slowly. “Rainey, I can’t believe you did that.”

  I shrugged. “She says she has an alibi, and she didn’t do it. She also said that Ryan Sparks was the most likely suspect.”

  “You aren’t surprised she said she didn’t do it, are you?” he asked, smirking.

  “Of course not,” I said and picked up my water glass again for something to do. “But she did let me in on a little something that I didn’t know before. She said Ryan Sparks and Pamela had broken up two weeks prior to her death. She said she overheard what sounded like Ryan threatening Pamela shortly before she died. My question is why didn’t Ryan tell me they had broken up? In fact, it doesn’t appear that he told anyone they had broken up. So then, of course, I had to go and speak to Ryan.”

  He stared at me. “You didn’t really do that, did you?” he asked incredulously.

  I nodded and smiled. “You knew I was going to do that, don’t act surprised.”

  “Oh Rainey, please tell me you didn’t accuse him, too.”

  “Let’s just say I kind of did. But, he says he has an alibi as well. Do you want to know where he was the night Pamela died?”

  “I already know the answer to that question. He told me he was working late at the garage and his boss confirmed it,” he said, his mouth forming a hard line.

  “Yeah, that’s what he told you and me and probably everyone else. But it’s not true because Luanne tried to take her car to the garage that evening to leave it off to be worked on later. But when she got there, the garage was locked up tight and she couldn’t leave it until the following Monday morning.”

  “I guess you may as well go on and tell me the rest,” he said, with a sigh.

  I folded my hands on the table in front of me and leaned forward. “After telling me how devastated he was by Pamela breaking up with him, he went on to say he went on a date with some girl named Ashley Diaz. He said he stayed the night with her. If he loved Pamela so much, how could he sleep with this other girl? And why did he lie about it? If this Ashley even exists. Maybe he’s lying about her.”

  He nodded his head slowly deep in thought. “Ashley does exist because she’s the chief’s daughter.”

  “Oh,” I said as my stomach sank. Ashley Diaz was the chief of police’s daughter. Having her for an alibi was convenient for Ryan.

  “Did you ask him why he lied?” he asked, looking at a spot on the table in front of him. Worry lines creased his forehead. This investigation was getting more complicated by the minute.

  “He said the only reason he was going out to dinner with Ashley was in the hopes that someone would see him with her and it would make Pamela jealous. He hoped she would want to get back together with him. He said he didn’t intend to sleep with Ashley and after Pamela turned up dead, he was ashamed of what he had done.”

  “People don’t usually lie unless they’re afraid of something,” he said thoughtfully and looked up at me again. “And while Ryan may say he was afraid of Pamela finding out he slept with this girl, I have to consider if the truth was really that he was out murdering Pamela. Depends on if Ashley will actually vouch for him.”

  “Yeah, but I actually kind of believe him,” I said, feeling dispirited. “He seemed very sincere.” And he had.

  “You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen in my line of duty. People you would never in a million years think could be lying because they were so convincing. And it turned out they were the murderers. He was pretty convincing when I spoke to him and he said he was at work.”

  “It’s not like you would think he was lying when his boss vouched for him,” I pointed out.

  “And why did his boss corroborate his story?” he asked.

  “Because his boss doesn’t know. Ryan forged his timecard and begged me not to tell his boss or he would be fired. He slipped out after everyone else had left the garage. His boss just assumed he had stayed behind and worked on vehicles. Ryan said he was going to change his timecard if he ran into anyone from the garage.”

  “I guess I’ll have to have another chat with him, then,” he said.

  The waitress brought our meals and set them down on the table. Cade had ordered the lasagna, and I had ordered spaghetti and meatballs with a side of garlic breadsticks that smelled like the perfect combination of yeast, garlic, and butter.

  “This looks really good,” I said and inhaled the aroma of the meat sauce on top of my spaghetti.

  “You can say that again,” Cade said, picking up his fork. “Everything smells so good.”

  “I happen to know they make everything from scratch, except for the pasta itself. That comes in fresh from a bigger restaurant in Boise where it’s handmade,” I said, sticking my fork into my pasta and twirling it.

  “Wow, I can’t wait to dig in,” he said. “Beats the fast food I normally live off of.”

  I groaned. “Seriously? Fast food? Don’t tell me you can’t cook.”

  He grinned at me. “Not a bit.”

  I looked at Cade as he cut into his lasagna with his fork. I had been trying for weeks to resist him when he first asked me out, and suddenly I couldn’t understand why I had done that. Sure, he could be a smart alec and sometimes he seemed so sure of himself in an annoying way. But tonight I felt like Cade Starkey might be someone I might really like.

  “This is really good,” he said and closed his eyes while he chewed.

  “It’s the best,” I said and watched him for a moment. I was glad I had allowed Cade into my life. I hoped I wouldn’t change my mind on that in the future. But for now, things were going well.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  The next day I lay on the couch with the home and garden show on the television and Maggie’s head resting on my stomach. I scratched Maggie’s ears while going over the previous evening in my mind. Maggie had a habit of needing to touch me whenever I stopped or stood still. I wondered if it was a result of having been at the county animal shelter for a time. I reached down and rubbed her shoulders and she gave me a satisfied groan.

  “I’m so glad you came into my life,” I said to the blue tick hound. “How do you feel about a new house? And maybe more importantly, how do you feel about a new person in your life? Namely, one Cade Starkey. He’s that big detective that stops by once in a while. You like him.” Maggie turned her head to face me and stuck her tongue out, touching the tip of her nose, and then withdrew it. I giggled and scratched her head again. “I’ve got a feeling you and Cade will make a great pai
r.” It was far too early in our relationship to be thinking about anything permanent, but my mind couldn’t be stopped from thinking about the possibilities. I couldn’t even call what we had a relationship just yet. But maybe, if things continued in the direction they were going, it would be.

  The home and garden show ended and switched to a do-it-yourself program on tiling a shower. I picked up the remote, flipped channels, and ended up on the local morning news program. I stopped when I saw a picture of Pamela. The newscaster was saying the police had no leads in the case and were asking once again if the public knew anything about her murder to call the police department. The picture of Pamela was one from a pageant and she wore her tiara proudly. Her smile was made for beauty pageants with straight white teeth that sparkled. It made me sad all over again. There were so many people who didn’t like Pamela, and I had to believe there had to be something to the way they felt. After all, when you hear the same stories over and over, they’re bound to be at least partially true. But sorting out the truth from the gossip wasn’t easy. Some people just liked to talk to make themselves feel important. But still, Pamela was so young and it was unfair to have her life snuffed out the way it had been. It made me sick.

  I sighed, unable to get thoughts of Pamela out of my mind. Who killed Pamela North? It was the question of the day. Or rather, it was the question of a week and a half. Edward North had put out a reward for information that leads to an arrest in the murder of his daughter. I hoped it would help somebody come forward with information even though it was sad that money might be more of a motivator than just doing the right thing.

  Who was Pamela with that night? The contents of the trunk of her car revealed an ordinary outing at the river. A hibachi barbecue, charcoal, lighter fluid, an ice chest with soft drinks, condiments, and hotdogs, and a swimsuit, flip flops, and sunscreen. Many of the same things I had brought along for the outing with my nieces and nephews. And then there was the issue of the minor car accident—something that appeared to be staged. It wasn’t bad enough to kill her, so who had sprayed her with lighter fluid and set her on fire? I really hoped she was completely unconscious when the fire was set.