A Canary in the Canal Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #8 (Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery Series)

by Anna Celeste Burke

  “I didn’t get the idea from Rebecca that they were the kind of sisters who could pull that off, even if she could sing.”

  “You told me you grew up with brothers, Georgie. If you had a sister, you’d know that sisters can fight like cats and dogs one minute, and they can be best friends the next. Boys can make that more difficult, which is another reason I called. Greg was a real gentleman with Rebecca when they visited, but I saw him flirting with Melody during the party. She must have told him to get lost at one point, which I didn’t understand completely until he and Rebecca showed up here holding hands. I can’t tell you why it bothered me so much. Since it did, I decided to call and to tell you about it.”

  “That is interesting. I knew Greg broke up with Rebecca to go out with Melody, but Melody dumped him right away. The whole cheating issue was supposedly over before Friday night. How did Greg react when Melody shunned him?”

  “He stomped off and headed to the bar for a drink. Max was with me, but he must not have seen him. The band members were told not to drink that night. Maybe I should have squealed on him.”

  “That wasn’t your role. The bartenders should have told him to get lost.”

  “They were so busy. Greg grabbed one of the drinks the bartenders had already poured. They may not even have noticed. I’m not trying to cause trouble for anyone.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Kay. We need every bit of information we can get about what went on Friday night. Greg irked me when I spoke to him today. Rebecca’s got to get her life back on the right track, which means deciding what to do about Greg. I won’t say you told me, but Rebecca needs to know Greg’s a jerk and was still hitting on Melody after she dumped him. I’m going to tell Jack about the incident too. If he has any questions, you won’t mind if he calls, will you?”

  “Why would I? Jack’s one of the good guys, Georgie.”

  “Don’t I know it,” I said. “How many people can put up with Max long enough to see his good side?”

  “Yeah, that’s not always easy, even after you’ve known him for years.” We had a good laugh at that. “Ernie can be that way too. I told you the tennis bracelet was a gift and Ernie’s the person who gave it to me. By most standards, it’s an inexpensive trinket these days, but twenty-five years ago, those were the first diamonds I’d ever owned. They still mean more to me than their dollar value. Lucky for him since he gave Melody one just like it Friday night.”

  “I didn’t notice her wearing it,” I responded.

  “She wasn’t until later in the evening. Ernie must have finally caught up with her. Maybe the cheapskate offered it to her as a bribe to get her to sign with him,” Kay quipped. “Apparently, it didn’t work since he told me the contract was never signed. Our silk scarves cost as much as the bracelets. Those were gifts from Max at dress rehearsal to go with our black dresses the Marley World costume designers had made for us.”

  “Max’s generosity is another aspect of his good side,” I said. Kay and I chatted for a few more minutes. We promised to have lunch again soon before we ended the call.

  “We’re all talked out,” Jack said when I returned to the kitchen. “We’re hungry too.”

  “Ann’s always punctual. She’ll be here anytime now. You all set the table while I make sure I didn’t forget to turn the oven on.”

  “That won’t work,” Jack said. “I can smell the food.”

  By the time they had the table set and the wine poured, the doorbell rang. Ann came in with a basket of fresh-baked bread. She brought toy mice for the cats, who thanked her before scampering down the hall, tossing them in the air and batting them around.

  Jack didn’t waste a bit of time getting down to business. As soon as our plates were full of food, he had Ann tell her story. The conversation was very helpful to Ann, who seemed more relaxed when she left than when she arrived. We’d already gone over so much information that nobody was motivated to ask any penetrating questions. That gave us time to talk about other things. I was in such a great mood after they left, and I was sure I’d get a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, the evening wasn’t over yet.

  19 Singing a New Tune

  When the doorbell rang, I hoped it wasn’t Doug Kingsley paying us a late-night visit. I was afraid I was too tired to answer his questions or even let him in since it was almost ten o’clock. Jack waved me off when I headed to the door.

  “I’ve got it. I want to make sure your new friend, Duke, isn’t here to see if you have his money.” When Jack opened the door, I couldn’t have been more surprised if it had been Duke.

  “I’m here singing a new tune. That’s how you say it, right?” Frederick asked, and then immediately added. “I didn’t kill her.”

  “So why lie?” Jack asked as he stepped away from the door so Frederick could enter.

  “Hello, Georgie. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m in trouble. Trouble I made. My first step to get out of it was to come here and apologize to you both for lying.”

  “Come in,” I said, suddenly feeling a little sorry for the man. He was literally at the door, hat in hand, and appeared to be a totally different man as he stepped inside. “Let’s sit at the table in the kitchen, okay?”

  “Have you had dessert yet?” Jack asked. I rolled my eyes at my husband’s obvious strategy for getting another piece of cake.

  “No, thank you. I don’t deserve you to treat me as a guest,” he said as he followed us into the kitchen.

  “Jack will be so disappointed if you don’t join us for a piece of cake and coffee.”

  “Milk, please,” Jack said as he seated Frederick at the table. “What’ll it be, coffee or milk?”

  “Milk would be good.”

  “A round of milk and cake, coming right up,” I said.

  “Okay, so no more lies. Tell us the truth about what happened between you and Melody Friday night.”

  “I used to work for Duke. Melody was a kid at the time, still in high school, but she recognized me as a member of Duke’s security team. She claimed she’d even seen me shakedown some guy back in the day.”

  “By shakedown, I take it you mean she saw you beat the man to a pulp,” I suggested. Frederick responded by wobbling his head back and forth.

  “I roughed Duke’s clients up a little, but I didn’t kill anyone. I’m not a hitman. When I left my home in the Ukraine, I’d had my fill of killing. One of Duke’s many sidelines is loan sharking. He had a legitimate bail bondsman at the law office, but Duke would put up bail money himself for a client. If they didn’t make good on the promise to repay him, he’d ask me or another one of his debt collectors to persuade his client to pay up.”

  “Did Melody try to use that information?”

  “Yes. First, Melody said she’d tell the homeowners about my past if I didn’t give her ten grand.”

  “That’s no small amount of money, is it?” I asked as I carried plates of cake to the table for the two men.

  “No, it’s most of my savings. What she said didn’t bother me, and I treated it as if she was bluffing. The homeowners are not that easy to reach, and I already told them I had a past as a tough—a bodyguard, bouncer—that sort of thing. When I said she should go ahead, Melody upped the ante or at least tried to. She said she’d tell Duke we got involved while she was preparing for the performance that night and that I did it to get back at him.”

  “Would he have believed her?” I asked, coming right back with two glasses of milk.

  “I doubt it. He staked me to get my security business going. I paid him back in full, with interest, so I don’t owe him a cent. We left on good terms. I had no reason to get back at him. Besides, Duke was done with Melody as a plaything before I left his employment. I don’t know why I didn’t just shut up and let her try it.”

  When I joined them at the table, the two men dug into the cake. Jack watched in awe as Frederick devoured the cake in a few bites.

  “I’m sorry. This is the most delicious cake I’ve ever had. Or at least since
I left the Ukraine.”

  “Would you like more?” I asked. He looked at Jack before replying.

  “How is he ever supposed to become an ‘eat dessert first’ kind of guy on just one piece of cake?”

  “A what?” Frederick asked.

  “I’ll let Jack explain it to you. It’s a cop thing, and Jack’s an expert.” Jack made a stab at telling him that it was a habit he’d picked up after so many of his meals were interrupted before he got to dessert. When I returned to the table with another piece of cake, Jack let him take another bite before he insisted that he continue.

  “Then Melody told me she’d stolen money from Duke, and she’d tell him I put her up to it. I didn’t believe her. I asked her why she was hustling me for money rather than running before Duke could catch up with her. Then she said she’d decided to give it back to him.”

  “What did you say?” Jack asked.

  “I laughed. I told her I didn’t believe she stole the money or would ever give anything back. I made a few comments about what in her history with Duke would make him discount her lies. Melody got so angry, she slapped me.”

  “That must have made you stop laughing,” I said not sure how much I could believe of what this hungry Ukrainian was telling us.

  “No, actually it made me laugh harder. She pulled her fist back, like this, and tried to punch me. I saw it coming and blocked her. In those spikey heels, she lost her balance, fell backward, and hit the floor. She had a cut on the back of her head that bled like crazy. I grabbed a towel and cleaned her up while she kept threatening me—she was going to tell Duke and Max—and call the police to report me for assault.”

  “So why didn’t she?” Jack asked.

  “Suddenly, her phone rang. When she tried to answer she couldn’t get good enough reception in the cold storage room. She asked me to show her the fastest way out, and I led her to a door from the basement that opens to the opposite side of the house. I had to move an old refrigerator stashed in the basement to unlock the door and let her out.”

  “We found it,” Jack said. “If you didn’t tell the police about the door, they’re going to want to know why you didn’t show it to them sooner.”

  “I told the crime lab guys when they came here the second time, but the old fridge was there because no one ever uses it. It’s always locked. I had to jiggle the lock and insert the key a second time to get it open. Melody was on my case which didn’t help. She was crazy—like a wild animal trapped. I thought maybe she wasn’t lying about taking money from Duke and he was coming after her.”

  “I still don’t get why you made up a story leading us to believe someone murdered Melody in the cold storage room,” Jack commented.

  “When Georgie found her body later, I thought maybe the bump on her head killed her after all. When I saw her face, it was clear to me she’d had a fight with someone else. I assumed she’d been killed right there where they found her body or nearby. After I heard the police say she must have been killed somewhere else, I panicked. What if the police sent the crime lab into the house to search again? I’d cleaned up the floor with the same towel I used to stop her head from bleeding. Then I went back and started cleaning it a second time with bleach. I stopped when I realized I’d never get rid of every bit of evidence even using the UV light.”

  “So, you decided to draw attention to it before anyone else found it.”

  “Brilliant, huh?” Frederick asked.

  “You’re probably facing more trouble than if you’d just explained what happened in there right away.”

  “You mean Doug Kingsley would have said ‘thanks for letting us know.’ I don’t think so. He would have thought that was round one and once she finished her phone call, she came after me again. Then we picked up where we left off and things got out of hand. Or I followed her, caught up with her later, and finished her off for good.”

  “You do make a good case for yourself as her killer,” I added. “I’m sure plenty of people could have vouched for you being inside the house though.”

  “Possibly, but in a job like mine, you can be almost invisible at times. I can’t even tell you where I was every minute or who I was speaking to since I’d never met most of the party guests. In their dinner jackets and ties, the men all look the same after a while. I try not to pay attention to the women when there are big shots around who may have a claim on them. Forget it. What do I do now?”

  “You’ve got to make a clean slate of it with Doug Kingsley. In this case, it is a good idea if you contact him rather than wait for him to catch up with you.”

  “Can you be there when I do that?”

  “Why not? I’ll call him right now and we’ll set a time to meet.”

  “Thank you,” Frederick sighed. “Could I bother you for more milk, please?”

  “No problem,” I said. “Milk will help you sleep.”

  You’re going to need it when you meet with the bird dog, I thought. He’s not going to feed you cake and pour you milk. Holding the glass out, I swear he looked like a boy, not a man capable of whatever he did in Ukraine, collecting debts using his fists, or lying to the police. I must be a sucker for a sad song since Rebecca had hit a lot of the same notes today.

  20 A Mournful Duet

  Jack got the first call the next morning. He dragged himself out of bed, took it, and came dashing back.

  “What is it? It isn’t Max, is it? If it is, tell him he’s getting no more ‘nice guy’ stuff from you if he can’t call at a decent hour.” Jack said something from the bathroom, but he’d turned on the shower, and my still groggy mind couldn’t make out what he’d said.

  “Do you want me to play bad cop with him?” I asked, struggling to sit up on the side of the bed.

  “No, it’s not Max,” Jack said as he stuck his head out of the bathroom.

  “That’s good,” I said and rolled back onto my back, but not for long because the alarm went off. Jack was in the shower, so he couldn’t hear it. I got up and shut it off. The cats were puzzled by the disruption in routine. Creatures of habit is an understatement when applied to cats. That goes double for our Siamese cats. They run the household, and only they have the right to change the schedule.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” I said. “I’m up.”

  Miles wailed in response to my statement. Ella leaned her head against him as if supporting his efforts to discipline me.

  “Come on,” I said as I slipped into my robe. “Let’s get the coffee started. I have a feeling your dad is going to be on the run when he leaves this bedroom in a few minutes.”

  Starting coffee before giving the royal couple their morning treats was another breach of protocol, but I couldn’t see how Jack could get off to a running start without coffee. Ella joined Miles in singing a mournful duet. It didn’t let up until their mouths were full of turkey. Sliced turkey offered to them before being served their premium wet cat food was also a deviation from the routine, but that was allowed.

  In minutes, I’d restored order by feeding them and pouring Jack a cup of coffee. I dropped a couple of ice cubes in it so it would be drinkable when he came sprinting down the hall.

  “Coffee,” I said as he hustled into the kitchen. I handed him the coffee, and he took a test sip, and then downed the entire cup before saying a word. “Muffin to go.”

  “Did I ever tell you that you’re the best wife I’ve ever had?”

  “Yes, but I’d prefer to hear what has you in racehorse mode this morning.”

  “A reliable snitch, I hope. Supposedly, Burton told his cellmate what he’d seen and that he was going to use the information as a get out of jail free card. He wants to play the game now since he heard what happened to Burton. My old pal, Mick, is scared out of his mind, so I’ve got to go pick him up since we have a history. I don’t have to go far because he called from a payphone near the entrance to Crystal Cove Park.”

  “Then go get him before whoever killed Burton gets to him. I want to hear the part about you
r history with him when you get home.”

  “Love you,” Jack said as he planted a kiss on my lips before he ran for the door. The cats were back in their ‘what the heck is going on mode,’ standing on their hind legs on the barstools. Jack swung around and gave each of them a pat on the head. “Don’t want the kids to give you any grief because Daddy doesn’t love them.”

  “Call me later,” I said as the door shut behind him. I’d barely reached the bedroom to dress when my phone rang.

  “Did you forget something?” I asked when I grabbed my phone and answered the call.

  “I’m sorry, Cicely. My husband raced out the door to deal with an emergency. I thought he was calling.”

  “Oh, Georgie, I have an emergency too. Rebecca’s gone! She’s cleared out her things too. We were so careful to do everything the way you said we should. Could Duke have followed us anyway?”

  “I don’t think so. If he really wanted to find her, maybe he’s following her cellphone signal. Did she make any calls?”

  “Yes, she called a woman name Kay while I was making dinner last night. Kay Garland, the singer. I heard her tell her she hated to bother her again but that she’d accidentally left something behind when she visited. She asked Kay if she would hold onto it for her until she could pick it up in a day or two.”

  “What time was that?” I asked, instantly suspicious. Maybe she’d called Kay after she and I had finished speaking. My suspicions were confirmed when Cicely told me the time.

  “Did she tell Kay where she was?” I already knew Rebecca couldn’t have been speaking to Kay because I was on the phone with her at the time Cicely had given me. Even if she was off by a few minutes, Kay and I had spoken for almost twenty minutes. Besides, Kay hadn’t said a word about Rebecca leaving anything behind after she and Greg visited.

  “Yes, she did. Not my address, but she said she was staying with Melody’s supervisor who’d tried so hard to straighten her out before it was too late. I appreciated hearing her say that. We had a thoroughly enjoyably evening together, so I was shocked that she was gone this morning.”