by Kathi Daley
“Why doesn’t he just get a subpoena to access the file Star left in her safety deposit box?”
“He’d need to go through the courts to get access, and that will take time. He hoped I could find something more quickly. I told him I’d head downstairs and work on it now. I’m sorry about the movie. I guess I’ll need a rain check.”
“That’s okay. This is more important. Can I help?”
Tony hesitated and then nodded. “It will help if you can go over the timeline again.”
“I can do that. Where do you want me to start?”
“At the beginning, but let’s head downstairs first. We can chat while I work.”
Once Tony and I got settled in his computer room, he asked me to start by going back over everything I knew about both Star and Sam Denton. I didn’t have a specific timeline in that I couldn’t confirm actual dates, but I did have a general overview of what had happened.
“As a newborn, Star was left at a church by a man I now believe to have been my father in 1979. A couple named Sonny and Dharma Moonwalker adopted her. After her adoptive parents both passed, she decided to look for her birth parents, so she hired Sam Denton to find them. Sam is the one who found out that Star had been left at the church by a man who declined to identify himself. He also found out that a woman who had recently given birth had been shot and killed at about the same time Star was left at the church.”
“So Star originally hired Denton in 2016?” Tony asked.
“That seems about right as far as I know. She wasn’t specific about the date when I spoke to her.”
Tony typed some commands into the computer. “Okay, go on.”
“After Denton told Star about her mother’s violent end, she realized she might be better off not knowing all the details of her birth, so she paid Denton off and asked him to stop looking. I don’t know when that was exactly, but she made it sound as if he had found out what he knew about her mother in a relatively short amount of time, so that may have taken place two or three years ago. It’s hard to say.”
“Okay.” Tony continued to type. “So she decided to stop her search. Then what?”
“At some point after that, Denton was hired by someone else to find proof that a man everyone believed to be dead was actually alive. I believe that man was my father. Denton found a link between the man he was looking for and the one who’d dropped Star off at the church. Once he confirmed that the two men were most likely one and the same, he contacted Star again.”
“And do you know when that was?”
I tried to remember. After a minute, I slowly shook my head. “No. I don’t think she said. If she did, I don’t recall. I have the feeling, however, that it was recently. Within the past year. All I know for sure is that not only did Denton provide Star with a name and photo of the man who dropped her off at the church, he was also able to photograph the man who was supposed to be dead and provide those photos to his client. Shortly after Denton provided Star with the same photos, she found out that he had been shot and killed.”
Tony paused and looked up. “Any idea of the name of the client who hired Denton to find your father?”
I shook my head. “No idea. I don’t think Star knew. If she did, she didn’t say.”
“And you don’t know when Denton died?”
“I don’t, but Star did tell me that Denton made a copy of his file and left it with a friend. Sometime after Denton’s death, his friend sent the file to her. I delivered that file to Star back in October, so I would guess that Denton died a month or two before.”
Tony continued to search. “I’m not finding an obituary or any business listings for a private investigator named Sam Denton. Did Star ever mention another name? Maybe a full name or a business title?”
“She never said.” I narrowed my gaze. “Wait, I remember something.” I paused to dig around in my memory. “Spring. Star said that Denton had tracked down the man he’d been hired to find this past spring. Star said that once Denton provided the proof-of-life photos of the man he’d been looking for to his client, his assignment was complete, and it was at that point he offered to continue looking into the guy for Star because he believed that this man was her father. Star wanted to take a few days to think it over, and it was during that time that Denton was shot and killed.”
“So, Denton died this past spring?”
“Yes, I think so. I’m not sure why the file wasn’t sent to Star until October if Denton died in the spring, but now that I think about it, I’m sure that is what she told me.”
“Okay.”
Tony continued to type while I continued to think back to my conversation with Star. Once I realized that the man she was talking about was most likely my father, I think I sort of blacked out and didn’t catch the rest of what she’d said. Talk about a shock!
“I think I found something,” Tony said. “A man named Adam Samuel Denton was shot and killed in his home in Casper, Wyoming this past May. According to a newspaper article I found, he was a private investigator who lived alone and tended to travel a lot for work. His closest living relative at the time of his death was a cousin who lived in Pittsburg.”
I got up and began to pace. “Okay, so Denton was killed in May. I wonder if we have any information regarding what my father was doing then.” I paused and continued to walk. “Mike was shot in April, which is when Dad came to White Eagle with a warning for us to back off. And I did. We did. For a while. I guess we’d stopped tracking him by May.”
Tony nodded. “I’m afraid that you are correct in that we’d stopped tracking your dad by May and don’t have any information about his whereabouts since this past April. I can go back to try to find out where he was in May, but it will take a while.”
“Okay. Maybe we’ll do that later. What can we determine based on what we know right now?”
“I’m not sure we can say anything with any degree of certainty at this point. It might be best to determine the questions and then look for specific answers.”
That sounded reasonable and a whole lot more manageable. “Okay, then I suppose the first thing I’d want to know is why my father was with Star’s mother when she died. And who killed her? And why was she killed? Did my dad know she was in trouble and were they running from someone when Star was born or did they just happen to be together when Star’s mother was killed?”
“All good questions.”
“I’m just getting started.” I continued to pace. “I suppose an even more relevant question might be who hired Denton to find my father? And why did he want him found? Did my father kill Denton because he provided photos of his existence to his client? Or did someone who was after my father kill him? Might Denton’s client have killed him after he finished his mission? And what did whoever hired a private investigator to find my father do with the information he hired Denton to find once they had it? Is my father in danger? Is he even still alive? Are Mike, my mom, and I in danger? Should we look for Dad or just leave this alone?”
Tony got up. He crossed the room, pulling me into his arms when he reached me. “It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay. I don’t have any answers yet, but I’ll find them. And I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. We just need to keep our heads and work on those questions one at a time.” He tilted my chin up and looked me in the eye. “Okay?”
I nodded, even though I was feeling far from okay. “Do you think my dad killed Star?”
“Why would your dad do that?”
“She had the information Denton dug up. My dad went to a lot of trouble to disappear. I would think he would be pretty unhappy that Denton took photos of him.”
“Your dad probably saved Star’s life when she was an infant. He made sure she was in a safe place and would be taken care of before he took off. I doubt he would turn around and kill the woman that baby had become forty years later.”
I supposed Tony was correct, but his explanation didn’t do a lot to quell the knot in my stomach.
Chapter 4
Monday, December 9
“Morning, Bree,” I said to my best friend and sister-in-law as I popped into the bookstore she owned to deliver her mail.
“Hello,” she answered politely. “How was your weekend?”
“It was fine,” I answered. I hated to admit it, but she sounded almost as peeved with me as Mike was. “Tony and I got our trees cut and set up,” I decided to avoid the topic of Star’s murder altogether. “We’ll have to have you and Mike over for dinner soon so you can see our decorations.”
“Maybe,” she answered noncommittally.
I leaned my elbows on the counter. Tilly must have realized we were going to be here for a while because she wandered over to the pillow Bree kept for her and laid down. “Are you mad at me too?”
Bree hesitated. She looked conflicted, and then she tightened her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course, I’m mad at you. How could you do that to Mike? To me? We’ve been nothing but supportive since you first spilled the beans about your father. I really thought we were all in this thing together. Like a team. But apparently, you are doing what you always do and cutting everyone out.”
“I wasn’t trying to cut you out,” I defended myself.
“Yes, you were,” she insisted. “You always do that. And you know why you always do that? Because you think you are better than everyone else. You think that Mike and I, and even Tony, are so weak and inferior that we can’t handle the same level of stress as the great Tess Thomas.”
Ouch. That really hurt. I wanted to lash back at her, but maybe Bree was right. I did tend to protect those around me by not sharing the more difficult aspects of my life. And I had intentionally decided that Mike couldn’t handle the truth about Dad or Star. Had I been wrong? I hadn’t thought so at the time, but now that Bree had put everything out on the table, maybe I had felt they weren’t equipped to handle the same level of danger and intrigue that I was.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I never meant to hurt you or Mike.”
“Maybe not, but you did. Mike has been so good about letting you be involved in his cases even though he doesn’t really need your help. He is, after all, the cop, and you are, after all, only the postal carrier. But Mike still lets you in. He respects you enough to entertain your ideas. It would be nice if you would have extended that same consideration to him.”
I was pretty sure I physically cringed at that comment. “You’re right. And I am sorry. I don’t know what more I can say. I didn’t mean to hurt Mike, but when my dad showed up, Mike was clinging to life in the hospital. I certainly wasn’t going to bring it up then.”
“And later? After he recovered?”
I exhaled slowly. “I don’t know. I guess it just never seemed like the right time. And you know how Mike would have responded if I’d told him that I suspected that Star was our half sister. There was no way he would have left it alone. I just wanted to be sure before I said anything.”
“Has it occurred to you that by not telling Mike what was going on, you might have gotten Star killed?”
It had occurred to me. More than once. I picked up my bag, turned, and left the bookstore. I’d need to make things up to Bree at some point but now was not that time. I felt bad enough about my part in Star’s death; the last thing I needed was someone reminding me that I’d all but shot the woman myself. If I’d told Mike what I knew right from the beginning, he might have done something better or different, something that would have allowed her to be here with us, celebrating the magic of the Christmas season.
“Let’s cross over and do Hattie’s next,” I said to Tilly. I’d been heading toward Sisters’ Diner, the restaurant my mother owned with my aunt, Ruthie, but suddenly, I felt that I was going to be unable to look Mom in the eye. I’d been lying and keeping things from her for years. I’d felt justified for doing so and had convinced myself that it was in her best interest, but was I really just playing the part of the superior being as Bree had just indicated I tended to do? I liked to think I was better than that but was I?
When had life become so darn complicated?
“Morning, Hattie,” I said as I entered the bakeshop. I took a deep breath as I took in the cinnamon, vanilla, peppermint, and even pumpkin. “It always smells so good in here. Is that chocolate?”
She nodded. “I have some double fudge cookies in the oven.”
“That sounds wonderful. I may have to loop back around later to grab a couple.”
“I’ll set a couple aside for you once I get them frosted. The chocolate goes well with the house blend of coffee I’ve been serving if you have time for a break later.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I set Hattie’s mail on the counter.
“I guess you heard about Star Moonwalker,” she said.
I nodded but decided not to point myself out as the one who found find her. “I did hear. I didn’t know her well, but she seemed like such a nice woman.”
“She was a very nice woman. I can’t imagine who would have wanted her dead, although there are theories a plenty floating around town.”
“What sort of theories?” I asked.
Hattie shrugged. “There are those who think that Star got mixed up with the wrong guy, and others who think she had some sort of a secret past that finally caught up with her, but most think that she got herself into some sort of a bad business deal that went horribly wrong.”
“A bad business deal?”
“I don’t have the details, but apparently, Star bought a bunch of furniture at an estate sale, and there are those who suspect she might have had to take on an investor to afford everything she purchased and that the investor turned on her after she tried to cut him out. Personally, I’m not sure any of these theories hold water. I think folks just like to speculate when something like this happens.”
“Do you know anything about the estate sale or the rumored investor?” I had to admit that an explanation for Star’s murder that didn’t involve my father would go a long way toward my peace of mind.
“No. Like I said, rumors are running rampant.”
I supposed that was to be expected. “You mentioned a secret past. I don’t suppose you have any additional details about that?”
“Not really. Star moved to White Eagle several years ago to look for her birth parents; I do know that. But I asked her about her progress a few times, as have others in the community, and she seemed to have clammed up. It is a bit odd that she started off speaking freely about her search, and then all of a sudden told everyone that she’d changed her mind, and had given up the search. There are a lot of us who think she found out something she wished she hadn’t. Like maybe her parents were criminals or something. Of course, there are others in town who think she had rich parents who decided they didn’t want a child, so when she found them, they paid her off to keep things quiet.”
“Why would they do that?”
Hattie shrugged. “No idea, and as I’ve said, all of it is speculation. Until the facts relating to Star’s murder are made public, folks are going to fill in the blanks with whatever they can come up with.”
Hattie might be right about that. I supposed that was how rumors got started. I picked up the mailbag I’d left resting at my feet. “I should get going. I’ll stop by later to pick up those cookies you promised me.”
“They’ll be waiting.”
While part of me hoped that Star’s death had been the result of a business deal gone bad, I sort of doubted that would be the case. And I found it interesting that one of the theories floating around was of a secret past. Hattie had been off about the rich parent angle, and Star had talked about finding her parents to quite a few folks when she first moved to the area, but I had to wonder if Star hadn’t shared something more specific and closer to the truth with someone close to her. I supposed she might have. I mean, I’d just met her when she basically shared the whole story of her past with me.
If Star had shared the details of her past with someone
in the community, that would be important information to have. Maybe I should ask around to try to figure out who she might have shared her secret with. Maybe I’d ask Hattie about it again when I stopped by to pick up my cookies.
Chapter 5
Tony had called me earlier and left a message, filling me in on the fact that Mike had asked him to run down some phone numbers, so he’d gone out to his house by the lake. He’d taken the animals, other than Tilly, who was with me, out there with him, and asked that I meet him there when I finished work for the day. I normally didn’t mind the extra drive, but it had been a really long day, so the message left me feeling grumpier than usual. But the things Bree had said to me, while rough, really had hit home, so I was determined to try to make things up to Tony by setting aside my fatigue and at least appearing to be as happy and pleasant as possible.
When I arrived at his place, I found a note letting me know he was down in his computer room. The place was airtight and soundproof, so I knew calling out wouldn’t do any good. I greeted the animals, changed out of my uniform, and headed downstairs. When I walked into the room, Tony looked up and smiled at me.
“Oh good, you got my message.”
“I did. You look busy.”
He nodded, pushed back his chair, and stood up. “Mike pulled Star’s phone records. There were a few things that stood out that he wanted to follow up on. I’d offered to help, and he decided to take me up on it.”
“What sort of things?” I asked as he took my hand and led me out of the room.
“Mostly telephone conversations that Star engaged in during the last couple of weeks of her life. There were several calls to the bank, at least three calls to Austin Wade, several from a woman named Celia Bronson, a bunch to an unlisted number I still need to track down, and quite a few to and from a burner cell.”
“And were you able to figure out the content of the calls?”