Murder Breaks the Bank

by Maddie Cochere

  Murder Breaks the Bank

  Two Sisters and a Journalist #8

  by Maddie Cochere

  Copyright 2018 by Maddie Cochere

  All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions therof in any form whatsoever except as provided by US copyright law.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

  Breezy Books

  http://www.breezybooks.com/

  Cover design by Gillian Soltis of Columbus, Ohio

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter One

  Wednesday, November 25

  The view from the third floor of the Buxley Bank and Trust building was one I didn’t appreciate - at least not from my current vantage point. I’m certain I would have enjoyed looking out over the center of town and into the park beyond, but not while I was hanging upside down out of an open window of the building. And not while icy sleet pelted my face. And certainly not while an aging Giuseppe Giovanni was the only person preventing me from falling to the concrete parking lot below.

  If Giuseppe let go of my ankles, and I was pretty sure he was about to do just that, I’d be toast – or a pancake – or mincemeat – or some other type of food associated with the demise of a person.

  Glenn and half the Buxley police force were on the ground below me. Sirens in the distance assured me the other half was on their way.

  I was aware of short, panicked screams coming from my mouth, but my brain was strangely calm and perfectly capable of thought. Uppermost on my mind was that I wished Glenn wasn’t here. He shouldn’t have to witness my death. We’d only been married six and a half months, and we were, essentially, still newlyweds. We hadn’t even had a fight as a married couple yet. At least we had said I love you to one another before Glenn left for a department meeting this morning, so, there was that.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Wheeler,” Giuseppe called down to me. “I didn’t mean for it to end this way.”

  Before I could plead for my life, he let go of my ankles. I screamed full force now, but my mind wondered how I got myself into this predicament in the first place. Could I have done something differently? Were my skills as a private investigator so bad that I couldn’t see the forest for the trees? Was my head in the clouds? Was I without a clue? I shouldn’t have met Giuseppe without backup. Even having Pepper or Jackie with me might have resulted in an outcome other than one where my body plummeted toward pavement.

  I should have known a case that appeared to be easy money would be trouble in the end. It seemed a lifetime ago the man showed up in my office, but it was really only two weeks ago, and rather than my life flashing before my eyes in these last few seconds before my death, the previous two weeks flashed upon life’s screen.

  ~ ~ ~

  Wednesday, November 11

  The view outside our kitchen window was bleak.

  Summer was long gone, and an autumn with colorful leaves on trees had been non-existent. An ugly cloud cover had come to Buxley in late September and taken up residence. Cold rain and strong winds whipped leaves from trees, spoiling any opportunity for fall foliage tours.

  Thanksgiving was just around the corner, and with snow in the forecast, it looked like winter would be upon us early this year.

  “Do I need new tires for my truck?” I asked Glenn. “If we’re going to have record snow this year, I don’t want to be sliding all over the road.”

  “Your tires are fine, but you’ll need some weight in the bed. I’ll get sandbags from the hardware next week.”

  I frowned and pouted at the same time. “They need to make sandbags for people. I’ll be falling as soon as there’s ice. I’ll probably break a bone this year.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “Not this year. I found some boots online. They’re guaranteed to give you traction on snow and ice. I’ve already ordered a pair for you.”

  Glenn oozed masculinity and was crazy sexy, but he also had a domestic, feminine side that was completely endearing. That he had already been shopping for boots for me wasn’t a surprise.

  “When will you hear about your house?” he asked as he set a plate with one strip of bacon, one over-easy egg, and one slice of lightly buttered toast in front of me.

  “George Graham stopped by the office yesterday and dropped off my check. Clay’s loan was approved, the house closed, and my contract with Graham Realty has officially ended. I’m no longer a homeowner.”

  Glenn looked confused. “You’re a homeowner. You own this place with me.”

  “Not really,” I said. “Yours is the only name on the deed, and I’m ok with that. This was your grandparent’s house.”

  His voice carried a tender tone when he said, “Jo, what’s mine is yours. I’ll call Matt Ryder today and find out what I have to do to add you to the deed.” With an impish grin, he added, “I shouldn’t be the only one responsible if the sewer backs up or when the roof caves in this winter from ten feet of snow.”

  I laughed and pretended to throw my toast frisbee style at him.

  “Hey now,” he said, throwing his hands up to protect himself in case I actually launched the bread. “I have it on good authority the current owner of this property doesn’t approve of food fights, and the soon-to-be-named on the deed is required to clean up said food fights.”

  “The new homeowner might hire a maid,” I said.

  His smile disappeared. “Are you serious? I know we’re both busy, and if that would make your life easier, just say the word. I’m ok with hiring some help to keep the place clean.”

  I felt guilty. Glenn did far more of the housework than I did, especially on weekdays. I chipped in on weekends, but there was no denying he carried the lion’s share of the household duties.

  I shook my head. “I don’t like the idea of a stranger going through our things and seeing the messes I make.”

  “Then hire Pepper. She’s still looking for extra work now that she’s not schooling the kids, right?”

  Hmmm. That was a good idea. Pepper was on call as a substitute teacher at the school, but so far, they had only called her once, and that was to monitor a study hall for the day.

  “I’ll check with her later and see if she’s interested.” I had already eaten the crispy bacon, licked my fingers, and now nibbled at the toast. “What are you doing today?”

  “Nothing special. Routine patrol. We’ll be spending extra time near the hospital.”

  “Because of the vandalism?”

  He nodded. “I doubt we’ll see anything. It’s the night patrol that’s taking all the grief.”

  I pushed the toast and egg away from me. “Bricks thrown through car windows. It has to be kids. How hard can it be to catch them?”

  Glenn shoved the plate back to me. “Eat. You can’t have just a slice of bacon, and you of all people should know you have to be in the right place at the right time to catch whoever is doing this.”

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nbsp; “Put someone in an unmarked car. If it’s kids, they’re bound to make a mistake.” I finished the toast. “Tell Sergeant Rorski if his men can’t catch them, I’ll do it for a fee.”

  Glenn grunted. “Sarge’s blood pressure is already sky high over this. I’m not mentioning your name anywhere near him.”

  “Maybe Pepper will want to help,” I said more to myself than to him.

  “Absolutely not,” he said emphatically. “We agreed you would stay out of my business, and I’d stay out of yours. Unless Sarge calls you, this is none of your business. It’s not that big of a deal anyway.”

  “It’s a big deal to almost two dozen people who’ve had to replace car windows.” A thought popped into my head. “Have you checked the window replacement companies? Maybe someone who owns one of them is hustling for new business.”

  He looked at me with skepticism. “I doubt someone would risk their business and reputation for a few extra jobs.”

  I gave him the same look he had just given me. He knew as well as I did that people could be unpredictable when under pressure, especially financial pressure.

  “I suppose I could mention it to Sarge,” he said and pointed to my plate. “The egg. Eat the egg, too.”

  I wasn’t especially fond of regular breakfast foods. It was easier to get excited over blueberry pancakes, French toast, or donuts. Yes, I was trying to avoid eating so many sugary foods, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

  I ate the egg.

  “What do you have on tap for the day?” Glenn asked.

  I groaned. “Background checks and paperwork. Arnie said we’ve had inquiries for two new cases, but neither have committed yet, so I don’t know the details.”

  He gave me a quick kiss before whisking my plate away and said, “Let’s think positive. You’ll get a new case today, and your day won’t be boring but will be full of excitement.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

  Half an hour later, we left the house together, but we were soon going our separate ways.

  I drove to the offices of Barnaski and Wheeler Investigations. It was hard to believe Arnie had been mentoring me for over two years now.

  He had recently given me paperwork to fill out for my private investigator’s license. The hardest part had been coming up with five character references that weren’t relatives or related by marriage.

  Glenn had refused to ask Sergeant Rorski to give me a reference. When I asked officer Tom Collins to help me out, he laughed and said, “In your dreams.” In the end, I had a reference from Glenn’s partner, Clay Carpenter, and one from fellow officer, Bill Winnie. Mama asked Rita from Rita’s Bed and Breakfast to provide a reference, and Roger said that since he and Mama weren’t married but only living together, it wouldn’t be breaking the rules if he was one of the five. Arnie surprised me providing the final reference from his sister, Addison Chambers.

  I was happy to have the five character references resolved, but realizing I didn’t have close friends outside of family was depressing. The Buxley Beacon’s star reporter, Jackie Ryder, would have vouched for me, but when I was scrambling for the references, she and her husband, Matt, were on vacation in Puerto Rico.

  I had included a check for the required fee and dropped the envelope off at the post office. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get my license, but I occasionally had a bit of excitement flutter in the pit of my stomach over becoming a full-fledged private investigator.

  Arnie was already in the office this morning, but his door was closed. Either he had a client with him, or he was in a foul mood.

  I quickly went through the folders on Nancy’s desk. Even though she and my brother Hank were married now and living in Hawaii, until we hired a new receptionist, I would always think of this as Nancy’s desk.

  Arnie had added a few new folders to the growing stack. I was determined to finish the paperwork burden today. I swept the entire lot up into my arms and hauled it into my office.

  After working diligently for over two hours, Arnie interrupted my work and took a seat in one of the two chairs facing my desk.

  “You’re gonna love this,” he said.

  I raised my eyebrows and waited for whatever bad news was coming.

  “Buxley Bank and Trust has a new position for a loan officer, and every bank teller in a fifty mile radius has applied for the job. They want drug tests and background checks on all of them.”

  My eyebrows dropped and turned into a deep furrow. I knew he was exaggerating about the number of applicants, but I was certain there was considerably more paperwork in my future with this job. “Aren’t they interviewing everyone first to narrow the field?”

  “Nope. I think management was overwhelmed with the response. We get the first round of cuts, and then they’ll start interviews.”

  “I just moved our personal accounts to BB&T. It’s like a fortress in there.”

  Arnie nodded in agreement. “Buxley Bank and Trust is one of the oldest buildings in town. No expense was spared when it was built.”

  “It’s a cold place and doesn’t feel very friendly,” I said. “There’s a lot of marble in there.”

  “That marble held up construction for a few years. Some of it came from the east coast, but most of it was imported from Italy.”

  I let out a chuckle. “Since when did you become an expert on the bank?”

  “Ohio history class when I was in the eighth grade. I had to write a report on something historic in Buxley, so I wrote about the bank.”

  “Was the bank ever held up by Jesse James or Butch Cassidy?”

  Arnie looked at me like I was an idiot. “Ohio wasn’t part of the Wild West, Jo. And as a matter of fact, the bank has never been robbed.”

  I was impressed. Not only had he chosen an interesting subject to write about, but it obviously made an impression on him if he could still recall facts so many years later.

  “What made you choose the bank for your report?”

  “Miss Cecil. She was the bank manager and helped me open my first bank account. I knew she would help me with my report.”

  “That was smart.”

  He stood from the chair. There was a twinkle in his eye and a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth. “Not smart. For all I cared, I could have written about the cemetery, but Miss Cecil was a good-lookin’ broad with knockers bigger than any I’d ever seen. I grabbed the bank before any of the other guys in class had a chance to even think about it.”

  He turned and walked out of my office before I could grab something from my desk to throw at him.

  “Thanks for taking a job with more paperwork,” I yelled after him.

  A laugh accompanied his response. “You’re welcome.”

  The phone rang. I waited a few rings to see if Arnie would answer the call. He didn’t.

  “Baranski and Wheeler Investigations,” I said hurriedly into the phone.

  I knew I should have identified myself and asked if I could help the caller, but I didn’t really want to help anyone. I wanted to finish the work in the folders.

  “Jo, we’ve got a live one, and he’s willing to pay big money.”

  An excited Pepper was on the other end of the line.

  “You’re kidding,” I said. “Did you find him, or did he find you?”

  “He called your red phone. I always thought that old rotary phone of yours was stupid, but it’s exciting when it rings. You know there’s trouble calling, and whoever it is needs our help.”

  Pepper had convinced me to let her resurrect Two Sisters and a Journalist, our personal investigative practice that had no connection to Barnaski and Wheeler Investigations. Jackie was on board with the business, but I suspected she only said yes because it was so hard to say no to Pepper’s enthusiasm.

  Pepper had taken my old red phone and answering machine and set up shop in her living room. After passing out flyers all over Buxley and neighboring Patterson, she had been waiting for over a week for a case to come in.
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br />   “What does he want us to do?” I asked. “Please don’t tell me he lost a pet.”

  “I don’t know what he wants. He asked who the sisters and the journalist were, and when I told him about you, he said he would only talk to you. He’s on his way over to see you now, but Jo, you can’t take him for Barnaski and Wheeler. He’s ours. We get the money for this one.”

  He was coming here? Arnie knew Pepper was trying to drum up business, but I assured him it wouldn’t affect my work with him. Maybe I could head the man off before he came through the door.

  “What’s his name? Do you have any idea what he looks like?”

  “I don’t know anything. He just said he had a job, and he’ll only talk to you.”

  “How do you know he’s willing to pay big money?”

  “Maybe I assumed that part,” she said, “but I know he is. He gave me that impression.”

  “I’ll call you back after I find out what he wants,” I said.

  I hung up. Before I could leave my office, Arnie stuck his head through the doorway. “I’m going over to shoot the breeze with Parker for a while. I want to see if he remembers Miss Cecil.” He smiled. “If you need me, I’ll be on my stool.”

  I shook my head in disgust and motioned for him to be on his merry way. When I heard the door connecting our offices to Parker’s Tavern close, I knew Arnie wouldn’t be back for several hours.

  I grabbed another folder and opened it, but knowing Pepper’s mystery man would be here any minute, I couldn’t concentrate. The same thought kept running through my mind. Please don’t let it be a missing animal case. Please don’t let it be paperwork. Please don’t let it be a missing animal case. Please don’t let it be paperwork. Please don’t let it be a missing animal case. Please don’t let it be paper-