Both men looked up. Bilker was obviously furious at her interruption. Chewbacca just looked curious. He took off the heavy-looking mask and she saw he had gray green eyes and slick, black hair. Gemma tried to memorize every inch of his face. “Could I please have your autograph? I’m a huge fan and I understand you’re just about the best Chewbacca in the whole convention.”
“Why, of course,” the man said, taking the pen and napkin from her.
And that’s when Gemma saw the tattoo on the back of his right hand. She knew she would never forget that.
“That was the silliest thing you’ve ever done,” Holly whispered as they left the restaurant. “You didn’t even know who Chewbacca was until I told you.
“You go ahead to the bathroom. I’m going to give this to Ross,” Gemma said with a sweet smile. “I think I may have just found our killer.”
She found Ross talking to several uniformed police officers. He smiled when he saw her, a good sign.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said and motioned with his coffee cup toward the small room where he had interviewed her earlier. As he opened the door, he placed his hand in the small of her back and whispered. “You smell wonderful.”
As tempted as Gemma was by his touch and words, she had something more important to tell him. “I found the killer,” she said, turning to face him once he’d closed the door.
“Really?” He didn’t sound impressed.
She nodded and handed him the napkin with the name scrawled on it.
Ross took the napkin from her and read the name.
“He carries a crossbow with arrows,” Gemma told him. “Long, round, sharp arrows.”
“He’s here?” Ross asked, all business again.
Gemma nodded. “I left him sitting with Bilker in the restaurant. And you might want to check out that weird tattoo on his right hand.”
“Deputy Stone, I don’t know which I like better, your pretty face or that brain of yours,” Ross said, using the pet name he’d given her at Christmas time.
“I have something else, too,” she said, handing him the blank page she’d ripped out of Benjamin’s desk calendar. “The day West was killed was missing completely. I was hoping there might be an impression of something he’d written on this page. I haven’t had a chance to look.”
Ross just stared at her in surprise but before he could ask any questions, her cell vibrated loudly in her pocket.
“That’s Holly. I gotta go.”
I’ll check both of these leads out,” he promised her. Then Ross caught her hand, drew it to his lips and kissed it tenderly. “This should help get this wrapped up by the time the CID gets here. Or at least draw their attention away from you and that stupid, wrong cell number.”
The lump in her throat made speech impossible so she simply crossed the fingers of her free hand and showed them to him. And then she headed out the door toward Holly and the convention hall.
Despite the bad weather, they convention hall was quite busy. Holly had just finished up with a customer when Gemma arrived. She was grinning from ear to ear.
“I think we’ve really made an impression on the area,” Holly said. “Everyone has mentioned that they saw us at the mall at Christmas but were just too busy to stop. And I’ve had a few stop by and tell me how much they were enjoying the jewelry they bought then.”
“Good,” Gemma said. “Any more special orders?”
Holly flipped through the pages of the spiral-bound book and smiled prettily. “What do you think?”
Gemma hugged her best friend. Everything was falling into place. All their hard work, all the money they’d spent was going to pay off. HealthGems was going to be as successful as they’d dreamed. Her mom and dad would have been so proud. She could picture the look on their faces if they were still alive. And since she’d pretty much single handedly solved the murder of General Loden West, the army might give her a medal or something.
They watched the fitness demonstrations for a while and then Holly suggested they make a list of promotional items next on their list. She grabbed a notebook and a pen and they brainstormed, making notes and dividing up the chore of checking on different venues.
“Do you think we should maybe think about opening a brick and mortar store?” Holly asked.
Their online sales had been going so well, Gemma hadn’t even considered that possibility. “We’d have to hire employees,” she said.
Holly nodded. “And we’d have to make sure we got a good location.”
“Well, definitely NOT the mall,” Gemma said quickly. “I’ve had enough of that place to last me a lifetime.”
Holly laughed. “Okay, not the mall. Maybe we could open a shop in one of those little spaces downtown near the courthouse square.”
Gemma considered that. “If the rent isn’t too high.”
“I’ll check it out,” Holly said, making a note.
“Maybe your friend Katie Mack can work some magical deal...”
“Shut up,” Holly said laughing. “She’s not my friend.”
Nick chose that moment to step up to their booth. “Girls, girls. No fighting,” he said, reaching across the table as if to separate them.
They were both laughing now. And then they both started talking at once, telling Nick their big plans for the coming year.
“I think I could probably do a story for the paper to help spread the word,” Nick suggested. “Online Sales Translate to Local Sales,” he said, pretending it was a headline piece.
“I love it!” Holly squealed.
“Oh, and you might want to find Ross in just a little while,” Gemma told Nick. “I solved the murder this morning.”
“You what?”
“I did,” Gemma said. “Go find him. He’ll tell you.”
“He’s really handling this thing with you and Ross pretty well,” Holly said after Nick left.
“I know,” Gemma said.
“In fact they’re both being pretty gentlemanly about the whole thing,” Holly said. “How did you do that?”
Gemma shrugged. “They’re both good guys. They both care about me. And I care about them just as much. This is hard.”
Soon after that, more and more people began crowding into the large room and their table was as busy as ever. Gemma had no idea that it was nearly lunch time until she saw Ross striding toward her.
“Holly, can I borrow your side kick long enough to buy her some lunch?” he asked.
“Sure,” Holly said. “Mitch will be here soon. He’ll help me out if I get busy and then we’ll go to lunch after that.”
“Come on, Sherlock,” Ross said, reaching for Gemma.
Instead of going to the restaurant, he took her back to his makeshift office off the conference room. “One of the guys is bringing lunch, but I wanted to talk to you about something where we wouldn’t be overheard.”
“Okay,” Gemma said, suddenly nervous as she sat down in the chair where she’d been interviewed the day before. Ross leaned against the end of the table beside her, feet crossed at the ankles, arms crossed over his chest. “Is something wrong?”
“I just wanted to report back on the information you gave me this morning.”
“Oh,” Gemma said smiling. Why wasn’t Ross smiling? “Have you arrested Chewbacca yet?”
Ross shook his head. “And we’re not going to.”
“Why? He had the weapon. I’m sure someone hired him to kill West and...”
Ross was shaking his head. “Chewbacca works with disadvantaged, troubled youth in town,” he explained. “He has an alibi for the time West was killed. He knows Bilker through some on-line purchases. And those arrows were plastic.”
“He’s not...”
“Nope.”
“But the tattoo?”
“It’s the Millennium Falcon.”
Gemma had no idea what that was, but from Ross’s reaction it meant nothing. Her shoulders sagged. She was so sure Bilker
had paid Chewbacca to kill West, or was at least in on the scheme.
Their lunch arrived, sandwiches, chips and a drink and Ross took a seat across from her. They ate in silence for a few minutes.
“Look, don’t feel so bad. I would have jumped to the same conclusion,” Ross assured her.
“What about the calendar page I got from...”
“Yeah, by the way, where did you get that?” Ross interrupted her.
“Um, I sort of found it,” Gemma said, avoiding his gaze.
“Where?”
Gemma took a deep breath. “On his desk.”
“What were you doing in his office?”
Gemma didn’t have an answer except the one she’d given the Northlake brothers earlier. “I was looking for an earring I thought I lost in there the day before.”
Ross munched on his sandwich, his dark eyes boring into her very soul. It was obvious, he didn’t believe a word she said. “Yeah, that’s what Benjamin told me, too.”
“You talked to him?”
Ross nodded. “Especially after I looked closely at the calendar page you’d given me. It did have an impression of something written on it. And that something was West and the time.”
“So they were scheduled to have a meeting,” Gemma gasped.
“They were. Only he was killed before that meeting took place,” Ross explained.
“Why were they meeting with General West?” Gemma asked. “Did you ask him that?”
“I did, thank you very much, Deputy Stone,” Ross teased and then grew serious. “The money in the briefcase was a down payment on Northlake Manor. They were selling out to him for two million dollars. He already had investors who wanted to own a golf course and sell time shares and whatever. Now, there’s no doubt in my mind that he was going to pull the same kind of scam he’d pulled with investors before, run it into the ground, take off with their money and then chalk it up as a loss.”
“Victoria didn’t want to sell,” Gemma told him.
He was nodding again. “The brothers knew that but the manor is facing bankruptcy. This way they could get Victoria the medical help she needs.”
“Medical help?”
“She has serious mental health issues, honey,” he explained.
“Oh.”
“And if you’re thinking she had West killed to stop the sale, you’re wrong. She doesn’t have the mental capacity or the financial means to make that happen.”
Gemma finished her sandwich and sipped the last of her drink, disappointed. “Did they find the guy with the cane? Shores?”
“Yeah, they found him alright,” Ross said. “That cane is all smoke and mirrors. It doesn’t really do anything.”
“But he ran away.”
“His wife went into labor early. He was at the hospital all night. They have a new baby boy,” Ross explained.
“So we’re back to square one,” Gemma said.
“That’s the detective business, baby,” Ross finished his lunch as well and gathered up their trash.
“What will you do now?” Gemma asked.
“Now, I call CID and tell them everything I know. Then I lay everything out in front of me again and go back over everything I know again,” he told her. “I might have some new lead by the time they get here this afternoon.”
“This is so disappointing,” Gemma hated the whiny sound in her voice. “I thought I had it all figured out.”
“I know. That’s why you need to leave the detective work to me,” he said, pulling her close. “I’m used to being disappointed.”
“I will,” Gemma promised, her voice muffled as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. “I’m handing in my deputy badge. No more sleuthing for me.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” Ross said.
Chapter Thirteen
Back in the convention hall, Mitch and Holly worked side by side at their booth, and Gemma couldn’t help but think that they made such a good team. Their marriage was going to be rock solid from beginning to end. She could feel it. They were going to be wonderful parents to beautiful children. She could admit that she was just a little jealous, but mostly she was so happy for her best friend.
“Do you want me to take over for a while?” Gemma asked.
“Hey, cutie,” Mitch said in greeting, put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Yeah, I’m starving,” Holly said.
“Then, scoot. You two enjoy your lunch,” Gemma said, offering a smile.
Holly put her purse over her shoulder and then stopped so abruptly that Mitch ran into her. “Are you okay?”
God, Holly knew her so well. No wonder everyone thought they were sisters. “Just got some disappointing news,” Gemma said.
“About?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Holly nodded and then they were gone.
Gemma watched the couple walk away holding hands. Okay, she was more than a little bit jealous, but she would never let Holly know that.
She had a few customers, which kept her from thinking about how she had been so sure Chewbacca was the killer only to find out she was totally wrong. The whole thing was kind of embarrassing. At least she and Ross were the only two who knew she’d made a fool of herself. Well, Holly, too. And then she saw Nick ambling toward her and realized he probably knew now as well.
“I understand you’ve given up investigating murders,” Nick said when no one else was near.
“You heard correctly,” Gemma said with a shrug. “I really thought I had it figured out.”
Nick laughed and hugged her. “Well, at least you have your jewelry career to fall back on.”
Gemma laughed, too. Nick could always cheer her, up no matter what, and she loved him for that. He helped her at the booth for a while, until he mentioned something about an interview and hurried off with his photographer. Mitch and Holly came by to see if she needed help and to let her know that they would be at the sci-fi convention for a little while.
The flow of customers slowed a little and Gemma had time to think. Unfortunately, what she found herself thinking about was the murder of General Loden West and the events of the past couple of days. First, she had seen him talking to Conrad Bilkers, arguing really, at the sci-fi convention. That’s also where she had seen the steampunk guy, Walter Shores, with his top hat and cane.
The general had stopped at their booth, admiring the jewelry. He seemed really interested in the health benefits it provided. Gemma gave him her business card and wrote her new cell number on the back. And then he had offered to buy HealthGems. She knew why now, but still it had surprised both her and Holly.
After that, she had heard him discussing his meeting with Benjamin Northlake at the restaurant. Of course now she knew what that meeting was supposed to have been about as well.
The lobby where he was murdered had been busy, noisy and filled with people. She remembered Bilker and Shores running past her. She remembered the confusion at the front desk and Vincent intervening. She remembered Simone rushing past her, probably to calm her daughter. Then the couple tried to get in the door with the double stroller.
And then West was dead.
He had been stabbed. It was up close and personal and Gemma couldn’t help but think it was a paid hit. But why? And what had he been stabbed with? She went over Ross’s description of the murder weapon. Long and round and sharp. How long would it have to be to go into your left armpit and into your heart? How sharp would it have to be to penetrate his clothing? As she contemplated this, Gemma felt under her arm with two fingers. Maybe six or eight inches, maybe longer.
A young couple came to the table and Gemma spent some time talking with them. But when they left, her thoughts returned to the murder, more specifically what might fit the description of the weapon Ross had given her. Gemma closed her eyes and forced her swirling thoughts to slow down. Not a knife. Not a magical cane. Not an arrow from Chewbacca. Then what?
“Headache?” Holly asked.
“Huh?” Gemma opened her eyes to find her friend staring at her.
“You were squeezing your eyes shut like you do when you have a headache,” Holly said, locking her purse into their little trunk.
“Just thinking,” Gemma said tiredly.
“About?”
“Nothing, really,” Gemma said.
“Well, you were thinking awfully hard about nothing.” Holly gave her a suspicious look.
Almost as soon as Holly spoke, Gemma remembered something she’d seen, or more importantly hadn’t seen, when she was upstairs that morning with Victoria. It was a tiny thing, but it might just be the answer they were looking for.
Finding out would be tricky too, because she had already been ordered away from the Northlake’s private quarters. She hesitated for a moment, but this idea made sense. She knew that she had to find out the truth.
“If you don’t mind, I need to run to the restroom,” Gemma said.
“Sure. Take your time,” Holly answered. “Looks like things are dying down here.”
“Yeah, it’s been slow.”
Instead of heading for the bathroom, Gemma went straight to the elevator. While she waited in the hall for it to arrive, she prayed she didn’t run into Ross or Nick or one of the Northlake brothers. And then from the front desk area she heard a deep voice.
“I’m Lt. Colonel Baker with the CID, here to see Detective Ross Ferguson.”
Gemma’s heart almost stopped. She had run out of time.
The elevator arrived right after that and Gemma stepped on, knees trembling. If she could confirm her new suspicions about the murder weapon, she was pretty sure everything else would fall into place. The elevator arrived on the top floor of Northlake Manor with a now familiar little bump. The doors opened silently and Gemma stepped out into the hall. It looked even darker than it had that morning and felt colder as well. Gray light came in through the window at the end of the hall and that was where Gemma headed.
The icicles, long beautiful ones that had made Northlake Manor look like an ice castle when she arrived, hung down in sharp points. Except here at this window, one was missing. That’s what she had seen over Victoria’s shoulder earlier - the view of the mountains and no icicles. Could one of them have been the murder weapon?
Fireside Homicide Cozy Mystery Bundle Page 24