Murder and Mega Millions: A High Desert Cozy Mystery

by Dianne Harman

  Isabella started sobbing. “I never should have come back and hidden in the kitchen. This is all my fault. If I’d just been stronger. I can’t take this any longer, no matter what Tomas says.”

  Marty steered Isabella over to the table. “Sit down, Isabella, and start at the beginning. I have no idea who Tomas is. Tell me what’s bothering you. Maybe I can help.”

  “No, there is no way you can help. I won’t even be able to go to confession any more. I have sinned.” Isabella sat down in a chair, sobbing uncontrollably, while Marty looked around for a tissue to give her. She found some in the small bathroom off the kitchen and handed them to Isabella, as she pulled out a chair and sat down next to her.

  “What happened, Isabella? Why won’t you be able to go to confession? How did you sin?”

  Isabella dabbed her cheeks with the tissue. “After the auction the other night, I agreed to let Tomas come to the house and steal some of Miss Ross’ art and antiques. He came up with a plan to sell her antiques so we could get enough money to get married. He was going to take a few items from the house and sell them in Los Angeles. I was to come here and hide in the kitchen while she was at the auction. When she came home, we thought she’d be happy, maybe even a little tipsy after her buys at the auction. When she went to her bedroom to go to bed, I was to call Tomas and tell him the coast was clear so he could come to the house, and I’d let him in.” She started crying again and raised the balled-up tissue to her eyes.

  “Did you call him?” Marty asked.

  “Yes, but it didn’t matter, because by the time I called him the woman had killed her. He never came to the house. Instead I ran out the back door and met him down the street where his truck was parked.”

  “Wait a minute, Isabella. I’m confused. You’re saying Tomas was going to come here, but he didn’t because you called him and told him Miss Ross was dead, is that right? You said a woman had killed her. How do you know it was a woman?”

  “I saw her.” Isabella looked wide-eyed at Marty.

  “You saw the person who murdered Melissa Ross?” Marty asked incredulously.

  “Si, si. I was stooping down behind the kitchen counter trying to hide when Miss Ross came into the house. Her driver helped her bring in some small items she’d bought at the auction. He left and she made several trips, taking them into her office. She always wrote down information about what she’d bought, like when, what it was, the price she paid, and anything else that was important, but she didn’t do it that night. I guess she thought she’d do it the next day.”

  “She never came into the kitchen and discovered you?”

  “No. It looked like she was just getting ready to go to her bedroom. In fact, she’d turned off several lights when there was a knock on the door. I was curious as to who would be visiting her at that time of night, so I peeked over the counter. Her back was to me when she answered the door. She must have known who the woman was, because she let her in, and they walked towards the living room.” Isabella wiped tears from her eyes.

  “Does that mean that you didn’t recognize her?” Marty asked.

  “Si, si. I have never seen her before. She was very beautiful. Tall, with auburn hair. Very, how do you say, elegant. Even though she was an older woman, she looked like maybe she’d been a model.”

  “All right. Let me get this straight. What happened when the woman came in?”

  “Miss Ross seemed surprised to see her and told the woman she hoped there were no hard feelings because Miss Ross had the winning bid on several items the woman had wanted to buy at the auction they’d just been to.” She started sobbing again and hung her head, clearly troubled and emotionally upset over what she had seen.

  Marty rubbed her back. “What happened then, Isabella?”

  “The woman said she had no hard feelings, and that she’d just stopped by to congratulate Miss Ross on successfully bidding on some very good pieces. And then, and then…” A hiccup escaped from Isabella’s mouth.

  “What happened then, Isabella?”

  Isabella looked up at Marty. “She put her arms around Miss Ross for a moment, like she wanted to make up, kind of hugging her, and then Miss Ross fell to the floor. The woman pulled some kind of a needle out of Miss Ross’ arm, you know, the kind drug addicts use, closed the living room doors, and left the house.”

  “If they were in the living room, how did you see her from the kitchen?” Marty asked.

  “Is very easy. From here you can see a little into the living room.”

  Marty glanced through the doorway and from where she was sitting saw that Isabella was telling the truth. The entrance to the living room was visible from their vantage point.

  Marty racked her brain trying to remember something Jeff had said about the person who killed Melissa. She thought he said the killer had been very careful. She struggled to remember the context of what he’d said. Suddenly it came to her. It was something about there being no fingerprints.

  “Isabella, did you notice if the woman pulled the living room doors closed with her hand?”

  “Let me think.” The maid was silent for several moments and when she spoke, she was no longer crying. “I remember now, because I thought it was very strange. She unwound the scarf she was wearing around her neck, covered one of her hands with it, and then pulled the doors closed using the hand covered by her scarf.”

  “Isabella, you said you didn’t know the woman, but would you recognize her if you saw her or a picture of her?”

  “Si, si. I will never forget what she looked like.”

  Marty gently brushed away a strand of Isabella’s long black hair that had stuck to the young woman’s wet cheek. “Isabella, you are not to blame for this. All you did was consent to being part of a burglary that never happened. There is nothing to blame yourself for, but I’m curious why you would agree to be an accessory to a robbery when you obviously cared so much for Miss Ross.”

  “It was Tomas. We’re getting married, and he said we needed the money or we couldn’t get married. I was afraid he would hurt me if I said no.”

  Marty saw Isabella’s hands tremble in her lap. “Isabella, you had nothing to do with Melissa’s murder, but there is something you need to do, and that’s leave this Tomas man. You must not get married to a man you’re afraid of, and no woman should be so afraid of a man she’d agree to be part of a felony. I know people who can help you.”

  “No, no,” Isabella said, biting her lip. “If I leave Tomas he will find me, and he will hurt me. I know it.”

  Marty tried to reassure her. “I promise you he will not find you. My husband is a detective with the Palm Springs Police Department and they have a number of programs that provide help for women like you. Believe me, you are not alone. I’ll call him now and tell him what you’ve told me.”

  She watched Isabella, who was staring at her in disbelief, obviously petrified. “Isabella, please believe me when I tell you that your life will be much better without Tomas. If you married him, you’d probably end up being a tragic statistic, like so many other women have been. You have done absolutely nothing wrong, and you deserve much better than to spend your life with a man you live in fear of.”

  Marty took her phone out of her purse and called Jeff while Isabella began to cry again, softly. “Jeff, it’s me. I have some information about the Ross murder that you need to hear right away.

  CHAPTER 22

  “Detective Combs, there’s a man in the reception area who says he needs to speak to someone about the Ross murder. Since this is your case, I thought you’d probably want to talk to him. Shall I send him in?” Jeff’s secretary, Luisa said, as she peered around the door.

  Jeff looked up and nodded. “Yes, thank you. Did he say anything else?”

  “No, just that he needed to speak to someone about the case.”

  “Did he give you his name?” Jeff asked.

  “Yes, his name is Dr. Wes Taylor,” she said as she walked out of his office.

  Wes Tay
lor? That must be Rhonda Taylor’s husband, he thought. Weird. I wonder why he wants to see me.

  A few moments later, an attractive grey-haired man appeared in his doorway. Jeff stood up as the man entered his office. “You must be Dr. Taylor. Please, come in and have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair on the other side of his desk. “How can I help you?”

  When Dr. Taylor was seated, he stared gravely at Jeff. “Detective, I’m married to Rhonda Taylor, but quite frankly, it’s been a marriage in name only for many years. My wife became consumed with buying art and antiques some years ago. I mean, really consumed. She’s spent a small fortune on them. I’m not particularly proud of it, but over the years, I found companionship with various other women, if you know what I mean. In the past, Rhonda has always looked the other way.”

  “I’m getting the impression that the situation has recently come to a head.” Jeff said, twirling a pen in his fingers as he looked at the man across from his desk. He was clearly troubled and from the dark circles under his eyes, it looked like he hadn’t slept at all the previous night.

  “It did. Several months ago, I told Rhonda that she would have to curb her spending, because my medical practice was less profitable than it had been in the past. Actually, between us, that wasn’t true. I have fallen in love with a woman who makes me feel like I did when I first married Rhonda. Her name is Sylvia. I bought a condominium for her and am supporting her. I wanted to see how it worked out before I asked Rhonda for a divorce, but she beat me to it.”

  “She asked you for a divorce?” Jeff asked.

  “No. I called yesterday afternoon to tell her I wouldn’t be home last night and I was unable to go with her to a dinner party we’d been invited to attend. She was furious. She told me she knew all about where I was spending my money and my lady friend better watch her backside,” Dr. Taylor said as he wrung his hands together. “I’m afraid, really afraid, that Rhonda will do something to harm her.”

  “Has your wife ever threatened to harm any other lady friends that you may have had in the past?”

  “No, but something’s happened to Rhonda in the last year or so. Prior to that, she’d established a reputation for herself as being the foremost collector of art and antiques in Palm Springs. The woman who was recently murdered, Melissa Ross, had usurped Rhonda’s place. All she talked about, when we were together, which wasn’t all that much, was how somebody should do something to Melissa Ross. She vehemently felt that someone who won a lottery and started collecting art and antiques had no right to take over her place. I know it sounds nuts, but she really valued her status, and Miss Ross was clearly overshadowing her.”

  Not for the first time, Jeff was struck by the meaningless problems the rich often preoccupied themselves with. “Since Rhonda threatened your lady friend,” he said, “are you saying you believe Rhonda may have had something to do with the death of Melissa Ross?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past her. The woman she is now is not the same woman I married. Something has happened to her. Quite frankly, as a psychiatrist, I’ve seen many people over the years who slip over the edge and become insane. I guess it’s kind of like the shoemaker’s children who don’t have shoes. I missed the signs in my own wife.” Dr. Taylor let out a resigned sigh. “Yes, Detective Combs, I definitely think Rhonda is capable of murdering someone, and I would not be the least bit surprised if she killed Melissa Ross. I just don’t want her to kill Sylvia.”

  Jeff sat back in his chair, thinking about what his next step should be. He had some circumstantial evidence on Rhonda. Her husband thought she was insane and according to Ricky, a man who raised poison dart frogs said she’d bought something poisonous from him. The fact that Melissa had been murdered by a secretion from a poison dart frog also led to her being the leading suspect in the murder. What troubled Jeff was that’s all he had, circumstantial evidence. There were no eyewitnesses.

  While he was thinking about his options, his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and saw that it was Marty. “Hi, sweetheart. I’m in a meeting. Can I call you back?” He listened to her and said, “Tell me everything. You’re sure you’re with someone who can identify the murderer?”

  “Yes,” Marty said, going back over the conversation she’d just had with Isabella.

  “Meet me at the police station in about half an hour and bring this Isabella woman with you. I’ll meet you there. I’m going to leave the station immediately and arrest Rhonda Taylor. We have enough to arrest her and bring her in, but not enough to take her to trial. I’m hoping your person can put the nail in her coffin, so to speak. Tell your person she won’t be in the room with the woman she saw. She’ll be in a separate room with a one-way window, and you’ll be with her. See you then.”

  He ended the call and looked across at Wes Taylor, who was observing him in silence. “Dr. Taylor, you probably overheard that. I’ve decided to arrest your wife for the murder of Melissa Ross. I’m going to get a couple of my detectives and go over to your house. We’ll bring her back here and see if the person I just learned about, who says she was a witness to the murder, can ID your wife. I’m going to want a statement from you as well regarding the threats she’s made, so why don’t you leave for now and come back here to the station in about an hour?”

  “Detective, if my wife thinks I have anything to do with this, she’ll go berserk. Do I have to confront her?”

  “No. You’ll be in a separate room, and she won’t be able to see you. I’ll see you in an hour,” Jeff said, showing the doctor out.

  He called Ricky. “Ricky, I want you to come to my office now. Get one of the other detectives as well. We’re going to make an arrest in the Melissa Ross murder case.”

  CHAPTER 23

  “Isabella, we’re going to the police station in about half an hour,” Marty said gently. “My husband is going to arrest a woman for murdering Melissa Ross, but he needs you to identify her and see if it’s the same person you saw. He said to tell you that she will never know you are there. You and I will be in a room with a one-way window in it. You’ll be able to see the woman, but she won’t be able to see you. You’ll be completely safe, do you understand?”

  Isabella started to say something, but Marty held her hand up as she picked up her ringing phone, indicating she had to take the call. She looked down at the monitor and saw that it was Les.

  That’s strange, she thought. I don’t think he’s ever called me before. I hope nothing’s wrong with the dogs.

  “Hi, Les. What’s up?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you, Marty, but Patron has gone completely nuts. He’s growling and barking, and he’s even rubbed some of his fur off, frantically trying to get the gate open. I called Laura, and she seemed to think he sensed something was going on with you. She told me to call you and see if there was, and if so, I should bring Patron to you, and she would meet us. She’s pretty sure he needs to be with you, and since she seems to have a connection with him, she wanted to meet me if I took him to you.”

  “This is surreal, Les. Yes, I just got off the phone with Jeff, and I’m getting ready to meet him at the police station in half an hour. I’m taking a woman with me who says she saw the person who murdered Melissa Ross. Jeff will be arresting her momentarily.”

  “In that case, Patron and I will meet you at the police station. I’ll call Laura and tell her to meet us there as well. I just hope he calms down enough that I can drive with him in my car.”

  “Les, I have a wire mesh screen in the garage I’ve used before for the dogs when I’ve gone somewhere with them and didn’t want them to get in the front seat. It should fit in your SUV perfectly. Just put it behind the back seat and that should work. Thanks, and see you in a little while.”

  “Senora, this is too much,” Isabella squealed. “You want me to identify the woman who killed Miss Ross and you also do not want me to go home. Where will I go?” She raised her hands in despair.

  “I don’t know, but I promise you’ll be well-t
aken care of wherever you go. I will personally make sure of that.” Marty stood up and started to gather her appraising items. “First, we need to go to the police station and have you see if the person my husband is arresting is the woman you saw murder Melissa Ross. Once that’s done, I’ll help you with the first steps of what will become your new life. Isabella, trust me, this will be the start of a fresh future for you, and a much safer one. Believe me, you are not alone. Many, many women have done what you are about to do, and all of them had very good lives because of it.”

  “I’m so scared,” Isabella said, a solitary tear sliding down her cheek.

  “That’s perfectly normal. Get your purse and any other personal items you have. You won’t be coming back here, because Tomas knows you work here. I’m sure the attorney for the estate can find someone else to cover for you.”

  *****

  A short while later Marty pulled into the police station parking lot and saw a man waving at her. She waved back, turned to Isabella, and said, “It looks like my husband has someone waiting for us.”

  The man walked over to them as she and Isabella got out of Marty’s car. “Hi, I’m Detective Bryant,” he said. “You must be Detective Combs’ wife. He sent me out here to wait for you. He wanted me to escort you in through a special security door that’s not available to the public. Actually, you’re the last ones to arrive.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Marty said, turning to introduce her companion. “This is Isabella Lopez. Where do you want us to go and who else is here?”

  “Well, to begin with, there’s a beautiful white boxer that’s here. I guess his name is Patron, and from what Detective Combs told me, your sister is calming him down. When the man, I guess he lives out at the compound with you, took him out of his car, the dog was growling and barking so loudly, no one wanted to get near him. Fortunately, your sister drove up just after they got here and was able to calm the dog down.”