The Killer Next Door: A Murder Mystery

by Nicholas Jordan

  “Whatever.” Kaylee shook her head. “Oh, by the way, I finally found evidence that Greg may have murdered his wife.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes. And that’s not all. Eric told me that Emma didn’t have anything to drink at the party the night she died. If Greg killed his wife, then maybe it wasn’t the first time that he killed either. Maybe he—”

  “Are you insane? Do you seriously think he murdered his own wife and daughter? Get your head out of the clouds, Kaylee. This isn’t a freaking episode of Murder She Wrote. Frank killed Claudia, and Emma crashed her car because she was drinking. That’s it. Case closed.”

  “But Eric said that she never—”

  “I don’t give a damn what Eric said,” Mia snapped. “I told you to stay away from him and you didn’t listen to me. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

  Kaylee narrowed her eyes and studied Mia’s face. “Why did you want me to stay away from him? Were you afraid of what he might tell me? What do you know that you’re not telling me?”

  “Nothing.” She tossed the photo back at Kaylee. “This conversation is over. I have more important things to do right now than talk about your ridiculous theories.”

  Without another word, Mia retreated back inside the house and then slammed the door shut.

  Kaylee bent down to retrieve the picture. Stared at the smiling faces of Mia and Emma. It was easy to see that Mia was still not being honest with her. There was something that she wasn’t being told. Some crucial piece of the puzzle that she hadn’t figured out yet.

  But what could it be?

  20

  “I’M TELLING YOU SHE’S HIDING something. I don’t know what it is exactly, but there’s got to be a reason she’s so adamant that Greg didn’t kill his wife. And a reason that she lied to me too.”

  Eric nodded. Took a drag off his cigarette. “Well? What are we going to do about it?”

  “I don’t know yet.” Kaylee leaned against the hood of Eric’s car. “I was kind of hoping you would have some ideas.”

  He shrugged. “I wish I did, but I’m fresh out. I want to know the truth as much as you do, though, especially what happened to Emma after leaving that party. Everyone seems convinced it was nothing but an accident, but I have a hard time believing that.”

  “You said Emma and her mom didn’t get along, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.” He took another drag. “Her mom didn’t like the decisions she was making—me being one of them—and Emma just wanted to be left alone. They fought all the time. I didn’t really think that much of it, though. I mean, who doesn’t fight with their parents, right? But ever since Emma died . . . I don’t know, I guess I’ve just been looking at it differently.”

  “Do you think it’s possible that her mom had something to do with what happened to her?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe no one knows.”

  “Maybe Mia does.”

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “Why not?”

  “Mia and I don’t get along, we never have, but I can’t see her letting anyone get away with hurting her best friend. I mean, her and Emma were close. Like, really close.”

  “But you agree that she’s holding something back, right?”

  “Yeah. I think that’s pretty obvious.”

  “Then we have to find out what that is.”

  “So what do you suggest we do? Sneak into her house too?”

  “I don’t know what to do. That’s why I came over here to talk to you in the first—”

  “Hold it.” Eric held up a finger and glanced right past Kaylee.

  “What? What is it?”

  She started to look, but Eric grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, wishing that he would just tell her already instead of keeping her in the dark.

  He dragged her over to some bushes and then knelt down so that they were out of sight from the houses across the street.

  “Look at that,” he said.

  “What are you talking about? Look at what?” She poked her head over the top of the bushes and saw Mia’s garage door opening. And, at almost the exact same time, the garage door across the street opened as well.

  Then both Greg’s SUV and the Prius that Mia drove pulled out of their respective driveways and drove off in the same direction with Mia in the lead.

  Now that was interesting.

  “I wonder where they’re going,” Eric said.

  “I don’t know,” Kaylee turned around to look at him, “but I think we should follow them and find out.”

  ***

  “They’re turning in there.” Kaylee pointed out the window.

  “I see them,” Eric said. “What the hell are they doing out here? Where even are we? Is that a laundromat?”

  Kaylee watched the two vehicles they were pursuing pull off the highway and into the small shopping center. She had never been to this part of town before—or anywhere in town really—but apparently they were near the furthest edge of town. According to Eric.

  “It’s out of the way,” she said. “I bet they don’t want anyone to know that they’re sneaking away to meet each other.”

  “Should I follow them in there?”

  “No. They’ll see us, and probably recognize your car.”

  “So what do I do then?”

  Kaylee took a second to ponder that question. There was another shopping center across the street. A little bigger. A lot more parked cars. Much easier to avoid standing out.

  “Park across the street,” Kaylee said, “but make sure we’re somewhere that we can see them.”

  “Got it.” Eric turned the steering wheel to pull the car off the road and into the parking lot. Shortly afterwards, he parked so that the front of the car was facing the laundromat across the street.

  Where both Mia and Greg had parked right beside one another.

  “They’re so far away,” Kaylee said as she leaned forward in her seat, hands resting on the dashboard. “We can’t hear anything they’re talking about from here.” She turned to Eric. “I don’t suppose you can read lips?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

  “Just thought I’d ask.” She looked out the window again. The conversation between Mia and Greg was heated at first, with Mia especially fiery, but it soon died down before ending in a way that Kaylee had not expected.

  The two of them embraced before sharing a brief kiss on the lips and parting to head back to their respective vehicles.

  “Did you see that?” Eric asked.

  Kaylee nodded. “Looks like we now know who Greg’s mystery girlfriend is.”

  “They’re leaving. Should we follow them?”

  “No. I’ve seen everything I need to.”

  “So what now then? Want me to take you home?”

  “I have a better idea.” She looked at him again. “Let’s go to the police station and talk to Detective Ferguson. I think there’s a few things that he needs to know.”

  ***

  “I’m telling the truth,” Kaylee said, leaning forward in her seat as she slammed her hands down on the desk in front of her. “Why can’t you believe me? I was right about Frank, wasn’t I?”

  “Yes, you were,” Ferguson said, maintaining his composure like the veteran lawman that he was, “but now you’re telling me that you were wrong about him, and that I should be looking into, not one, but two of your other neighbors. What am I supposed to do with that?”

  “You’re supposed to look into it. You’re supposed to do your job.”

  “You told me you saw Greg Henderson and Mia Scott kiss. All that tells me—considering it’s true—is that Mr. Henderson likes to fool around with teenage girls. The world’s not a pretty place when you go looking for ugliness, Kaylee. I don’t know what you expect me to do about it. I’m a homicide detective. Whatever is going on between those two is not my department.”

  “Yes. You’re a homicide detective, and I’m telling yo
u that Greg murdered his wife so he could continue his affair with Mia without having to divorce her. And Mia lied to me about being friends with Emma. I bet she was trying to distance herself from the Hendersons as much as possible to avoid suspicion.”

  “That’s all just your opinion. You don’t have any facts.”

  “What about the divorce papers? I showed you the picture.”

  “We already know about the divorce papers. If you look closely, you’ll see that they haven’t been filled out yet. Greg told us about them. He said it was something they were working through. But they never got a chance to do that because Frank Palmer killed Claudia before they could.”

  “How do you know he isn’t just lying?”

  “Because I’m a cop. I’m going where the evidence leads me, and right now, the evidence is leading me to Frank. Not Greg.”

  Kaylee shook her head. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. “I know you don’t believe me, but I’m telling you there’s something going on. Just bring them in and question them. That’s all I’m asking.”

  The detective heaved a sigh and leaned back in his seat, placing his interlocked hands behind his head. He remained that way for a few silent beats before he leaned forward again, setting his still linked hands on the desk in front of him.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I appreciate what you did to assist with the case before, but you’re taking this way too far. We have our killer. Just let it go.”

  “But what about everything I just told you?”

  “You haven’t given me anything. If you want to make accusations like that then you need to have proof. All you’ve given me so far is rumors. I don’t operate on stuff like that. And I have real cases to take care of, so if you don’t mind, the two of you can show yourselves out of my office.”

  The fury birthed inside Kaylee spread throughout her body like a virus. She clenched her fists and pursed her lips before shooting to her feet without another word and storming out of the detective’s office. She could hear Eric following, but she hardly paid him any attention.

  She was too furious. All she could think about was getting as far away from the detective as possible. If he wanted proof so bad, then she would just have to find some.

  “Kaylee, wait up,” Eric called after her just as she was leaving the station.

  She stopped and crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one foot before spinning around on her heel to face Eric.

  “I know you’re pissed off right now, and I don’t blame you, but we’re still going to get to the bottom of this. I believe you. Who the hell cares what that detective thinks?”

  Kaylee shook her head. “How are we supposed to do that? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it really is nothing but a stupid affair and I’m just looking for something that isn’t even there.”

  “Now you’re doubting yourself for no reason.” Eric took a few steps closer. Put his hands on her shoulders. “Neither one of us knows for sure that Greg murdered his wife, but if there is even the slightest chance that he did, then I don’t think we should stop until we can say for certain one way or the other. Don’t you agree?”

  Kaylee sighed. “I don’t know. I just can’t stop worrying that I might be wrong. Like, what if I’m just looking for someone to punish because of what happened to . . .” She trailed off when she remembered that she had not yet told Eric about what happened to Chelsea. She never even mentioned her to him.

  “Happened to who?” he asked.

  Looking down at her feet, Kaylee chewed her bottom lip while trying to think how best to answer him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to know about Chelsea. She just wasn’t sure if she was ready to talk about it. And even if she was, she didn’t want to talk about it here.

  “No one.” She met his gaze and forced a smile. “And you’re right. We can’t just give up now.”

  He nodded and took a step back, letting his hands slip away from her shoulders. Could he tell that she was holding something back? Was he upset with her? Did he even care?

  “Well, no point hanging out around here,” Eric said. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”

  Kaylee followed him back to his car. She was looking forward to getting home. This whole morning had been stressful to say the least. Some quiet time to herself wouldn’t be such a bad thing. She liked to think that she might be able to just relax, unwind, and think about something else for a change, but in all likelihood, she would just stress out more while trying to figure out how to obtain the proof that she needed in order to convince Ferguson to believe her.

  21

  “THANKS FOR THE RIDE,” KAYLEE said once Eric parked the car in his driveway. She unfastened her seatbelt, and was about to open her door when Eric spoke up.

  “Are you going home?”

  Kaylee turned to him. “Yeah. I guess so. I think I’m going to get something to eat and then maybe lie down for a little bit.”

  “What are you doing after that?”

  “I don’t know. Probably nothing. I don’t live a very exciting life, remember?”

  “I don’t know about that. Solving crimes, breaking into people’s homes, putting pedophiles behind bars. Seems like a pretty exciting life to me.”

  Kaylee smiled and shook her head. “Trust me. My life is not normally this exciting.”

  “So make it more exciting.”

  “Yeah. Sure.”

  “I’m serious. Since you have nothing but a boring night ahead of you, you have plenty of time to go out with me. Right?”

  Kaylee’s smile faded. Not because she was upset, but because she was surprised. She didn’t see that coming. “A-are you asking me out?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. So how does four o’clock sound? We can catch a movie and then have dinner after. Cliché, I know, but there’s only so much to do in this town.”

  Kaylee looked down at her lap while her cheeks warmed. She twisted her hair around her finger and gnawed away at her lip. While it hadn’t been that long since she last went out with a guy, it felt like much longer.

  Still, she couldn’t believe she was acting like a freshman who’d never even kissed a guy before. She had never been shy around guys. Not even when she was a freshman.

  “So . . . what do you say?”

  Kaylee looked up at Eric and was surprised when she noticed that he actually looked nervous.

  “Hope you’re not scared off by all the bad things that Mia told you about me,” he said.

  Kaylee shook her head. “No. I don’t believe anything she told me now that I know she lied about Emma.”

  “Does that mean yes to that date then?”

  “Yes. I’d love to. And four sounds good.”

  “Great.” A grin consumed half his face. “I’ll see you then.”

  “Okay.” Now Kaylee couldn’t stop smiling either. Cheeks still flushed, she decided it was a good idea to get out of here before she found a way to embarrass herself. “Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Kaylee opened the door, climbed out of the car, and then started down the driveway. She paused only long enough to wave to Eric as he was getting out of the car. Then was on her way across the street, heading home.

  When she reached the other side—free from worrying about being seen by Eric—she grinned from ear to ear like a total dummy.

  But she didn’t even care.

  She almost completely screwed things up with Eric the first time they were supposed to go out. She wasn’t going to let that happen again.

  ***

  Come on, Kaylee. Just relax. What are you worried about? It’s only a date.

  Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she was doing her makeup while simultaneously trying to control the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. The former was going alright, but she wasn’t having much luck with the latter. And that really annoyed her. This was far from her first date after all.

  Although it was her first date with Eric, and maybe tha
t had something to do with it. She never really cared how first dates went with other guys. Probably because it was so easy to make a good impression. All she had to do was show some cleavage and laugh at their jokes and they would all think she was the most amazing girl in the world. Probably because they only wanted to get into her pants.

  It was different with Eric.

  He was older and much more mature. She felt like he legitimately liked her and wanted to get to know her better, and she knew she felt the same way about him.

  Which was why she didn’t want to spoil this. She wanted it to be perfect. But that desire put a lot more pressure on her, which turned the process of getting ready for their date into a very stressful ordeal.

  After getting out of the shower and drying off her hair about twenty minutes ago, she had already gone through four different outfits and spent twice as long on her makeup as she normally did. And she still had doubts eating away at her.

  Should I go back to that other shirt?

  Wear my hair up or down?

  I don’t know if I like theses shorts.

  But even during all of this, she knew deep down that she was overthinking it. Eric had already seen her in her pajamas without any makeup on after all.

  He wasn’t shallow like so most other guys.

  Besides, it was already three thirty, so she didn’t have time to keep second guessing herself. She decided to settle for the outfit she was wearing—a powder blue sleeveless top and denim shorts—and then focus on finishing up her makeup.

  She was finishing applying her eyeliner when she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. It made her jump. She glanced out of the bathroom at her bedroom door. Apparently, Eric decided to show up early. It couldn’t be her mother. She wouldn’t ring the doorbell, considering she had a key to the house, and she wouldn’t be home from work for another two hours.

  It was probably a good thing that Eric was showing up a half hour early. She assumed it meant he was just excited about their date.