by Jessica Beck
“I’m on my way,” I said.
After I hung up on my end, I turned to Grace as she said, “They found Linda Harold. She decided her marriage was over, so she skipped town without telling anybody.”
“Jake just let me know the same thing. Evidently she told her husband. He just hasn’t found her note yet.”
“That’s a bad way to find out your marriage is over. Trish is going to be upset that it’s ending up this way.”
“It could have been a lot worse. Jake is cooking dinner, so let’s head home.”
“Is that an invitation?” Grace asked mischievously.
I hadn’t meant it to be one, but if she wanted to join us, I wasn’t about to turn her down. “Sure. The more the merrier.”
“I’m just kidding,” she said with a laugh. “Thanks for the offer, but Stephen’s getting off duty in a few hours, and we’re going out. Just drop me off at my house on the way home.”
“Done and done,” I said. As I drove, I added, “Leaving a note is a bad way to end a marriage, don’t you think?”
“On the plus side, a handwritten letter is a little more personal than doing it via text message.”
“How do you figure that?”
“At least she took the time to write it out herself,” Grace said. “The modern world offers plenty of conveniences, but it’s got a few drawbacks, too. It’s a little too impersonal for my taste sometimes.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. Where are you and Stephen going tonight?”
“I’m not sure. I’d love to go someplace fancy, but I’m not sure what Stephen will think.”
“Is it because he can’t afford it and he doesn’t like you to pay?”
“No, I broke him of that a long time ago. I make six times what he does, and he’s happy when I pick up the check, if I don’t try to do it too often.”
“Then what’s the problem?” I asked as I pulled onto Springs Drive, the road that would lead us both home.
“He’s not really keen on wearing a suit and tie,” she replied. “Give me a little time. I’ll bring him around.”
“If you say so.”
Grace looked oddly at me. “You don’t approve?”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“It’s none of my business, but don’t change the man so much that he can’t recognize himself when he looks in the mirror,” I said. She was so quiet that I thought I might have offended her, something that was usually extremely hard to do. “Grace, you’re not upset with me, are you?”
“On the contrary, you’ve given me some food for thought. You’ve pretty much embraced Jake for who he is, haven’t you?”
“Aside from a bad habit of drinking straight out of the milk container, that’s pretty much true.”
“How do you do it?” she asked me.
“It’s all part of the whole package, isn’t it? Part of being in a relationship, at least for me, is making things work, not changing the situation to suit me. I’m sure that Jake’s not overly fond of my regular business hours, but he’s never said a word about it to me.”
“That’s a point,” she said.
I could tell that I’d troubled her with my comments, and honestly, it wasn’t any of my business. Sometimes I wished I’d be a little more careful with my thoughts before I shared them with others, especially people I cared about. “Could we just forget I said anything?”
“Sorry, but you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube once it’s out.”
Trying to lighten the mood, I said, “I once had a customer who did just that. Every night after his wife went to bed, he’d put just enough paste back in the tube to make her think that she’d gotten her hands on some magic toothpaste.”
“That’s kind of mean, isn’t it?”
“Oh, no. They constantly play little pranks on each other. My point is they’ve been married over fifty years, so they must be doing something right.”
“So I should start pranking Stephen?” she asked.
“That’s not what I meant at all,” I protested.
I glanced over at Grace and saw that she was grinning broadly. “Gotcha.”
“Well played. What are you going to do?”
“As crazy as it sounds, I might end up taking your advice,” she said as she grabbed her cellphone. “Stephen, it’s me again. How would burgers be instead of duck a l’Orange? Yes, I’m sure. Excellent. Wear jeans when you pick me up. No, I didn’t hit my head. Can’t a girl change her mind? See you then.”
“I hope you didn’t do that on my account,” I said.
“Let’s just say that you voiced something that’s been concerning me a little lately. Stephen can be a little too eager to please me sometimes, do you know what I mean?”
“Personally, you mean?”
“Suzanne, everyone knows how much your husband adores you, even Teresa Logan.”
“I hope you’re right on that count, but Stephen cares a great deal about you, too,” I said as I pulled up in front of her house, which just happened to be a stone’s throw from mine.
“And why wouldn’t our men feel that way about us? After all, we’re both adorable.”
I laughed as she got out, and I drove the rest of the way smiling. Grace was my sister in every way but biologically, and I was happy to have her in my life.
When I saw Jake come out from around the back of the cottage wearing the apron I’d gotten him for Christmas featuring a moose prominently in front, I realized that I was twice blessed. Thrice, really, when I counted Momma. I felt a twinge of sorrow for Linda Harold, who’d tried her best to escape her old life. Despite all of the ups and downs mine had, I wouldn’t have traded a minute of it for the world.
“It’s a bit chilly for grilling out, isn’t it?” I asked Jake after I kissed him.
“Come around back and you’ll warm up soon enough,” he said.
“Jake, people can still see us from the park,” I said with a wicked grin. “I’m game if you are, though. What did you have in mind?”
He swatted at me lightly with his oven mitt. “You’ve got a dirty mind, young lady. In fact, that’s one of the things I like best about you. I was talking about the grill, though. Why anyone would choose to cook out in the heat of summer is beyond me. Grilling in the winter is the time to do it, when you can take advantage of having a handy nearby source of heat.”
“How are the steaks coming?”
“They’ll be ready in five minutes,” he said after probing one with his knuckle. He’d learned the technique from a chef he’d once arrested for murder. While they’d been waiting for him to be processed, Jake had spent what he claimed was a pleasant hour getting cooking tips from the man. I hadn’t even been surprised to hear the story. It was just one more thing that made Jake so unique.
“I haven’t had time to do the potatoes yet,” I said.
“I already did them in the oven. You defrost some of that wonderful cheddar chive bread your mother brought over, heat some green beans, and we’ll be set. Would you like to eat out on the front porch?”
I shivered a little before I answered. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather set the card table up by the fireplace and eat there. It’s cold enough for a fire, isn’t it?”
“You know me. It’s always cold enough for that. I’ll be in shortly.”
I went in and made the promised preparations, even setting the table. I finished just as Jake came in, bearing two steaks that looked and smelled good enough to eat. That worked out perfectly, because that was exactly our intention.
As we began to dine, Jake asked, “Do you feel like telling me about your progress? Please note that I’ve been patiently waiting for you to bring it up yourself.”
“Patiently up until now, you mean?” I asked him with a grin.
“Hey, I waited as long as I could.”
“Okay, as long as I can do it between bites. Let’s start with our list of suspects. Grace and I have discovered that Benny Flint, William Jecks, Jeffrey Frost, and Belinda Carson all had reasons to want to see Dan dead.”
“Wow. That’s quick, even for you two. Did all four of them really have a reason to want to kill Dan? If you would have asked me a few days ago, I would have sworn that he didn’t have an enemy in the world, and now I find out that he had four. What motives have you been able to dig up to justify including them on your list?”
“We have conflicting testimony about Benny and William. Each claimed that the other had a huge fight with Dan yesterday. As for Jeffrey Frost, he wanted the land Dan’s business was on, and Dan and Belinda were secretly dating, a fact that Belinda didn’t want exposed to the world. We all know the trouble that can lead to.”
“I notice you keep calling him Dan instead of Crazy Dan now,” Jake said. “Is there a reason for that?”
“Grace and I had a long talk about it, and Dan just seems more respectful now that he’s dead. It might not make perfect sense, but I like doing it, so that should be reason enough, shouldn’t it?”
“It works for me,” Jake said. “Belinda and Dan, though. Really?”
“She told me so herself.”
“I’m guessing that up until today it was some kind of big secret, since I never heard about it before. Is that correct?”
“It is,” I said, marveling about how my husband’s voice could change when he was in full-on investigative mode.
“And she told you willingly, without any form of duress?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a reason for that, Suzanne. She’s wanting to get in front of something that reflects badly on her. Someone else must have known about the relationship.”
“She claims that she felt remorseful about keeping their dating status a secret because of her pride. When she first approached me through Gabby, she was very clear about that.”
“So Gabby knew? When did she become aware of the relationship?”
It was an odd question that hadn’t even occurred to me. “Why is that important?”
“If Gabby knew all along, it might make sense, but why use her as a go-between if she hadn’t known about it earlier? It just complicates matters, unless Belinda wanted you to think that Gabby knew from the start.”
“Hang on a second,” I said as I pulled out my phone.
“Your food’s going to get cold,” he said with a smile.
“I’m nearly finished anyway.”
“Do I even need to ask who you’re calling?”
I laughed just before Gabby answered, and she clearly thought that it was directed at her. “Who is this? Suzanne? Are you laughing at me?”
“Sorry about that. No, it was something Jake just said.”
“Would you care to share it with me?” she asked icily.
“It’s not important. I need to ask you a question. When did you first learn about Belinda’s relationship with Dan?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I’m just tying up some loose ends, and it might really help,” I explained, which was technically true.
“She came to me this morning and confessed it to me. Belinda asked me what she should do, and I persuaded her to speak with you. I know from personal experience that you can be discreet when it’s called for.”
“Thanks, Gabby. Your candor means a lot to me.”
“Try not to disappoint me, Suzanne.” The warmth that had been in her voice earlier was just as suddenly gone. “Is that all?”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks again.” I didn’t wait for a response when I realized that she’d already hung up on me before I’d even had a chance to finish.
I turned to Jake. “She just found out today herself.”
“So, the plot thickens,” Jake said. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
“I’m glad that I could oblige you, then,” I said. “Does that mean that you suspect Belinda?”
“Of murder or of trying to spin the best possible light on her relationship with Dan?”
“Either, or, or both,” I said.
“It’s too soon to say just yet. We need more information.”
“We?” I asked him. “I thought you were off this case.”
“Officially, I am, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have an occasional conversation with my own wife, does it?”
“Not as far as I’m concerned,” I said.
“We’ve discussed suspects and motives. I’m assuming that you haven’t been able to determine opportunity, since any of them could have gone there and killed Dan with that iron. It doesn’t exactly look as though it was premeditated, does it?”
“Do you think that it might have been, though?”
“You know what reporters say: if you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. I spent so much time with the state police finding zebras after all that it may have tarnished my perspective. The odds are good that it was a spontaneous murder. Were you able to find any solid clues?”
“We may have found two before Inspector Black evicted us from Aunt Teeks.”
Jake dropped his fork. “Please tell me that she didn’t find you there after you broke into the junk shop, Suzanne.”
“We didn’t break anything. We had a key.”
Before I could explain further, Jake said, “Don’t get cute on me.”
“I can’t help it. I had every right to be there. She’d already released the crime scene, and I’ve been appointed as Dan’s executrix.”
Jake leaned back in his chair and whistled. “How did you manage that?”
“It wasn’t my doing at all,” I said. “Evidently Dan and I were closer than I realized. Not that it matters now.”
“Why not?”
“Grace and I found something that might be significant, so I called Inspector Black. She came to the shop to confiscate one of our clues, and then she resealed the scene, barring us from going back in until she had another, more thorough look around.”
“That’s not entirely unexpected,” Jake said. “You made her look bad once. She didn’t want it happening again.”
“Maybe not, but it made me wonder if I should have even called her in the first place.”
“Whether you like the woman or not, you did the right thing. She needed to know. So, what did you find?”
I pulled out my phone and brought up the first photo. I still had the copies I’d made, but they were in my jacket by the door, and my phone was closer. I showed the image to Jake.
“Where did you find this?”
“Hidden between two plates in the kitchen.”
He nodded. “Were there any distinguishable features of the envelope?”
It was an astute question, one that didn’t surprise me coming from my husband. “The adhesive pattern on the flap skips. We haven’t been able to find a match yet, though we’re trying.”
“Smart. You implied that there was more than one clue uncovered while you were at Aunt Teeks. What else did you discover?”
I forwarded my screen to the second shot. He studied it a moment and then handed it back to me. “There are four questions I have about this.”
“Just four?” I asked him, obviously joking, but he missed it.
“One: Who was excised from the photo? Two: Where was it taken? Three: Why did he tear it instead of cutting it? And four, is it pertinent to Dan’s murder?”
“Those are all very good questions. I just wish I had answers for them. We showed both clues to Jeffrey Frost. He may have flinched a little when he saw the note but not the photo, at least not that I could tell. I showed the note to Belinda, but she threw me out before I could get this image from Grace.”
“Making friends wherever w
e go, are we?” Jake asked me with a smile.
“You know how these investigations work,” I said. “I knew from the start that I wouldn’t win any popularity contests doing it.”
“That shouldn’t stop you, though. You need to keep digging, Suzanne.”
“I know. I just wish you could help us.”
“I don’t see that you need it. You and Grace are doing fine on your own. Don’t hesitate to call me if you require any of my specialized services, though.” His cellphone rang, and after a brief conversation, he said, “Call Grant and have him meet me there.” After Jake put his phone away, he stood up. “Sorry about that, but I have to go. There’s an incident of road rage out on Blue Creek Road, and it sounds as though it’s escalating quickly.”
“Be careful,” I said as he grabbed his holstered gun and headed for the door.
I had started to clean up when the doorbell rang. Had Jake forgotten something? Unless it was his car keys, it had to be someone else, since his house keys were on the same ring. I wasn’t sure who to expect, but I was surprised nonetheless when I realized who was visiting the cottage to see me.
Chapter 15
“What are you doing here, William?” I asked as I stepped outside onto the porch. I should have grabbed my jacket first, but I wasn’t about to go back in for it. “I thought you were out of town until further notice.”
“Did you go by my shop today?” He didn’t look all that pleased by the prospect.
“Grace and I wanted to talk to you,” I said.
“Well, I don’t have time for you to go get her. What did you two want to talk to me about?”
“Did you threaten Dan Billingham recently?” I asked him.
“I already addressed that! Benny is lying. Dan and I were haggling, but we weren’t fighting, no matter what Benny told you.”
“I’m not talking about that,” I said, pulling out my phone and bringing up the threatening note.
William glanced at it, and then he looked at me. “I didn’t write that.”
“Do you know who might have?”
“Not a clue. I’d say it was Benny, but I’m not entirely sure that he even knows how to write. The odds are better that it was a woman, if you ask me.”