Mistaken Character

by R A Wallace

  She held the door open for him as he carried in the meat.

  “Tell me how you started your own business,” he said as they took their seats at the table.

  “Funny, I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. Maybe it’s the office renovations.” She transferred some potato salad to her plate and pushed the container closer to him.

  “Why’s that?” He speared some meat and added salad to his plate before reaching for the potato salad.

  “It was Corky’s office originally. I’m making changes to it now and it will never look the same.”

  “But the changes are a good thing, right?” he asked.

  “They are, yes. Still.”

  “What happened with your partner, anyway? I don’t have a lot of the details.”

  “I don’t have as many as I’d like either.” She cut another piece of meat while she considered how to answer. “He died in an auto accident about an hour inland.”

  “You mentioned that part before. Were there any other fatalities?”

  “No. Just Corky. His truck ran off the road. The police said there might be some evidence that he was hit from behind and pushed off.”

  “Any witnesses?” he asked.

  “No. It was two o’clock in the morning. No one else was around. Corky shouldn’t even have been there. I still don’t know why he was.”

  “What have you been able to learn?”

  She shrugged. “Not much. The police aren’t even sure what happened. They call the accident suspicious.”

  “He didn’t have anyone else close to him that he might have confided in?”

  Callie’s hands stilled over her plate for a moment before she began cutting her meat again.

  “There’s his girlfriend, Maria Suarez.”

  He noticed her hesitation. “You don’t like her?”

  Callie looked up, surprised. “It isn’t that. I like her a lot, actually. It’s just… everything was so confusing at the time, you know? I was upset. She was upset. At the time she said she didn’t know anything, but I’m not sure I did a good job asking about it either.”

  “Have you asked her since? Maybe she’s remembered things.” He saw her startled look again. “It happens.”

  “I know, I just… I didn’t think to try talking to her again. Maybe I wasn’t ready yet.”

  “Too many memories?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but you’re right. She might know something that could help. I should talk to her again.”

  He glanced at the time. “How close does she live?”

  Her hands stilled again. “You want to go see her now?”

  “Why not?”

  She made up her mind quickly and stood. She pulled her phone out as she went into her spare bedroom where she kept her files. She returned a few minutes later.

  Greyson noticed that her eyes were a little watery and her nose was red.

  “Maria said we could stop by any time.”

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” She managed a smile as she set a folder down on the table next to him. “This is one of the folders I have on the case. It’s some of what I’ve managed to gather so far. I have more back at the office.”

  Greyson picked up the photo from the top of the pile. “What’s this?”

  “It’s the dashboard of Corky’s truck. He lived for a little while after the accident. He was pressed against the steering wheel. He used his keys to scratch that into the dash.”

  “C-A-L. Was he writing your name?” he asked.

  “That’s what I thought for a long time.”

  “And now?” He cocked his head as studied the photo. “What if that’s not a letter?”

  “The L? That’s what I was wondering. What if it’s the number one and I’ve been trying to figure out the wrong character all this time?” Callie crossed her arms.

  “Maybe Maria knows something?” he suggested.

  “There’s something else. Remember when the bank robbers were chasing us in the car? I was driving.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I looked in the rear-view mirror when they were getting close to us,” she said.

  He narrowed his eyes. “The license plate?”

  “Yeah. What if he was trying to tell me the license plate he saw in his mirror?”

  He wiped his hand across his chin as he considered it. “I have a friend who could run a partial plate to see what matches we get.”

  She looked hopeful. “Really?”

  He pulled out his phone. “Finish your dinner. We’ll go to Maria’s as soon as we’re done.”

  ***

  It was an emotional greeting. He should have expected that. Both women shed their share of tears before they finally settled in Maria’s sunroom. Callie sat with her folder on her lap. Maria set a box of tissues on the low table between them.

  “I wondered if you’d ever heal enough to come and see me,” Maria said.

  “I’m sorry it took so long.” Callie pulled out another tissue and wadded it in her hand.

  “I’ve seen your name in the news a lot.” Maria included Greyson, here eyes darting between the two of them.

  “I changed the name of the agency,” Callie said.

  “Of course. Corky would have expected that. He was always so proud of you.” Maria’s eyes fell to the folder in Callie’s lap. “Have you been able to learn anything?”

  Callie explained what little she had learned. Corky had stopped for gas at ten o’clock in town. Callie had questioned the clerk working at the gas station at time but they hadn’t seen him. Corky had paid at the pump. There was no one else around at the time of the accident that came forward as a witness but there was evidence of him being hit from behind. His truck ran off the road and into a live oak. He lived for a little while after, pinned to the steering wheel.

  Maria nodded when Callie was done. “He told me he was working on a case.”

  “You mentioned that at the time…” Callie said.

  “But you weren’t ready to believe me,” Maria finished.

  Callie gave a wry smile. “No, I wasn’t. Not then. I am now. Tell me what you remember.”

  “That’s just it. I don’t remember anything else. He wouldn’t tell me.”

  “Did he usually talk about his cases with you?” Greyson asked.

  Maria twisted the tissue in her hand. “A little. He didn’t always give specifics, like names.”

  “But nothing this time at all?” he asked.

  Maria shook her head. “I do know that he called me that night.”

  Callie’s head went up. “He did? What did he say?”

  Maria’s eyes filled again. “He told me that he loved me.”

  “Did he do that often? Call you to tell you like that?” Greyson asked.

  Maria shook her head. “Yeah, but not like that, you know? He didn’t call out of the blue. He told me he loved me when he left the house in the morning or when he saw me after being apart all day.”

  “He lived here with you?” he asked.

  Maria took a deep breath to calm herself. “Corky had his own place, but he spent most of his time here.”

  “What happened to the stuff at his apartment? Did his family pick it up?” he asked.

  “He didn’t have family. Just me.” Maria looked at Callie. “And Callie. I boxed up his personal things. You know, his papers. That sort of thing. I donated his clothes.” She gave a ghost of a smile. “Most of them. I kept some of his shirts.”

  “Where are his personal things?” Callie asked.

  Maria stood. “I’ll get them.” She returned a few minutes later. “Sorry it took so long. They were at the top of the closet.”

  Greyson reached for the box and looked over at Callie.

  “We’ll go through it. There might be a clue in there,” Greyson said.

  Maria nodded and dabbed at her eyes again. “I haven’t looked at it since I boxed it up. I just couldn’t.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The hot
el in Colorado had a restaurant on site. After checking into their rooms, they met for dinner. Callie arrived first and found a table. Greyson paused in the doorway to look around, then crossed the room to join her.

  “Do you want anything to drink?” Callie asked.

  “Yes, but no. Thanks. Talking to Adam Winslet about his sister this afternoon was difficult and a glass of wine sounds great, but we still need to speak with the real Crystal Delaney.”

  “Fortunately, the police got Fiona Hendricks AKA Adelaide Carson to confess to Gale Winslet’s murder before we got here,” Callie said.

  Greyson dropped his menu. “It may help with closure for Adam if they can find the remains.”

  “Let’s hope Fiona, or Adelaide, was telling the truth about that.”

  “It’s still difficult to believe that anyone could kill because they were jealous about someone else’s work,” he said.

  “Yet, Fiona did it not once, but twice that we know of so far. She was jealous of Gale Winslet’s research regarding Yellowstone,” Callie said.

  “And jealous that the fake Crystal Delaney took her spot at the television station.” Greyson looked up as the waiter approached.

  They both placed their orders and passed over the menus.

  “Face it, the woman had all kinds of issues. She was also prone to fixating on people. That’s why she lost her first job in Florida,” he said.

  “At least we were able to track the real Crystal down quickly. I thought it might take longer.” Callie reached for her water glass.

  “We make a good team,” Greyson said. His smile was only half mocking.

  She knew he was right. “Yeah, sure.”

  “No, I mean it. We’ve been working several of the Indigo Investigations cases together lately.”

  “We have,” she conceded. “If you’re planning to do this for real, you’ll need to jump through all of the hoops. You need a license to be a private investigator in Florida.”

  “I’ve already taken care of that.” He tilted his head as he studied her.

  Her hand stopped halfway to the table to return her water glass.

  “You have?” She set the glass down.

  “Mm hmm. I’m legal.”

  The waiter returned with their salads.

  “You never said. How did the insurance fraud case turn out?” he asked when the waiter left.

  “I’m afraid Mrs. Albright wasn’t happy to learn that her husband was not only faking his back injury but also had a lady friend on the side,” Callie said.

  “She left him?”

  “From what I understand, yes. My role was to submit my report to the insurance company,” she said. “I don’t always hear what happens after that, good or bad.”

  “Hopefully, you’ll get to see a happy ending to the Crystal Delaney case,” he said. “If, indeed, the one we are meeting is the real Crystal.”

  “Did you learn anything from Spencer’s staff that might help us when we meet Crystal later?”

  “I don’t think so. Their only knowledge came from what they learned about the woman who lived with them. She was very health conscious, from what they explained, and very concerned about her looks.”

  “I wonder what the real Crystal is like?”

  “We’ll find out after dinner,” he said. “If she is the right one, that is. Did you have a chance to go through Corky’s box?”

  “A little, yes. I can’t say that anything stands out yet.”

  “What is in the box?” he asked.

  “A few bills. Some check books. That sort of thing. I’ll keep looking.”

  “I got the list from my friend of the partial license plate matches for CA1,” he said. “It shouldn’t take too long to work our way through it.”

  “You got it that fast? That’s pretty impressive.” She hadn’t expected it so soon. It had been barely twenty-four hours.

  “We can start on it as soon as we get back to Florida,” he said. “But I’m not sure you should get your hopes up. I don’t know that this is going to pan out though I do agree it’s worth checking.”

  “I just don’t know why else he might have written CAL.” Her frustration was obvious in her voice as she pushed away her salad plate.

  “The answer is there. We just need to find it,” he said.

  She took a breath and decided to change the subject. “Your friend that got it for you. What do they do?”

  The waiter appeared with their dinner. Greyson thanked the waiter and watched him leave before turning back to Callie.

  “I can’t tell you that, sorry,” he said.

  “What did you do before you showed up on my doorstep?” she asked.

  He reached for his silverware.

  “Can I guess military?” she asked as she picked up her silverware.

  He paused with his hands poised above his plate and looked at her.

  She gave him a pointed look. “If we’re going to work together, and that is still an if, I deserve to know some of your background.”

  He nodded once then cut off a piece of meat.

  “Yes, military.”

  She waited a few minutes for more information to come. When it didn’t, she asked another question.

  “You seemed to have more than just military connections in the high-tech smuggling case we worked together. You not only had a liaison to a government agency on your team, you got drug sniffing dogs there at the drop of a hat,” she pointed out.

  “As I mentioned, my background is mostly in security.” He took another bite of food and smiled at her.

  ***

  The woman who opened the door to them looked nothing like the fake Crystal Delaney. Although attractive in her own way, she resembled the girl next door more than an on-screen television personality worried about her looks. She was around Callie’s height, or maybe a little shorter. Her brown hair was shoulder length and pulled back in a tale. She had noticeable freckles across the bridge of her nose. She made no attempt to cover them. She wore no makeup at all.

  “Can I help you?” Crystal asked as she opened the door to them. Her eyes held a look of intelligent reserve.

  “Crystal Delaney?” Callie asked.

  Crystal’s eyes dropped to Callie’s hands, as though she expected Callie to serve her with some papers.

  “I’m Callie Indigo, this is my colleague Greyson Divine. We’re private investigators.” Callie showed her credentials.

  “Are you here about one of the children?” Crystal asked. Her eyes were more shuttered now and she straightened her stance.

  Callie got the impression that the woman was ready to defend a child, if necessary.

  “No, we’re not. We need to speak with you. Can we come in?” Callie asked.

  Crystal remained blocking the door. “Not until you tell me what this is about.”

  “We’re here on behalf of your family,” Greyson said.

  Crystal’s eyes shot to his. “My family died in an accident.” She began closing the door.

  “Not all of them,” Callie said quickly.

  Crystal paused in the act of closing the door. “I’m listening.”

  “Inside?” Callie repeated.

  Crystal let out a breath and nodded once before stepping back to let them in. She led them to a small, but comfortable, living room. Callie and Greyson sat on the couch.

  “Can you tell me what happened to your parents?” Callie asked.

  “Why?” Crystal asked.

  “Please?” Callie said gently. “I’ll explain after you tell your story.”

  Crystal gave a half shake of her head.

  “We were camping in Arizona,” she said. “There was a flash flood. The tents were swept away. Mine was off to the side. I was swept away too but managed to grab onto a tree branch and pull myself in. My parents didn’t have that option.”

  “What happened after that?” Greyson asked.

  “My parents were my only relatives. I was put into foster care. Then I grew up. End of story.” Crysta
l looked at each of them, her eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”

  “Did you ever meet anyone else named Crystal?” Greyson asked.

  Crystal started to shake her head and then stopped.

  “What?” Callie prompted.

  “I met a girl once. I was still pretty young. Barely a teen, or maybe not even. I was in a summer camp. There were a bunch of other kids, many of them foster kids, like me. We were from all over the United States. It was some sort of charity thing. My foster family at the time thought it would be good for me.” Crystal made a face.

  “It wasn’t?” Greyson didn’t really need to ask. He could tell by the look on her face.

  “They made me go camping. I was terrified, of course.” Crystal looked away from them for a moment. “I guess I got over it, eventually. I’m not afraid of it anymore. I even take other foster children camping now. Maybe my foster parents were right.”

  “You met someone camping? Another girl?” Callie asked.

  “Yes. She didn’t go by Crystal, though. We called her by her middle name, Poppy. Her name was Poppy Delaney. She thought it was so funny that we should have the same name.”

  “Do you think it was possible that she was related to you?” Greyson asked.

  “I have no idea. I can’t imagine it. I mean, my parents never spoke about any other relatives. Why are you asking this?” Crystal looked between them again.

  “Did you tell Poppy anything about your parents? What happened to them?” Callie asked.

  “It was a long time ago,” Crystal said. She looked away from Callie. “I guess. I think she used to ask me questions. Like I said. I was pretty upset at the time. I was confused and messed up for a long time after my parents died. Poppy pretended to be nice to me.”

  “Pretended?” Callie looked over at Greyson.

  “Yes. Once she found out what happened, she used to make fun of me for it. That’s when I learned not to talk about it. After that, I kept it to myself. I never talked about it again.”

  “What documentation do you have to prove that you’re Crystal Delaney,” Greyson asked.

  Crystal looked at him. “I don’t need to prove anything to you.”

  Greyson raised both hands. “Let me re-phrase that. I’m not calling you a liar.” He glanced at Callie as he considered his next words. “Let’s say that you found out Poppy was pretending to be you. How would you prove that you’re the real Crystal Delaney? Could you?”