Smoked (The Alex Harris Mystery Series)

by Elaine Macko

  “Was she having problems with some other woman that you can think of?”

  “No, nothing. She was gone from the university by then. She was never happy with Nadine, but those two,” Sergei smiled. “They used each other. Maria would get mad, fire Nadine and then think of something else she needed from her and would bring her back. I don’t understand why Nadine put up with Maria except I think she kind of looked up to her in a way. They needed each other in some strange way. Women. I will never understand them.”

  I was having a pretty hard time understanding men right now. Sergei was so blasé about his affairs, which I thought, had been going on forever and had never seemed to give Maria much grief, which I also didn’t understand. So what the hell had set her off a couple of months ago so much so that she lashed out at his pride and joy, his shop? Or did it have nothing at all to do with Sergei’s affairs? Maybe Maria had met someone as well or maybe she just had a nasty streak and felt like toying with him.

  Sergei stood up, his face serious. “If you have no more questions I need to get going.” Sergei, always easy going, looked as if he suddenly remembered his shop was on fire.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Sure. Sure. Everything is fine. I just remembered something I have to do.”

  The man walked me to the front door and with a forced smile on his face, practically pushed me out the door. Maybe he had a butcher emergency he needed to address or maybe something I said upset him. Or maybe he realized the police were closing in and he needed to pack and get out of town.

  I walked back to my house and gathered my things for the office. I heard a car door slam and saw Sergei pulling out of his driveway from my living room window. I would love to follow the man but he knew my car and besides, I had a meeting and if I didn’t hurry I would be late.

  After pulling some things out of the refrigerator for my lunch, I went to the garage and got into my car all the while with a strange feeling that something was about to happen.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  An hour later I sat in my sister’s office with Marla and a Mrs. Fikert from a local area non-profit. Mrs. Fikert was a finicky woman with very special requirements and so Marla had been brought into the meeting to assure the woman we could provide her non-profit with all the reporting specifications they could possibly need. Marla had handled many non-profit accounts in her long career and by the end of the meeting we had a signed contract in our files.

  “What’s with you?” my sister asked while Marla walked Mrs. Fikert out.

  “Huh? Oh, sorry. I talked with Sergei this morning and he got really weird and said he had to run out. I was just wondering what he was up to.”

  “Who knows,” Sam said. “Forget about him for a minute. We just signed a new contract and word on the street is We’re Just Your Type packed up in the middle of the night and left an office suite that still had another seven months on the lease. They’re gone. Packed up all their stuff and just left. Millie says the phone has been ringing off the hook this morning. We may need to hire one of our own temps to help her with the glut of work.”

  “Wow. They just up and left? I wonder if they were providing more than just office temps.”

  “Not everything is a mystery, Alex. They just did shoddy work and probably had a bunch of creditors after them.”

  I left my sister’s office just as John was going into mine. I came up behind him and pinched his arm.

  “There you are. I was in the area and thought I’d take a coffee break with my wife.” John handed me a chocolate croissant he picked up at one of our favorite bakeries and settled into a chair. “Where did that come from?” John asked looking at a picture of the two of us I had placed on my desk the day before.

  “Everyone has a picture of their beloved on their desk so I brought that in.” It was a picture of John and me in Brussels on our honeymoon. “Do you have a picture of me on your desk?”

  “As a matter of fact I do. It’s from a year ago when we went away for a weekend.”

  “I’m impressed.” I gave him a quick kiss and then changed the subject. “I’m glad you’re here. I totally forgot to tell you last night about Ryan Reynolds.”

  “Well, we were kind of busy looking for that little tree tattoo,” John smiled. “What about him?”

  “Nadine thinks he’s bringing in more from China than crappy vegan products. She said by time she got her hands on the boxes they were almost empty. She thinks something else was in there and he removed it before he gave them over to her for cataloguing.”

  “That would explain why he wants to carry on now that Maria is dead.”

  “Nadine said the whole business was his idea to begin with. Do you think it’s all just a front for something else like drugs or guns?”

  John took a big bite of his croissant while he thought this over. “Could be. Maria finds out and he kills her.”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. He’s up to no good and if Maria hadn’t died I don’t know how he would have handled things but I don’t think he killed her. The way I see it, he sorted through all the products, she did the writing, the research, the blogs. My guess is he would have tried to keep her from the boxes by taking that side of the business over himself, though how long he could keep her from looking inside, I’m not sure. Gee, maybe he did kill her,” I said. “Honestly, how long could he have kept whatever he’s up to from her? It doesn’t make sense. She must have looked in the boxes and they had it out.”

  “I think it’s time I brought Mr. Reynolds into the station and do the good cop, bad cop thing.”

  I smiled. “So exactly which one are you?” My husband was such a great guy, even tempered, and so patient with my goofy family. I hated to think he had a dark side but he was a cop and he dealt with all sorts of low life.

  “For now I’m going to be the good cop. Whatever he’s mixed up in, I think he’s probably in over his head.” John tossed his napkin into the trash can and finished his coffee. “I’ve got to go.” He kissed my head and was gone.

  The phone rang out in the reception area and then it rang again. Millie had her hands full and I took over some calls answering from my desk. By eleven-thirty the phones were finally quiet. Everyone left for some lunch but I decided to be good and pulled out my bag of cut veggies and a container of soup I grabbed from the freezer. Once heated I brought the soup back to my desk and munched on some carrots while it cooled a bit.

  I still had Sergei on my mind. And Ellery. Could they really be in on it together? I didn’t think so. But I had another thought. If Sergei thought Ellery was involved I could see him taking the blame to protect his daughter.

  I ate some of the soup and looked at the picture of John and me. Something was there in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t figure out what. I pulled my keyboard over and began typing. I logged onto Maria’s private email account and sat there, scrolling through the list until I came to one.

  I opened it up and read through it several times. Nothing. I ate a few more vegetables and then read it again. Something was pulling at my memory. What the heck was it? I finished the soup and took the container into the kitchen and washed it up. I boiled some water for a cup of tea and when that was done I went back to my office and read through the email again while popping M&M’s. They go so well with a cup of tea.

  I sat back in my chair and looked over at the picture of our honeymoon and smiled. Going to Europe had been a dream come true and this picture of the two of us standing on the Grand Place was one of my favorites. I continued looking at the picture, though not really seeing it because something else was coming to the front of my thoughts. And then I had it. I was pretty sure I knew who had killed both Maria Kravek and Nena Connick.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  I Googled Sergei’s butcher shop, found the number and picked up my phone and dialed.

  “Good afternoon, I was wondering if you could tell me if Sergei Kravec is in today?”

  “Yes, he’s here. He’s w
ith a customer right now. Do you want to hold?”

  I thought about this for a moment. Did I really want to do this over the phone? “Can you tell me if he’s been there all day?”

  “Sure. We got here at the same time.”

  “And what time was that?”

  “May I ask who this is?”

  I couldn’t blame the young woman for not wanting to give me more information. I probably sounded like a stalker. “This is his neighbor and friend, Alex Harris. I’m helping him with something and just needed to know what time he came in this morning.”

  “Oh, sure, I remember you. I saw you here talking with him. I brought you a cup of tea.”

  “Yes. That was me.”

  “Well, let’s see, I got in at about nine, so it was nine. Like I said, we arrived at the same time.”

  “And he never left? He’s been there all morning?”

  “Yes, he’s been here all day. Thanksgiving’s coming up and then Christmas. It’s a very busy time of year for us. He’s been working the counter ever since he came in. He even pitched in taking orders. That’s how busy we are. Can I give him a message?”

  “No. That’s fine. I’ll catch him tonight at home.” I thanked her and hung up. This was exactly what I wanted to hear. Hopefully, he hadn’t had time to make any phone calls either.

  I sat there trying to piece everything together before I ran out and made some wild accusations that got me arrested or maybe even killed. I had the email, I had the picture and I had some vague references the killer had made about things that shouldn’t be known unless someone else had mentioned them and that someone had to be Sergei. I also had a chance meeting that unfortunately led to Nena Connick’s murder. It was easy enough for me to find out where Nena lived so the killer would have had no problem. I didn’t think my guilt over that would ever go away, but the truth was, it had been out of my control. No one could have predicted it.

  I looked at my watch; almost an hour had gone by since everyone left for lunch. Should I just leave and put a sticky note on my sister’s desk telling her where I had gone? She would kill me for sure, going off to confront yet another killer but I didn’t want to wait. As soon as Sergei had a free minute he would make a phone call or worse yet, go there himself and then I wasn’t sure what would happen. I didn’t want to be responsible for another murder. The truth was, it was Sergei all along. He had put everything into play and had finally figured that out this morning when we talked, I was sure of it. Maybe he knew or at least suspected but didn’t want to admit it or maybe he was totally clueless. Or maybe I was wrong. He could have simply run out this morning because he knew the store would be packed with customers planning their menus for the holidays.

  Eventually everything would come out and then I had to wonder what the legal implications for Sergei would be? John could sort out all those details; I wanted to believe Sergei Kravec was clueless and things had gotten out of hand. But his reckless behavior had caused two murders. Somehow he had to pay for that.

  I heard the front door open and heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe I could make it to my destination after all well ahead of Sergei.

  “Hey, are you guys back,” I called out.

  I heard nothing and then a few seconds later someone walked into my office.

  “Hi, Alex. I wasn’t sure if you would be in or not but I had a few more things to drop off if you have a minute.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to keep myself from visibly shaking. “Sure. No problem. Have a seat,” I said to the killer of Maria Kravec and Nena Connick.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  I should have just listened to my grandmother from the very beginning. What was it she said? Look for the other, other woman. If Sergei was going to get involved in a serious way, Meme told me, it would be with a classy intelligent woman and here she was, right in front of me, which I guess, in a way, she had been all the time.

  It’s funny how the mind works. You really do see what you want to see and I had all these other suspects with great motives that I couldn’t see the one person who had the strongest motive of all: love. Or was it obsession? I couldn’t put too much blame on my shoulders, though. I had never seen the two of them together, neither one mentioned the other, and no one else seemed to know anything about it. But there were signs. Two pretty big ones, actually. And Sergei had been no help. I remember asking him point blank if there was another woman besides Nena and he told me two women were enough for any man. And he was right. It was the third woman in his life that ruined everything.

  “I feel like I’m taking advantage of you,” Deanna Moffet said. “But you did such a great job getting two of our students jobs so quickly that I just had to press my luck and bring you a couple more files.” Deanna smiled her bright smile at me. Again, she wore a pencil skirt, muted blouse, the pearls and shoulder-length hair. She also had manners any mother would be proud of. A classy, intelligent woman.

  “Alex? I’m sorry. Did I overstep?”

  I needed to get a grip or she would be able to tell I had it all figured out and then what? Did she have another one of those pens in her purse full of epinephrine? I strained to hear anyone out in the reception area, but no sounds came forth.

  “Deanna, I’m sorry. I have some things on my mind. Just family stuff,” I waved my hand. “Of course I would be happy to take a look and see what I can do.” I reached for the files and was aware of my shaking hands. I just hoped Deanna hadn’t noticed.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Was it my imagination or had Deanna’s tone just changed? And then I saw her looking at my hands.

  “I’m fine. Thanks. It’s chilly in here. Let me turn the heat up.” I got up and moved to the thermostat on the wall and moved it a bit. “There. That should help.” I sat back down and picked up a file folder and made a pretense of reading it over, stalling for time. “These look good. I’ll take them home with me tonight and look them over again, but I’m sure I can help find something.” I gathered the files and reached down and placed them in my bag, turning on the record app on my iPad at the same time. “Sorry. I keep far too much stuff in my bag. There’s never any room.” I gave a small laugh while I made a pretense of rummaging for room. Before I turned back to Deanna, I gave a quick glance at my watch. I made a mental note to speak with my staff about maintaining an hour for lunch. They had to be back soon, if I could just keep the charade going for a little while longer.

  “So when did you figure it all out?” Deanna asked then, killing any hope I had of being surrounded by witnesses when I died.

  “Pardon? Figure what out?” My voice came out in a high-pitched squeak.

  “Are we really going to play this game? You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  On the off chance we weren’t talking about the same thing, I decided to call her bluff. “Then why don’t you explain it all to me so I can fully understand.”

  Deanna looked down and picked an imaginary speck off her blouse and then she looked up at me. “I killed both of them and you must have figured it out because I’ve never seen you so nervous before.”

  Did she just admit she killed both of them? Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I hoped to hell my app was working. Maybe I should get her to say the names out loud for the sake of the recorder. “You killed both of them? What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Maria and Nena. Thank you, by the way. Or I should say thank you to Ellery for tipping me off about Nena. I had no idea about her.”

  “You’re not going to get away with it, Deanna.”

  “No. I suspect not.”

  “Why did you do it?”

  “Why else. Love. I trusted him when he said he would get divorced and we could be together.”

  Damn that Sergei Kravec and his cheating heart.

  “So. Really, how did you figure it out? I’d like to know where I went wrong.”

  As long as I kept her talking or listening she couldn’t kill me. “Okay. Maria sent an email to a ma
n named Bob Spangler. By a stroke of luck for you he never got it. If he had, maybe none of this would have ever happened.”

  “How did you know Bob is my husband?”

  “You keep a picture of him on your desk. I didn’t recognize him at first. He has a baseball cap on in the picture. As a matter of fact, I just figured it out today, who he was. Of course, I wondered why he didn’t recognize Maria’s name when I went to see him but then Ellery told me her mother used her maiden name at work. ”

  “True. Plus Bob and Maria never met and I tend not to talk about my work at home. I doubt he would know her no matter what name she used. What else?”

  “Little things you said, like Maria putting all her money into the business. You told me you hadn’t spoken to her since she left the university. How would you know what she was up to with her business except for Sergei.”

  “He likes to talk after sex.”

  “And it always bothered me I couldn’t find a connection with any of my suspects to Nena. None. No one knew her. And I knew there was only one killer so how did that person know about Nena Connick? The answer was you didn’t. Not until that unfortunate run-in with Ellery right here in my office. Up until then you knew nothing about her. Why did you have to kill her?”

  “Because Sergei was trying to break things off with me and I figured it was because he found someone else. Then there was Ellery giving me the woman’s name on a silver platter.”

  “He wasn’t seeing her. He broke up with her months ago. He wanted to break it off with you because he only ever loved Maria. So tell me, when did your affair start? Tell me everything.”

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear anymore to be truthful, but I also didn’t want to die. I had to keep her talking until the others got back and someone could call the police.

  “It all started about a year ago. I met him at a university staff party. We had an attraction right away,” Deanna said in a dreamy voice.