Snake in the Glass

by Sarah Atwell

  “Maybe. Let me find out.”

  She put me on hold. I stared blindly into space, imagining worst-case scenarios. Denis with an Uzi, blowing away the entire police force of two counties before fleeing across the Mexican border. Denis slitting Will’s throat and then playing dumb and innocent, a role he knew well. Or maybe they were equal partners, and they would both come out with guns blazing. It all sounded absurd, but it was just within the far reaches of possibility. And if there was the slightest chance that somebody could get hurt or killed, then I had to tell someone. I could worry about looking foolish later, when this was all over.

  Oh hell, Em—at least admit to yourself what you’re thinking. I didn’t want Matt to get killed or hurt. I wasn’t sure when that feeling, that need to protect him, had happened, but there it was, and there wasn’t a bleeping thing I could do about it now except try to warn him about what he was facing. If I could.

  “Em?” Mariana’s voice interrupted my maudlin fantasies.

  “Yes?”

  “Hang on, I’ve got you linked.”

  “What?” Matt barked abruptly.

  I tried to figure out how to condense what I knew into the fewest words. “Matt, I think Denis was in this from the start, including Alex’s death. He may have been working with Will all along. He lied to us.”

  Matt said something that was lost in static.

  “Matt? Did you hear me? Denis may have gone to Will’s to eliminate the last person who knows what he’s done. He’s playing us.”

  “Got it. Gotta go.” His end of the line went dead.

  I’d done all I could. Except to tell him to take care of himself, because I wanted him to come back in one piece.

  Elizabeth was staring at me. “What happens now?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Chapter 32

  It has been claimed that peridot calms madness, increases wealth, and prevents sudden death.

  I’m not very good at waiting. Especially when I can’t control the situation.

  I went home. I invited Elizabeth to come along, mostly because it seemed cruel to leave her there alone, wondering, but she declined. I didn’t press her.

  The rest of the gang was assembled at my place, as if they knew there was some sort of showdown coming. I gave them a brief outline of what I’d learned from Elizabeth, and what I had deduced, and the fact that I had tried to warn Matt.

  “Em? Lunch.” Cam thrust a sandwich in front of me.

  Oh, right, food. I chewed without tasting. We’d finally accepted that no business was going to get done today, so Nessa and Allison had closed up the shop and were on hand too, and I noted with a pang that Cam and Allison were sticking to each other like glue, and even Nessa and Frank were sitting pretty close.

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” Nessa said. I didn’t ask what “it” was. I hoped she was right. Maybe everything would be neatly wrapped up with bows on it just in time for the five o’clock news. Or maybe the sheriffs and Matt would still be arguing about whose turf they were on, while Denis and Will in their ignorance cackled about their success in getting away with it all. Which they might yet, the way things were going. Too bad Denis was much smarter than I had thought. He’d fooled me, and I’d written him off as a neurotic professor with money problems. Great judge of character I am.

  “So you think it may have been Denis who was the mastermind all along?” Allison asked, her eyes wide.

  I nodded. “Maybe. Although I get the feeling that some of the people involved were just improvising. But I did tell Matt not to trust Denis, assuming he finds him. One thing that worries me—if Denis manages to shut Will up, then we’ll have only his story on how things happened. And he’s already proved he’s pretty smart, if he’s kept us all in the dark this long. Damn, I hate being taken in like that. I really believed he was a clueless bumbler.”

  “It’s far easier for a smart man to play at being stupid than the other way around. And you had no reason to doubt him,” Allison said gently.

  “Matt can handle himself, Em,” Nessa added.

  Her perception startled me. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

  “Of course you don’t,” she went on. “Least of all Matt.”

  Exactly. Nessa could see right through me. I wish I could see through me more often. I had been sucked in by Denis’s idea of treating stones. It had seemed harmless enough, and it meant a nice piece of change with little work attached. Who knew that it would lead to uncovering a murder and a kidnapping? Even though I had lived with the Gem Show for years now, I hadn’t realized how strongly people felt about sparkly colored things. But I really didn’t care about stones, so I hadn’t paid attention. If I had, would I have questioned Denis’s motives?

  Time passed—one hour, then two. We talked, but each conversation petered out quickly. Cam had booted up his beloved laptop and was clicking away at it in a corner. After a while he reported, “I’ve been watching the local Internet news, but nobody’s said anything about arrests or solving a murder. Maybe that’s good news?”

  “Or maybe Denis and/or Will has killed everyone,” I said glumly. “If they’d brought them in, there should at least be a mention.”

  “Relax, Em,” Cam responded. “They’re probably arguing about who should do the paperwork.”

  I stood up, unable to sit still any longer. “I’ll walk the dogs—I need the fresh air. You want to come, Cam?”

  “Sure.”

  Fine group we made, with the infectious fidgets. The dogs didn’t seem to mind, as long as they got attention. I handed Cam one leash, I took the other, and we each hoisted a dog and went down the stairs.

  As we meandered down the block, I said, “You know, Cam, I don’t think we’ve had time to talk since all this whole mess started. You okay with your job?”

  “Yeah. I told them I’d start next week. I said I had a few personal matters to take care of. They were cool with that.”

  “How about finding a place to live?”

  “I don’t plan to crash with you forever, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “Hey, I’m happy to have you around, but things could get complicated.” I decided to stop beating around the bush. “Are you and Allison going to move in together?”

  We walked a few more paces before he answered. “I don’t know. We’ve sort of talked about it, but you know she’s old-school Irish Catholic, and she has problems with the idea of ‘living in sin,’ as she puts it. I didn’t know anyone still thought like that, but I have to respect her position. I guess.”

  “There’s one way to fix that, you know.”

  “You mean get married?”

  “Well, that would take care of the ‘sin’ part. You have a problem with that? Or does she?”

  “I’ve been reluctant to bring it up. I mean, we haven’t been together that long, and then there was that whole Ireland mess. I haven’t wanted to press.”

  I stopped to let Fred sniff a particularly interesting post. Gloria sat down to watch him. I turned to Cam. “Cam, you and I don’t talk about serious stuff too much, you know? But I’d hate to see you mess up with Allison just because you didn’t want to confront things. Life is short, and you never know what’s going to happen.”

  “I know, Em. I know. But if we’re being open here, what about you and Matt?”

  It was a fair question, even if I didn’t like it. “Right now we’re taking it one day at a time. We like each other, and I think we’re good together. But I also like my life the way it is, and I don’t see how we can put our lives together. It’s not like you and Allison.”

  “Are you sure? Is it enough for you to get together now and then, when it happens to fit your schedules? You’re not getting any younger, Em. Do you want to be alone in ten, twenty years?”

  I stared at him, and then I burst out laughing. “Listen to us. How did we come to this so late? We should have been having these discussions, oh, fifteen years ago.” Then I sobered. “Cam, I don’t thin
k either one of us is qualified to give romantic advice, but we seem to be doing it anyway, so here it is. Allison loves you, you love Allison. That’s a pretty simple equation. Get married, shack up, whatever suits the two of you, and get on with it. There are no guarantees that you’ll be happy, but so what? You’ve got to try.”

  “I will if you will.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “You just told me it was. You’re chicken.”

  Maybe I was. Maybe I’d fought too long and hard to create the life I had, and I liked it, and I wasn’t about to change it for another person. Even one I cared about. And I did care about Matt, but I’d seen my parents’ empty marriage and I wasn’t convinced I was cut out for marriage or anything like it. And I knew Matt had been burned once by a bad marriage. But, to be honest, I had no idea how he felt about where we were going, and I had never asked. Maybe Cam was right: Matt and I were old enough to know our own minds, and maybe it was time to clear the air.

  Assuming he came back.

  No, I couldn’t think like that. He was a trained and experienced law officer, and he knew what he was doing. Plus he had help with him out there. “We should get back, in case there’s some news. But think about what I said, will you?”

  “If you’ll think about what I said.”

  “We’ll see,” I said. Mistress of noncommitment, that was me.

  When we arrived back at my place, we ran upstairs to deposit the dogs. There was no news.

  Chapter 33

  Peridot will cause a beam of light to separate into two.

  More hours passed. Once darkness had fallen, I couldn’t stand being cooped up in my apartment. “I’m going out for some air,” I announced.

  “You want company?” Cam volunteered.

  “No!” I said, more sharply than I intended. “No,” I said more softly this time. “I just want a little alone time, okay? I’ll be right outside if anything . . . if anybody needs me.” Trying to breathe.

  Before anyone could protest, I slipped out the door, shutting it behind me, and sat at the top of the stairs, looking at the familiar streetscape, dimly lit by the shadowed streetlights. I took a deep breath, savoring the scent of mesquite in the air.

  The streets were all but empty, and then less so, as a lone man turned the corner by the shop and headed in my direction. My first thought was that it was a mugger, but then the dark figure resolved itself into Matt.

  I was down the stairs in seconds, just in time to throw myself into his arms at the bottom. His arms went around me and we simply stood there, silent. I couldn’t think of anything to say, but it didn’t matter. He was safe. I found myself patting him, making sure he was in one piece.

  He noticed. “Looking for something?”

  “Just making sure you’re all there. No bullet holes.”

  “Nope. Everything accounted for.”

  He wasn’t letting go, I noticed. Then he tilted my face up and kissed me. Some centuries later, we finally came up for air. “You were waiting for me?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I was worried. I didn’t know what you’d find out there. That’s why I called you, to make sure you knew what you were walking into.”

  “It’s kind of nice, knowing someone’s worried about me. It’s been a while.”

  “It scares me, Matt. Not because it’s your job, but because it matters to me. Does that make sense?”

  “I think so.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath. “So tell me what happened. Just the outline—there are several people upstairs who want the whole story, or as much as you can share.”

  “First, no casualties. We found Will’s house, and Denis was there. And you were right—Denis tried to convince us that Will had kidnapped him. I think there was a good chance he would have killed Will if we hadn’t gotten there when we did.”

  “So you arrested them both? Or somebody did?”

  “Yup. The sheriff took them back and split them up and we got their stories, bit by bit. Denis finally caved.”

  I let out a breath that I hadn’t known I was holding. “Thank goodness. So it’s over?”

  “Looks like it, all but the paperwork. Denis killed Alex.”

  I swallowed. “That’s what I figured.” I waited a second before going on. “I talked to his wife, after you left. She said she and Alex had been having an affair. Did Denis know?”

  “Wait ’til we get upstairs.” He fell silent, but neither of us moved. It felt good to be here in his arms, all worries gone. Maybe independence wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Maybe Matt and I had some things to talk about.

  Finally I said, “People are going to send out a search party for me soon. We’d better go up.”

  “Can’t have that. Let’s go fill them in, shall we?”

  I turned and headed up the stairs, and he followed. I opened the door, and we were greeted by hearty cheers—and barks. I took inventory: Frank, Nessa, Cam, Allison, and the pups. Yes, everyone was here, apparently waiting to hear whatever Matt had to say.

  We made them wait as I scrounged up beer and chips and we all settled ourselves on sofa, chairs and floor. First Matt launched into his summary report.

  “Denis killed Alex?” I prompted.

  “Looks like it. I don’t think Denis meant to kill him—it probably was an accident. But after that Denis kept trying to patch over things and they just kept getting worse.”

  “Did he tell you how it happened?”

  “He found out Alex was sleeping with his wife. They got into a shoving match, sounds like, but Alex hit his head on the counter, and that was that.”

  This was news to everyone but me. “So it wasn’t the gems?” Nessa asked.

  “I think the financial problems forced Denis and Alex together more than usual recently, and Denis must have noticed something going on with Alex and his wife.”

  “Or maybe he knew all along and was afraid to say anything. His wife hasn’t been happy with him for a long time,” I added.

  “When Denis told us that he had shipped her out of town for her own safety, he was lying. She’d planned the trip for a while, and he wasn’t sure she was coming back.”

  “But she came back when she learned that Alex was dead?”

  “She did. You’ll have to ask her why.”

  Cam broke in. “When did Alex die?”

  “The night before you met Denis at Alex’s house. Denis went there the next morning to see if there was anything incriminating, and you surprised him. He knew you were coming, but he didn’t know when. So when you conveniently assumed he was Alex, he thought he’d just shuttle you out to the RV, where he knew you couldn’t communicate with anyone, and then try to figure out the next step. In the end he asked Will to take care of things.”

  “He’d been working with Will all along?”

  Matt nodded. “Yes, both he and Alex.”

  “And Denis asked Will to dump Alex’s body. But why was Will helping Denis at all?”

  “Denis promised him a cut of the proceeds from the sale of the stones, after he’d settled his debts. The original deal was with Will, and he laid out some money up front. But then Alex found a better deal and wanted to cut Will out.”

  “He probably figured he’d never see his money unless he helped Denis out.” At Matt’s look, I added, “I’ll explain later. Anyway, Will couldn’t bring himself to kill Cam, so he settled for scrambling his brains.” I was glad that Beverly had been right. It would be hard to live with the knowledge that your brother was a cold-blooded murderer. Stupid was easier.

  Matt turned to Cam. “Denis said Alex came by to drop off the new gem-sale contract while Elizabeth was at work, and that’s when he confronted him about the affair. He’d had his suspicions for a while, but he didn’t want a messy argument, and he wasn’t sure how to get out of the business relationship.”

  I pictured the gleaming kitchen, with its trendy granite countertops. How well did granite hold blood evidence? “But how did he get rid of the body so
fast? And what about Alex’s car?”

  “Denis called Will in a panic and asked him to meet him at Alex’s house. Then he drove Alex’s car back there and waited for Will. When he showed up, he told Will to get rid of the body where nobody would find it. And Will did. It came pretty close to working. If I hadn’t pushed the ME, he probably wouldn’t have looked at the body for months. And then Denis went home and cleaned up. The police never did examine Denis’s house, at least not as a crime scene.”

  “Do they need any evidence? Or is Denis’s confession enough?”

  “That’s up to the lawyers. They’ll go over his place more carefully now anyway,” Matt said.

  I mulled that over for a moment. “Denis showed up at my studio the next day. Why?”

  “He needed to finish the stones to get the money from the gem sale, to pay off the loans—and Will.”

  “Did Denis clean up the RV too? I don’t think Will could have managed that.”

  “Yes.”

  “Is Will okay? And what’s he told you?”

  “Denis was going to try and lay the murder and the kidnapping on him, and then fake his own kidnapping and kill Will to make it look convincing. When he heard that, Will was happy to tell us everything he knew.”

  We all digested this for a few moments. Finally I said, “I feel stupid, letting Denis fool me the way he did.”

  “You weren’t the only one he fooled. You did see through him when it mattered. That call of yours put us on the alert, or else we might have fallen for Denis’s story. And he hadn’t worked up the courage to kill Will, so we have his story too. I don’t think Denis is really a killer at heart—he just got caught up in a mess.”

  “What happens to the gem find? Who ends up with that?” Frank asked. Trust Frank to worry about that detail.

  “We’d have to check the articles of incorporation and also see if Alex left a will. I’d guess Elizabeth. Why does it matter?”

  “She might be able to follow up on the technique, sell the stones, if she’s interested.”