A Killer Column

by Casey Mayes

  “You always were great at reading me. We’re going to return these things to Cary at the Brunswick Hotel. Zach’s going to meet us in the lobby.”

  “Sounds good,” she said.

  As I opened the door to the suite, a young woman with platinum blonde hair and a figure nearly as artificial was hovering just outside.

  “My key doesn’t work anymore,” she said. “Who are you?”

  “We’re friends of Derrick,” I said, truly stretching the truth beyond its breaking point. “And you are?”

  She didn’t answer, instead pointing at the bags near the door. “Those belong to Derrick. Are you trying to tell me that he’s okay with you waltzing in here and taking his things?”

  “He doesn’t have much to say about it anymore,” I said.

  “Why not? What’s going on here?”

  “You haven’t heard?” I asked.

  “Heard what?” The suspicion was even stronger in her voice and eyes now. “If he thinks he’s dumping me for one of you, he’s sadly mistaken.”

  “You’re Mindi, aren’t you?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I am. I’m still waiting to hear who you are.”

  “That’s not important,” I said. “When’s the last time you saw Derrick?”

  “Three days ago,” she said. “I had to leave town, but he knew I was coming back. I’m getting tired of this. Tell me who you are and what you’re doing here, or I’m going to call the police.”

  “Mindi, I don’t know how to tell you this,” I said, “but I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you. Derrick’s dead.”

  She looked as though she’d been hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer. One second she was standing there talking to us, and the next, she was plummeting to the floor in a dead faint.

  As Jenny and I rushed to her, my old roommate said, “Man, you’ve got a lot to learn about giving someone bad news.”

  “What should I have said?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’m guessing there was a better way of handling it than just blurting it out like that.”

  “I’ll get some water,” I said.

  Jenny nodded as she knelt down. “She’s out cold. It should wake her up.”

  “I’m not getting it for her. I’m thirsty.”

  “Not funny, Savannah. She took it really hard, didn’t she?”

  “It appeared that way, didn’t it?” I got water from the sink in one of the hotel glasses and flicked some onto Mindi’s face. It took more than a few sprinkles to wake her, and when she finally came around, she asked, “Is it true? Is he gone?”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid he is,” Jenny said as we helped Mindi up.

  We walked her to the couch, and as she sat down, I handed her the rest of the water. “Drink this. It will help.”

  She gulped the water down, and then said, “Thank you.” After taking a deep breath, she asked, “How did he die?”

  “Someone stabbed him with a steak knife,” I said. I didn’t feel the need to add that the police believed that I was the one who’d done it.

  “So Cary finally killed him,” Mindi said, her voice suddenly dead.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “She’s been threatening him for ages, and when he asked her for a divorce, she said she’d give him one over her dead body. I just never thought she’d kill him instead of setting him free.” As she looked around the suite, she asked, “Who cleaned up in here?”

  “We did,” Jenny admitted.

  Mindi got up and hurried to the closet in the other room. When she threw open the door, we all saw the lonely little hotel hangers with steel balls welded to their necks, an antitheft device that was probably pretty effective, since the hangers were useless without the receiving brackets that allowed them to work. “My things. Do the police have them?”

  “No, we’ve got them in the other room,” I said.

  Mindi looked around the bedroom as we walked out into the living room, and it didn’t appear to be a casual glance. She was searching for something, something that was clearly missing.

  “Did you leave something else behind?” I asked her.

  “No, just my clothes,” she said.

  Jenny retrieved the dry cleaning bag and handed it to her. “Sorry, we didn’t have anyplace else to put your things.”

  “It’s fine,” she said absently. “Can I have his suitcases? There are some things of sentimental value in there.”

  “I’m sorry, but Cary asked for them. We’re doing this for her.”

  Mindi bit her lower lip, and then said, “At least let me get his favorite shoes. I got them for him after our first date.”

  “Again, we can’t help you,” I said.

  Jenny took her arm and led her out the door as I collected the suitcases. She told Mindi, “If you’d like to ask Cary, you’re more than welcome to, but she trusted us to do this, and we don’t have any choice. We gave our word.”

  “I understand,” Mindi said.

  It was clear that she was more interested in the suitcases than she was in us, and I was beginning to worry that she was going to take them anyway, but Mindi finally turned toward the elevators. “Are you two coming?”

  Jenny started to tell her that we were when I touched her arm lightly. “You go ahead. We have a few more things to do here first,” I said.

  She frowned, and then nodded in acceptance. “Fine. Good-bye, then.”

  “Good-bye,” we said, and closed the door behind her.

  “What was that all about?” Jenny asked me once we were alone again in the hotel suite.

  “Did you see the way she looked at those suitcases? I wouldn’t put it past her to mug us for them on the way to your car, and I don’t think there’s anything sentimental about her motives.”

  “She wants those keys,” Jenny said.

  “You got it on your first try. I’m going to call Zach and have him meet us up here. I’d feel better having him with us when we leave.”

  “Do you honestly think that Mindi could be dangerous?”

  “I don’t want to underestimate her,” I admitted. “Don’t forget, someone’s already dead, someone close to her.”

  I dialed Zach’s number, and when he answered, I said, “I can’t explain, but it would be great if you could meet us in Derrick’s suite in the penthouse.”

  “What’s going on? Did something happen?” The concern in my husband’s voice was easy to hear.

  “No, but I’d feel better if you were with us,” I admitted.

  “Then say no more. Lock the door, and don’t let anyone in until I get there. Understood?”

  “We’re not under siege,” I said.

  “Your gut’s telling you that you two might be in danger, and that’s all I need to hear,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

  As we waited, I worried that I’d alarmed my husband for nothing, but I knew I wouldn’t relax until he was there with us.

  I was about to tell Jenny that I might be overreacting when there was a heavy pounding on the door, and from the sound of it, I doubted that Mindi Mills could make such a racket.

  It appeared that someone else was paying us a call.

  Chapter 10

  “WHO’S THERE?” I ASKED AS I TRIED TO LOOK OUT THE door’s peephole. The view was blocked, and all I saw was darkness on the other side when I tried to look through it.

  A muffled voice said, “Delivery,” and whoever was on the other side tried the handle.

  “You can leave it at the front desk,” I said.

  Jenny whispered, “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” I said softly.

  “You have to sign for it,” the voice said in a low tone. I couldn’t honestly tell if it was a man or a woman. Whoever was speaking didn’t want me to know either.

  “Slide the paper under the door,” I ordered. As I did, I told Jenny, “Call the front desk, ask for Benjamin, and have them send Hotel Security up here right
now.”

  She nodded, and I held my breath waiting for a reply.

  When there was no answer, I counted to ten, and then looked out the peephole again. It was now clear, but I couldn’t see anyone standing there. I started to undo the chain when Jenny grabbed my arm.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I want to see who’s out there,” I said.

  “Too bad,” she said as she put her hand on mine. “We’re waiting for reinforcements.”

  One minute later, there was another knock at the door, and when I looked outside, Benjamin was standing there.

  I opened the door, and he came in. “I was at the front desk when you called. What happened?”

  “It’s probably nothing,” I said, “but someone just tried to get me to open the door, claiming there was a delivery.”

  “The deliveries all come through the front desk,” he said. “No one should have access otherwise.”

  “When I couldn’t see out the peephole, we called you.”

  He leaned forward, checked the peephole, and then said, “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

  “Not now,” I said, feeling a little impatient with him, “but someone was blocking it earlier.”

  “I’ll have my men check the stairs,” he said, and then he spoke softly into a walkie-talkie unit.

  As he did so, the elevator opened and Zach walked out. He looked up and down the hallway before coming in, and there was a look of concern on his face as he spoke. “What just happened?”

  “Someone tried to trick their way into the suite,” I admitted, “but Jenny and I were too smart for them.”

  He conferred with Benjamin after he introduced himself, and the two of them went to the stairwell.

  “This door’s been propped open with a book of matches,” Zach said.

  “But there’s no smoking in the hotel,” Benjamin said.

  “That’s the least of our worries,” Zach said. He carefully extracted the matchbook with his handkerchief. “I’m going to ask Murphy to run this for prints.”

  “Do you honestly think he’ll do it for you?” Jenny asked.

  “He might, out of professional courtesy. Anyway, there’s only one way to find out.”

  Zach made a quick call, and I thanked Benjamin for coming upstairs.

  “There’s no need to thank me,” he said. “Garrett was most specific in his instructions.”

  “Well, I’ll let him know what a good job you’ve done taking care of us,” I said. “We’re finished here.”

  He nodded, and then spied the suitcases. “Are you taking those with you as well?”

  “We’re returning them to the widow, at her request,” I said, and Jenny nodded her verification.

  “Very well,” Benjamin said. He hesitated, and then added delicately, “Is that . . . everything?”

  I knew instantly what he was asking. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the discrepancy between the dress sizes of what was hanging in the closet and Cary Duncan. “The dresses have been returned to their rightful owner as well,” I said.

  “Then I am in your debt,” he said. “You’ve saved me from having a very awkward conversation.”

  “I’m happy to help,” I said, not admitting that I’d done it for a selfish reason of my own.

  “If there’s anything else I can do for you, you have my card,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  We all stepped out into the corridor, and I locked the door behind us, and then handed Benjamin the electronic key. Before I could protest, he retrieved the suitcases, and Zach grabbed the box full of telephone books.

  “What do you have in here, bricks?” he asked as he started to open the top of the box.

  “Don’t be silly,” I said as I put my hand on top of his. “I’ll be happy to carry it if it’s too much for you to handle.”

  “I’ve got it,” he said as he shot me a quizzical look. I chose to ignore it, at least for the moment.

  Once we were in the lobby, Jenny and I each took a suitcase, and Benjamin walked us to the front door. After he was gone, Zach couldn’t wait to open the box, and there was no reason to stop him then.

  He flipped it open, found one telephone book after another, and then said, “I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason the three of us are stealing phone books from a hotel.”

  “There is,” I said.

  “Would you care to share it with me?”

  I just laughed. “It will have to wait until we get to the Brunswick Hotel.”

  He shrugged. “Okay, I can stand not knowing that long. I’ll see you both there.”

  The next stop was the Brunswick Hotel. I couldn’t wait to get rid of the suitcases filled with Derrick’s clothes. It hadn’t bothered me searching them and packing them up, but for some reason, having them in my car was making me a little skittish.

  It’s hard to say what makes most people’s minds work the way they do.

  And that goes double for mine.

  WHEN WE GOT TO THE BRUNSWICK, I CHECKED AT THE front desk for Cary’s room number. Zach and Jenny had stayed back so Cary wouldn’t feel like we were ganging up on her.

  The clerk punched a few numbers into his computer, and then said, “I’m sorry, but Ms. Duncan has left notice that she is not to be disturbed.”

  “I understand,” I said, “but she’s expecting me. I have some of her late husband’s things.”

  “You must be Ms. Stone,” he said.

  I decided to let the Ms. slide this time. “I am.”

  He nodded as he tapped a few more keys. “In that case, I have specific instructions for you.”

  He smiled slightly as he said, “You are to leave Mr. Duncan’s things with our bag check service, and then return with the receipt and give it to me. She asked me to thank you for your assistance in this most difficult time.”

  “Are you serious? That’s it?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid it’s out of my hands.” He didn’t look all that upset saying no to me. Some people looked for ways to make things happen, while others delighted in throwing up roadblocks whenever the opportunity availed itself.

  I walked back to Jenny and Zach, and my husband hit the up button before I could say anything.

  “There’s no reason to take the elevator,” I said.

  “Why? I didn’t think there were any guest rooms on the main floor.”

  “It appears that Cary has decided not to speak with us again, and there’s not much we can do about it.”

  Zach looked surprised by the statement. “What’s going on?”

  “She wants us to check these bags, and then give the clerk the claim ticket. It doesn’t look like there’s a chance we’re going to be able to have another face-to-face conversation with her today.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  I grabbed my husband’s arm as he started for the front desk. “Zach, you’re not a cop anymore, and you don’t have any standing in this case.”

  “We know that,” he said softly, “but I’m guessing this guy doesn’t.”

  “It’s okay. We’ll talk to her later.”

  “Why wait? You two did her a service, no matter what your motives were, and she could at least have the decency to thank you in person.”

  “Jenny? What do you think?” I asked.

  “Don’t drag me into this. I’m staying out of it.”

  “Come on, you’ve got the tiebreaking vote. What’s it going to be?”

  Jenny frowned, and then pointed to a corner of the lobby and said, “Let’s go over there. We can discuss it where no one’s watching us.”

  I looked over to see that the clerk was indeed following us with keen interest. We moved to the edge of his sight line, and I said, “Go on. Let’s hear what you’ve got to say.”

  “I’ll tell you, but you’re not going to like it.”

  Zach crowed. “Excellent. I knew you were the most sensible one around here.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “
You can’t be on both our sides,” I said.

  “I’m not. I don’t think you should talk to her, but not for the reason you might think.”

  “Go on,” I said. “I’m always willing to listen to what you have to say.”

  She took a deep breath, and then said, “Guys, you know I love you both, but I’m beginning to have some doubts about how active I should be in this investigation of yours. Savannah, I’m your attorney of record, so it might be good if I left myself some room to wiggle if the police find out what you’re up to, which trust me, they are going to, sooner or later. Murphy is a good cop, no matter what I think of him as a person. You two are just visiting Raleigh, but I have to work with these people after you’re gone. Maybe I should take a little less active role in the investigation from here on out.”

  “She’s right,” I said as I looked at Zach.

  “No doubt about it,” he agreed.

  Jenny said, “Hang on. I’m not saying I don’t want to help at all. You both know that, don’t you?”

  I hugged her. “Of course we do. I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you take that vacation you’ve been planning?”

  “I’m not leaving town until your name is cleared,” she said emphatically.

  “You could always go back to the office, then,” I suggested.

  “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

  Zach grinned. “You know better than that. You’re right about getting too close to what we’re doing, though.”

  She crinkled her nose with her frown. “I’d go crazy relaxing, you both know me better than that. I think I’ll go into work after all. There’s always something I can do there. Besides, this stalker has been worrying me so much lately that I haven’t been able to focus on my work. That way, too, if I hang around and you need me, I’m just a telephone call away.”

  “That sounds like a good plan,” I said.

  Zach grinned. “We’ll see you at your place tonight, then.”

  Jenny hugged me, and then embraced my husband.

  On impulse, I asked, “Would you mind taking that box of phone books with you? I’m not done with them yet, and we’ve got our hands full with these suitcases.”

  “Sure, I’d be glad to,” she said as she hefted them up and walked across the lobby and out the door.