by Kathi Daley
I nodded. “Yes. I went by to check on him because he was late for the parade and found him lying on the floor of his house.”
“I did see Tony riding through town in the Santa suit. It was nice of him to cover, but I was devastated when I found out why Colton hadn’t made it. And to find out that he’d been murdered so soon after Star Moonwalker. What is this world coming to?”
I slipped my bag off my shoulder and set it on the floor. “I don’t suppose you might have heard who was responsible for the deaths?”
“Well, there has been talk. You know how it is in a small town. But I don’t think anyone knows for certain. Before Colton’s death, there were a few people who thought the man who showed up in Star’s shop a few days before her death might have been responsible, but after Colton was shot too, I think the popular opinion is that one person is responsible for both deaths.”
I narrowed my gaze. “What man? You said a man showed up at Star’s shop. What was his name, and why did people think he killed Star?”
“I don’t know his name offhand. Jillian, from over at the pharmacy, was the one to tell me about it, so she might know. She said that the guy looked like he was from the government. He wore a black suit and had a listening device in his ear, so he definitely wasn’t from around here.”
“Could the listening device have been a Bluetooth device for a cell phone?”
“I guess it might have been. Jillian just said that the man looked like a fed, maybe CIA. He had this real commanding presence, and he never smiled once while she was there.”
“Did she know why the man was there?”
Sue shook her head. “She said he came in and asked Star if she was Star Moonwalker. She said she was, and then he said he had some questions for her, and he kicked Jillian out, locked the door, and turned the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed.’”
“He kicked her out?”
She nodded. “Jillian was the only customer at the time. She’d been getting ready to check out when the guy showed up, but before she could even set her stuff on the counter, the guy announced that the store was closed, and that was that. If you want to hear more about it, you can talk to Jillian directly.”
“I will. And thank you. I appreciate the information.”
“I just want the killer found. Two locals killed in just over a week has everyone on edge. What if this guy is some sort of a serial killer who isn’t done doing whatever it is he feels he needs to do? Who might be next?”
It had never occurred to me that the person who had shot Star and Colton was a serial killer on a spree, but I guess I could see how others might be concerned about that very thing.
“I know that you like to collect antiques.”
“Yes. Good quality antiques are one of my vices, I’m afraid,” Sue confirmed.
“Had you heard that Colton and Star had gone in together to buy a desk from the Colonial era?”
“I had heard. I spoke to Uncle Austin about it. He seemed to think the desk might have a hidden drawer, but I think it is more likely the one they had was the kind with a false back.”
“Do you have any idea how to get to the false back?”
She shrugged. “I have a few. If the desk is the type I am thinking of, there will be a small knob in the back of the center drawer. It won’t seem like much, and you really need to feel around to find it, but if you do, and you turn the knob all the way to the left as far as it can go and then give the knob a little tug, a sort of latch should appear. All you need to do once you find that latch is give it a pull and the panel will pop open.”
I figured it couldn’t hurt to try what Sue suggested, so I called Mike to tell him what I’d learned. He was still at the furniture store, so he arranged to meet me at his office at around five.
Chapter 13
Jillian Brown had worked at the local pharmacy for three or four years, a woman I guessed to be in her late forties. Her children were all married or in college, which left the big old house she’d raised them in in Missoula feel much too large and much too empty, she said, so she sold it and moved to White Eagle. Jillian was a nice woman who I didn’t know super well, but we had spoken on occasion. She could be found at the pharmacy Monday through Friday from nine to five, and at the local flea market, selling her artwork, on the weekends. At least during the summer. The flea market was closed between November 1 and April 1, but there were often local events, such as this weekend’s Christmas on Main, where local artists could peddle their work.
“Afternoon, Jillian,” I greeted her as Tilly and I wandered in from the street.
“Hey, Tess. What are you doing here? The pharmacy has a box down at the post office.”
“I’m not here with mail. I’m actually here to ask you about the man you saw at Star’s store right before she died. The one who kicked you out.”
Her lips tightened. “The guy was totally rude. It was late, near closing time, but Star always lets me finish shopping rather than kicking me out if I get there before she actually locks the door. This man pulled up in a dark sedan—black, I think, but I can’t be sure. I do remember it had dark, tinted windows. After he parked, he came in and started acting like he owned the place. He asked Star if she was indeed Star Moonwalker, and when she said she was, he announced that the store was closed and that I’d need to leave. I hadn’t even had a chance to pay for the items I’d picked out. The guy was a real buffoon.”
“Did he happen to identify himself?”
“No. He never said who he was. That’s weird, right? Aren’t people who work for the government supposed to show a badge and state their name right off the bat?”
“They are. And yes, it was odd if this man did work for the government that he didn’t identify himself. Do you have reason to believe he worked for the government?”
“He just had that look about him, if you know what I mean.”
I did know what she meant. “Did Star ever tell you who the man was or what he wanted?”
“No. I went by her place the next day to ask her about it, and she told me that he had some questions for her that she couldn’t discuss. She told me that everything was fine and that I shouldn’t worry about it, but she had this look in her eye that told me there was more going on than she wanted to say. I tried to get more out of her, but she said she needed to make a phone call, and then she offered me a twenty percent discount on everything I’d picked out the previous day, plus anything I wanted to add to the pile right then. I guess I became somewhat distracted at that point; I went just a bit crazy with the twenty percent discount.”
“And she never brought it up again after that?”
“I never saw her again. After she checked me out and gave me my discount, I left. I stopped by the next day, but there was a sign in her window saying that she’d be closed for a few days. The next thing I knew, she was dead.”
“And what day did you see the sign saying she was going to be closed?”
Jillian paused to think about it. “I guess it must have been a Friday.”
Star died on a Friday. I wondered if Mike knew she’d closed her shop that day.
“Can you describe the man you saw?” I asked.
“Tall. Dark hair. Thin. He had dark eyes and dominant cheekbones. Bushy brows and thick lips. Oh, and he had something in his ear. A listening device, I think.”
I supposed the man Jillian described could be the same one I’d seen shoot Star. That guy was tall and thin with dark hair, but I hadn’t seen his face, and he was wearing casual clothing rather than a suit. I was pretty sure his car had been dark blue rather than black, but it was dark, so I supposed I might have been wrong, or perhaps Jillian was the one who was wrong about the color of the car she’d seen. I sincerely doubted this guy was a fed, or he would have shown his badge and given his name. But if he wasn’t FBI or CIA, who was he and what had he come to the shop to discuss with Star? More importantly, had their discussion gotten her killed?
I thanked Jillian and continued on. It was ti
me to stop by to pick up my treats from Hattie, so I headed in that direction. If the man Jillian had seen in Star’s place was the one who killed her, could he have been the same one who killed Colton? They had been partnering on a project, so it seemed to make sense that they’d both died as a result of something having to do with it, but was that the only explanation? I knew it couldn’t be.
I picked up my box of sweets from Hattie and went to the diner first because I knew my mom would be happy to see me. She was busy because the restaurant was still open, but I gave her the good-luck treat and reminded her that she wasn’t in this alone. She thanked me and told me that it helped to know she had me in her corner. Again, after all the people who’d been mad at me this week, I was happy to talk to someone who wasn’t.
After I left Sisters’ Diner, I went straight to the Book Boutique. Bree had been abrupt but polite when I’d delivered her mail this week. I just hoped the apology pie that Hattie had made for me would do the trick.
“Afternoon, Bree,” I said cheerily as I laid her stack of mail on the counter.
“I don’t have outgoing today.”
I slipped my bag onto the floor while Tilly trotted around the counter to say hi to Bree. My best friend and sister-in-law might be mad at me, but she wasn’t mad at Tilly and had a dog cookie waiting for her.
“I brought you something,” I said.
That seemed to get her attention.
“It’s an apology pie. Vanilla cream with a cream cheese layer and cherry topping. Your favorite.” I set it on the counter. Hattie had even written Please forgive me on top in whipped cream. “I’m sorry I kept things from Mike, and I’m sorry I kept things from you. You are my best friend and my sister, and he is my brother. I love you both and never meant to hurt you.” I shoved the box even closer. She was looking at it but hadn’t reached out for it yet. “I promise I won’t keep things from either of you ever again.” Even as I said it, I hoped this was a promise I really would be able to keep. “Can you please, please forgive me? I miss you so much. I don’t want us to fight.”
Bree wiped a tear from her cheek. “I don’t want us to fight either.”
I walked around the counter and hugged her. Thankfully, she hugged me back.
“I’m sorry too,” Bree said. “I don’t even know why I got so mad. You’ve kept things from Mike before, and I’ve even agreed that you should. I guess I was just hurt that you’d kept things from me. Important, life-changing information. I thought we told each other everything.”
“We do. And I should have told you what I knew. I should have told both of you. I guess this was a secret I’d been keeping for so long, it was hard to let anyone in. But I know I should have. From now on, we’re all in this together.”
Bree hugged me again. A hard, long Bree hug and I knew things would be okay.
“Have you talked to Mike since I called him about the furniture store?”
She nodded. “I know you realized that something had been moved. We didn’t talk long, but he needed to call to cancel our lunch date.”
“I also spoke to Sue Wade, who told me that she had an idea about how to find and open the secret drawer in the desk we found. I called and spoke to Mike. I’m meeting him at his office at five. Maybe we can all have dinner after.”
“That would be nice. I’ll check with Mike when I’m done here for the day. And thanks for the pie.”
I smiled and pulled on my mailbag. It might have been a good idea to say something more, but Bree was happy, and I didn’t want to jinx things, so I waved and headed out the door.
Then I called Tony about dinner. I needed to check with Mike, but I really should check with Tony first. He suggested that we have Mike and Bree out to his place for dinner so we could talk and not worry about being overheard. He was already out there with the animals other than Tilly and assured me he had plenty of food to make something nice, so I texted Bree, and she agreed that a private conversation would be best. I was going to wait to talk to Mike, but I wanted to get our dinner plans settled, so I texted him as well, and he replied that dinner sounded nice.
For the first time in quite a while, I finally let myself believe that I could get my relationships back on track. Of course, I was still supposed to meet Mike in his office at five to try to open the desk, and I was going to have to hurry to get my route done on time. I stored my phone in my pocket and put my head down as I practically ran down the street. I knew that as long as I didn’t make eye contact or stop to talk with anyone, I should be fine.
The more I thought about Jillian’s description of the man who’d shown up at Star’s shop, the more certain I was that I’d seen that man before. At Tony’s, to be specific. It had been a while ago, before I’d share the truth about Dad with Mike, but I was pretty sure he was one of the men who’d stopped to talk to us in Tony’s drive more than a year ago and warned us to back off from looking for my dad if we didn’t want to get hurt.
Who was this guy, and why was he so invested in whatever was going on with my dad? I honestly didn’t know if he was trying to help Dad by warning people away, or if he was the person who had been running around killing people who seemed to be associated with Dad. He could have just shot Tony and me if he wished us harm on the day he showed up rather than just warned us, but he hadn’t. Maybe this guy was working with Dad as some sort of cleaner, and he only resorted to violence if he had to.
Or maybe the man Tony and I met over a year ago, the man Jillian saw at Star’s store, and the man I saw shoot Star were different people. Tall and thin with dark hair really was a general sort of description.
As I’d hoped, the rest of my route went quickly. Mike wasn’t back from the furniture store yet when Tilly and I arrived at his office, so we settled in to wait. Frank must have been with Mike because the only cop in the office was Gage, the new hire. I didn’t want to cross the line by pumping him for information about the case, so I settled on a discussion about the pending storm and how it might affect the weekend event.
Fortunately, Mike and Frank showed up shortly. Frank made a comment about comparing the prints they’d found on the picture frame with the ones found in Star’s store as well as the ones found on the desk. There were prints everywhere that could be processed, but I suspected they might be looking for a specific set of prints.
“So, you think you might know how to find the secret compartment in the desk?” Mike asked.
“Sue had an idea of what type of desk it was and how to open it. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.”
“I agree.” Mike headed down the hallway to the evidence room, where he’d stored the desk. “So, what do we do?”
“According to Sue, there will be a small knob in the back of the center drawer.”
Mike reached his hand inside and began feeling around.
“She said it won’t seem like much, but once you find the knob, you turn it all the way to the left as far as it will go and then give the knob a little tug, and a latch of sorts should appear at the back of the desk.”
Mike did as I instructed, and he found a knob.
“Well, would you look at that?” Mike said. “What do we do now?”
“Give the latch a pull, and a panel on the back should pop open.”
Mike did as instructed, and the secret compartment appeared.
“I have to admit that is pretty cool,” Mike said.
I looked in the compartment. “It is, but it’s empty.”
“So it is.” Mike sighed. “I wonder if this compartment was empty all along, or if it originally contained something that Star and Colton found and moved.”
“I don’t see how we can know now,” I answered.
Chapter 13
Mike headed home to pick up Bree, and I drove to Tony’s. By the time Tilly and I arrived, Tony had seasoned some delicious-looking filets that he planned to top with a rich Burgundy sauce. He was also going to serve garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a nice green salad with his homemade dressing.
I know I say this a lot, but I really did consider myself lucky that I’d found a boyfriend who could cook.
“Mike called. They should be here in about twenty minutes,” Tony informed me after kissing me hello.
“Okay. I’m going to run upstairs to change.” I bent down to pick up Tang, who was crawling up my leg. “Is there anything we should discuss before they get here? Anything you found out that you might want to run past me first?”
“No. Everything I’d dug up can be discussed with us all. I’ll feed Tilly while you are changing. I’ve already fed the others.”
I know it was crazy that I should be feeling nervous about having dinner with Mike and Bree, but I really wanted things to go well. I was tired of being at odds with them, and now that they’d both opened the door to a resumption of our previous relationship, I just hoped I didn’t open my mouth and ruin everything. I wasn’t sure that anything I’d found out today would help Mike with his investigation, but having news to share did seem like a good excuse to get together.
By the time I made it back downstairs, Mike and Bree had arrived, and Tony was pouring wine for everyone. I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile as I walked into the kitchen, where Mike and Bree were sitting at the counter, watching Tony finish preparing our meal. Mike had been telling Tony about the fingerprint he’d found on the frame of the painting that had been left leaning on the wall. I knew that Frank had been looking for a match when I’d left Mike’s office after opening the desk, but I’d never heard what he’d found.
Tony smiled at me as he handed me a wineglass. “Mike was just telling me that he found a print on the painting in the furniture store that matches one found on the counter of the antique store, but they don’t match any print in the system.”
“There must be a lot of people who don’t have prints on file unless they have a job that requires printing or they have been arrested at some point in their life,” I said.