Pier Pressure: A fun and fast-paced private investigator cozy mystery/beach read (Maggie PI Mysteries Book 4)

by Rose Pressey

  I hurried back up the steps and checked all of the bedroom closets. There was no men’s clothing in there, only Cora’s vast collection of shoes, bags, and expensive clothing. I drooled for a moment at the beautiful things then snapped back to reality and headed back down to Dorothy. We had been in the house entirely too long and needed to get out of there before Cora came back. I still wondered why Cora had left the door open. Just like for Dorothy, being in the house left me with an uneasy feeling.

  I stuffed the file with the lease back in the drawer as neatly as possible and then we rushed back out to the car. We climbed in and took off for the address of the apartment. Though obviously it would be empty. I wanted to ask around about Robert. Maybe some of the neighbors would have information. If nothing else I just wanted a look at the place.

  We pulled up to the apartment complex and found the correct number. I wondered if Jake had already been here. I hadn’t talked to him much about the case. He’d had to cancel our dinner plans because of another case. Since then he’d tried to call. I supposed maybe he was taking my lack of returning his calls to heart. I wasn’t ignoring him on purpose, but I’d been busy. I’d call him soon as I got a chance.

  I parked the car and Dorothy and I got out. We went up to the apartment door. It wasn’t open like his wife’s house, but when I grabbed the knob and turned I realized it was unlocked.

  “Does no one lock their doors anymore?” Dorothy asked.

  “Bad for them, and lucky for us,” I said.

  “I’m not so sure we should go in. What if someone’s in there?”

  True. I took my hand off the knob. “I should take a look in the window. Maybe I’ll be able to see if anyone is really in there.”

  “Maybe Cora is in there,” Dorothy said.

  Stepping over to the window, I cupped my hands around my eyes and pressed my face against the glass. Someone tapped my shoulder.

  “Dorothy, I don’t want one of those peppermints. I’m trying to see in the apartment.”

  “It’s not me, Maggie,” Dorothy said.

  I froze for a moment and then finally turned around to see Jake with his arms crossed across his chest, staring right at me.

  “What’s going on, Maggie?” Jake asked in his usual teasing tone.

  He knew exactly what was going on with us. He just wanted me to admit it, and I wasn’t going to do that.

  “Oh, you know, just out for a little drive on a beautiful sunny day in Miami.”

  We stared at each other for a moment.

  “You’re surprised that I found this address, aren’t you?” I asked.

  “Nothing you do surprises me,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure if he meant that in a good way or bad and I wasn’t going to ask for clarification. I didn’t want to know.

  “I figured you’d already been here to check the place out,” I said.

  “Maybe I have,” he answered.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, you two. This is not a competition. You should be working together. You make a great team,” Dorothy said.

  Jake and I stared at Dorothy for a few seconds without answering.

  “What did you find out, Maggie?” Jake asked.

  “I guess just that Robert rented this place a few days before he was murdered. That means he moved out because he and Cora were having problems with their marriage.”

  “So you’re suspecting her now?”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  But it sure was what it sounded like. Maybe I should think before I said things out loud. Yes, I was having doubts about Cora now. I was suspicious of her, but I couldn’t admit it. I didn’t want Jake to think that I was wrong and he was right.

  Had Jake heard about the doctor and their relationship? I really should tell him, but I’d wait and see if he knew first. Thank goodness he would never find out about the breast enhancement remark.

  Chapter 8

  “Go ahead, Maggie, take a look around.” Jake sounded as if he was confident I wouldn’t find anything.

  Nevertheless, I would take him up on that offer.

  “I do believe I will,” I said as I reached for the door knob.

  I paused for a moment to see if he would try to stop me. He smiled, but didn’t make any effort to block my entrance. Honestly, I would prefer just to ask neighbors if they knew anything. I probably wouldn’t find anything in the house, but now that Jake was here I had to go through with it. I twisted the door knob, opened the door, and stepped into the apartment.

  Dorothy hurried in behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched to see if Jake was coming in too. He followed along behind us.

  Jake noticed the look I gave him. “What? Just making sure you’re okay.”

  “What could possibly go wrong with us walking around the apartment?” I asked.

  He quirked an eyebrow.

  “Okay, but this time there will be no mishaps, I promise.”

  He tried to hold back a smile. “I believe you. I’m just here if you need me.”

  Dorothy and I started looking around the apartment. I felt extremely self-conscious with Jake following us around. He acted as if we needed a babysitter for my detective service. I should really let him have it. Though he was the police and had nicely allowed us to look in there, so maybe I would just keep that to myself.

  Mostly I looked around by myself because Dorothy was just watching me. Jake was scrutinizing every move Dorothy and I made. There could have been a dead body lying right in the middle of the living room floor and he wouldn’t have even noticed.

  For some reason, I was drawn to the kitchen area. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because people spent so much time in the kitchen and left a lot of their personal belongings like bills in the kitchen. I’d had good luck with finding things in the kitchen in the past. I held out hope this time would be just as successful.

  I went through some drawers and cabinets, but found nothing particularly interesting. I supposed Robert had had all important documents stored away at his office. I would put visiting his office on my to-do list. First I had to find his office, preferably without Jake as an escort.

  Since the search in the kitchen was unsuccessful, I moved over to the living room. I checked the bedroom first and made my way back to the front door. This apartment was nothing like the house Robert had shared with his wife. The furniture was sparse and there were no decorations of any kind. It was like a bachelor pad, but I supposed he had only just moved in a couple of days before his murder. There had been no time to get settled.

  As I headed toward the front door something caught my eye. It was stuck under the sofa cushion and looked like a large envelope. I definitely wanted to get a closer look. I was surprised Jake hadn’t seen this earlier. Of course it was just a sliver of paper peeking out, but I knew what it was right away. I had a keen eye for those things.

  I hurried over and lifted the sofa cushion. There was in fact a file under there. My discovery caught Jake’s attention right away. I opened the file and discovered photographs. Jake was right behind me now, looking over my shoulder.

  “Well, what do we have here?” I said.

  “What do you have there?” Dorothy was looking over my other shoulder.

  “Photographs of the doctor,” I said.

  “And which doctor is that?” Jake asked.

  I studied his face to see if he was being serious. “Dean Perriman. The doctor Cora was having an affair with. Oh, you didn’t know about that?” I said in a teasing tone.

  Jake looked shocked.

  “How do you know this?” he asked.

  “I have my ways,” I said with a click of my tongue.

  “Come on, Maggie, tell me what you know.”

  I sighed. “All right, so I had an appointment with the doctor and figured out that he had been seeing my client.”

  Jake laughed. “I knew she was involved in this. I just have to connect the dots.”

  I crossed my arms in front of my waist. “That doesn’
t mean she’s involved.”

  “Look, Maggie, they saw that man and Cora around that boat. It means they were involved with each other in some capacity.”

  “Why does Robert have pictures of the doctor?”

  “I don’t know.” Jake took the photos from me. “But I’m going to hold onto this as evidence.”

  It didn’t matter because I’d already seen the photos. I had all the information I needed. I was just happy that I had cracked a clue before Jake. My job was on the line. I had to prove myself.

  I headed over to the door. “I’ve seen enough. I got all the information I need.”

  Jake walked me to the car door. Dorothy got in the car, leaving me standing there to talk with Jake.

  “So are you still upset with me?” He flashed that sexy smile my way and it was hard to say yes.

  “I’m too busy to be mad,” I said.

  “You certainly have been busy finding out more than I have.”

  Flattery would get him everywhere.

  “So now I just have to figure out why he had those photos stuffed under the cushion,” I said.

  “My guess is he was suspicious of the wife and the doctor having an affair, so he had someone take the photos.”

  “Can I get copies of those?” I pointed.

  Jake quirked an eyebrow. “So can I see you tonight?”

  “Call me.” I gestured by putting my hand up to my ear.

  I got into the car and backed out. Jake stood there watching me.

  “You two make such a sweet couple,” Dorothy said. “Speaking of couples, what’s a six-letter word for couple?”

  “How about ‘lovers?’” I asked.

  Dorothy quirked an eyebrow. “Maybe I should have asked Jake for help.”

  I couldn’t believe that Dorothy was so calm that she could just casually do a crossword puzzle. I was anxious and on edge.

  “Oh, I almost forgot I wanted to do something,” Dorothy said.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Never mind.” She fished around in her purse. She was probably looking for another peppermint. Maybe she’d run out. That was certainly cause for her to panic. She pulled out her cell phone and punched in a text.

  “Who are you texting?” I asked.

  “Never you mind, young lady. Don’t worry your pretty little head.”

  Okay, now I knew she was up to something. Her phone dinged. She got a response. As I sat at a red light I leaned over so that I could catch a glimpse of the conversation.

  “You just sent Jake a text? And he answered? What are you texting him?” I asked.

  “If you must know, I wanted to ask him if he would go to Bunco.”

  “Dorothy, he’s really busy. I don’t think he has time to go.”

  “That shows what you know, because he agreed.”

  Yeah, I guessed that did show what I knew. The more important thing was why hadn’t Dorothy asked me? Was I not invited? Silence lingered in the air between us, until I couldn’t stand it anymore. “What about me? Are you going to invite me?”

  “Of course you can go. I just didn’t think that you liked it, that’s all.”

  “Are you kidding? I love Bunco.” I tried to sound convincing.

  ***

  Later in the day I was still trying to get in touch with my client. If she didn’t reach me soon I would assume she didn’t want my services any longer. Was Jake right? Was she really guilty of murder? After work I planned to go by her place once again.

  Just as I was wrapping things up my phone rang. I recognized the number. Cora was finally calling me.

  “Where are you?” I asked. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you.”

  “I can’t talk long, Maggie, I’m in hiding,” she whispered.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Exactly like I said, people are after me, and I’m pretty sure they’re going to try to kill me too.”

  “Who are these people you claim are after you?”

  “I don’t know who they are. That’s why I hired you. They’re the people who killed my husband. I thought you were going to help me. Now I have to hide. Maybe I should hire someone else who can really get the job done.”

  Ouch, that really hurt. Now more than ever I was determined to show her that I would get the job done. “There are a lot of things you didn’t tell me about. Like the doctor, Dean. And the other man who was spotted at your husband’s boat”

  Silence filled the line. Then she said, “Oh, yes, speaking of Dean, you need to talk with him. I think he is the one who murdered my husband. I bet you could get him to confess,” she said.

  “How would I get him to do that?” I asked.

  As I said that out loud I realized that I didn’t seem confident in my skills. Maybe I really could get him to confess. It was part of my job as a detective, right?

  “Dean is such a sleazeball. I bet you could just bat your eyelashes at him and get him to talk.”

  Somehow I didn’t think it was as easy as that. “What makes you think he’s a sleazeball? I thought you were dating him… a fact that you failed to mention,” I said.

  “I told you I’m not dating him. I don’t know what gave you that impression.”

  I didn’t want to give her the particulars on the situation, but I had to let her know that I knew. “Let’s just say that I found something that you sent him.”

  She scoffed. “I’ve never sent him anything.”

  How long would she continue to deny this?

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked.

  “Positive. He’s told people that we’re dating. Whatever it is you think you saw, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something fake that he made so that the police would be suspicious of me,” she said.

  Hmm. Now she had me thinking. I wished I’d taken the card.

  “Dean likes to hang out at this bar called the Palm Tree Bar. It’s right on the beach down in Fort Lauderdale.”

  “So you want me to go there and try to hit on him?”

  “Oh, you won’t have to try to hit on him. Just sit next to him and he’ll talk to you.”

  “Great. Just what I need, a sleazy guy hitting on me. But he’s already seen me…” I stopped my words.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Never mind. Maybe I was thinking of someone else.”

  She was quiet on the other end of the line. I knew she was suspicious. Dorothy was shaking her head, as if I was messing up this whole thing. I didn’t consider it a complete disaster just yet, though it was on the verge.

  “There is another option. He likes to swim at this club he goes to. You could go there and speak with him,” Cora said.

  “I’m not a good swimmer. That probably wouldn’t end well. All right, I’ll go to the bar, but if this doesn’t turn up anything, then I don’t know… it’s beginning to look as if the case is going nowhere,” I said.

  “So you have no confidence in your detective skills? Is that what you’re saying?” she asked.

  Oh, she really knew how to turn that around on me. She was trying that reverse psychology, thinking I’d say, Oh, I’m determined to win this case. It was working.

  “Okay, I’ll show you how good my detective skills are. Are you sure you can’t tell me where you are so that I can come to talk to you?”

  “I’ll call you back later and let you know. Right now I have to go.”

  “Wait… I have a few more questions for—”

  It was too late. The phone had already gone dead.

  “That was really smooth, Maggie,” Dorothy said.

  Chapter 9

  Dorothy and I arrived at the bar. She had insisted on going with me. She said if I got into trouble I would need her help. I supposed she was right about that. It was always good to have someone who had your back. My goal for this trip was to not get into any kind of trouble. It was probably wishful thinking, but I would try my best.

  My date with Jake was supposed to be in an hour, b
ut somehow Dorothy had convinced us to go to her Bunco game instead. So I had to make this a quick trip. Dorothy wore a dark wig that she said she’d borrowed from Nina Warner, who lived next door to Dorothy in the retirement village. Dorothy said she’d had to promise Nina a sack full of yarn just to get her to allow her to borrow the wig. Why Dorothy wanted to wear a disguise was a whole different story. She didn’t want the doctor to recognize her. I figured that wouldn’t be a problem since he’d barely looked at us when we’d met with him. There was one other issue though. Dorothy had a long blonde wig as well and insisted that I wear it.

  “Dorothy, I look ridiculous.” I peeked in the car mirror for the hundredth time.

  “No, you look just like Veronica Lake. You look glamorous. Besides, you don’t want the doctor to recognize you.” Dorothy shifted the wig on my head.

  So now I wore a long blonde wig and big dark sunglasses. It looked as if I was trying to hide from the paparazzi. The hair color would take getting used to. Plus I didn’t think it was much of a disguise. It just looked like me wearing a wig. I’d decided on that red dress I’d bought a while ago and never had a chance to wear. It was sad that this was the only place I’d gotten a chance to wear the dress. Dorothy said it would be fine to wear it to Bunco. I wasn’t so sure about that.

  Stucco covered the front of the building with intricate trim around the windows and entrances. Towering palm trees with immaculate landscaping decorated the front and sides. The place was nice, with valet parking and of course the building’s elegant façade.

  I pulled my car up to the entrance. Dorothy and I got out and walked over to the valet station. The young blond guy didn’t even look up at us, as if we were invisible. He was typing away on an iPad. He didn’t even look as if he was old enough to have a driver’s license.

  I tapped on the podium. “Excuse me. I need to have my car parked, please.”

  After another couple seconds elapsed he met my stare. “Keys.” That was all he said.

  I handed the keys to him and he gave me a ticket. There was no other conversation exchanged.

  “He was a friendly guy,” Dorothy said sarcastically as we walked away.