A Secondhand Murder

by Lesley A. Diehl

  I entered the dining area of the Biscuit and looked around at the diners. Two men wore boots and cowboys hats. Not them. Another man sat with a woman. The attire of both screamed TOURIST—shorts, shirts with fish and palm trees on them and sandals. White socks on the guy. A lone diner sat in the back of the room. It had to be him. I was aware of Frida entering after me and taking the table to his left.

  I headed that way. He rose from his chair, smiled, and shook my hand. Then he held out a chair for me.

  “Something to drink?”

  He had dark hair, which he wore long, but that was the only characteristic that might have marked him as an Italian crime boss. No shiny black suit, no black shirt, no white tie. He wasn’t short and fat. He was clean-shaven and was wearing gray pants, a red polo shirt and an expensive-looking ecru silk-blend jacket that he had tossed over the back of one chair. And he was handsome, very handsome.

  I stared at him. Not at all what I expected.

  “I’ve been wanting to meet you,” he said.

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, Jerry has told me a lot about you. I couldn’t believe most of it, so I had to see for myself.”

  “Look, I signed the divorce papers yesterday, so in my mind Jerry is free. Now, about the loan. I can pay him back on some kind of graduated schedule, if that’s—”

  “I don’t care about that.” He reached into his pants pocket.

  I jumped, expecting him to pull out some kind of weapon. Instead, he extracted a roll of Life Savers and offered me one. Poison? I shook my head no. He took a cherry one, looked at the candy and sighed, then put the roll back into his pocket.

  “My favorite is pineapple,” he said.

  “What?”

  “My favorite Life Saver is pineapple, but there aren’t many of them in a roll.”

  He sucked quietly on his candy and continued to stare at me.

  “If you don’t want the money, what then?”

  “Just tell me about yourself.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Oh, the usual stuff. Where you were born and went to school, your family, your work, stuff like that.”

  I was so relieved I wasn’t going to be killed in my favorite cowboy bar that I began to babble about myself and continued for the next half hour. His eyes never left mine, but they did seem to twinkle a little brighter when I mentioned my grandmother. “Is that enough?”

  “So you’re Sarah Armitage’s granddaughter. Very impressive.”

  “You know my grandmother?” I was surprised.

  “Anybody who’s anybody in Connecticut knows of your grandmother. In her day, she was by far the smartest, most beautiful woman in the state. Then she ran off with some sea captain and cheated us all of the joy of her company. Connecticut’s been a little dull since then. No, I never met her, but I heard tell of her from my father.”

  I looked at him with suspicion. “They didn’t date, did they?”

  “Oh, no, no. She was already married when he met her. I heard a story about trouble in Connecticut. She left to escape some sort of suspicious controversy. That was a long time ago, and I never heard the details.”

  “Well, me either, but I know the trouble had something to do with Valerie Sanders and her relatives. I sure would like to know if Valerie’s death is somehow related to me and my family.”

  “Well, you may not know it, but your meeting me here tonight has helped me immensely. If there’s anything I can do to return the favor … I do have connections.”

  “I don’t understand. What did I do? Why are you being so nice to me after you went to all the trouble of blowing up my car?”

  “I’m sorry? I blew up your car? No, no. I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Somehow, after meeting you, I can’t believe you would, either. Now, back to how I helped you.”

  “My daughter is hell-bent on marrying your ex-husband.”

  “I know. I can’t figure that out.”

  “Well, I can’t either. Jerry seems like a boat without a rudder, or motor, or sail, or paddle.”

  “Not a lot of ambition. He does get ideas every now and again. Not much carry–through, though.”

  “My daughter thinks I can help him with that,” he said.

  If anyone could do it, it would be him. After all, he had the two things that Jerry craved most—power and money. Who knows, maybe becoming part of the Napolitani Family would be his making.

  “Meeting you makes me realize Jerry can’t be all bad, not if you married him. You’re quite a gal. I like what I see, so, like I said, Jerry can’t be all bad.”

  What could I say to that? “Don’t give Jerry too much credit because he was drunk when we said our I dos.” I didn’t think that was what he wanted to hear.

  “Um.”

  He reached across the table and took my hand. “Anything I can do for you, I will.”

  Fine then. I had just the thing. “I’d like help breaking into someone’s house.”

  He offered me another Life Saver. It was lime. He got the pineapple one, finally. We plotted so quietly that even Frida couldn’t hear us.

  Chapter 14

  Mr. Napolitani and I left the restaurant together. Frida followed a few steps behind. “Goodnight, my dear.” He shook my hand and then turned to face Frida. “There’s no need to worry about your friend, Detective. I mean her no harm.”

  “She told you I was shadowing you?” Frida shot a look of disgust at me. I shook my head.

  “I have a keen nose for the law. How could I believe that a woman of your good looks and deportment would be dining alone?” His smile displayed some very expensive white teeth.

  Frida’s mouth formed a round “O” of amazement, and, when the compliment finally penetrated, she smiled at Napolitani and chuckled. “You rogue.”

  He drove off in his black Escalade, probably heading back to the coast to settle into the condominium in West Palm he had told me about.

  “What about your loan?” Frida asked.

  “Oh, I arranged a payment schedule.”

  “That’s what you were whispering about?”

  “Yeah, sorry. He didn’t want anyone to hear the details.”

  “You’re going to tell me, right?”

  “Oh, sure. I pay Jerry monthly for the next two years and then we’re good.”

  “That’s a big secret?”

  I tried to look insulted. “Look, if Mr. Napolitani doesn’t want anyone to know our financial arrangement, then I’m good with that. Don’t say anything. Okay?”

  “I don’t get it, but fine. See you tomorrow at the office. About seven or so? I’ll have the knife for you.”

  Grandy was asleep in the spare bedroom when I got home. Madeleine had left, and Alex was sitting in the living room in front of my television.

  “You can go home now.” I tried to make the suggestion sound as if it was his choice, but I knew it came out as a demand. “Sorry, but I’m beat.”

  “I can see that. I wasn’t going to hang around. I just thought I’d let you know that Jerry called and wants you to call him back. Something about his father-in-law.”

  “You could have just left a note.”

  “I’m not stupid. I know who his father-in-law-to-be is. Not the kind of man you want to do business with. What’s your interest in the man?”

  I didn’t like Alex’s inquisition. He and Jerry had spent too much time together the other night bonding, regardless of whether one was a great guy and the other a bum. Boys will be boys, and they can find something in common, even if it’s just testosterone.

  “Alex, I really appreciate your, uh, friendship and support, but right now the only thing I want is a close encounter with is my pillow.”

  “Sure. How about dinner tomorrow night then?”

  “Uh, I’ve got a meeting.”

  “Neighborhood watch?”

  “Right.”

  “I’ll call you.”

  “Great.”

  “You can tell me how the meeti
ng went and how you like taking a leading role in making your neighborhood safe.”

  Was he being a smart ass?

  “You and Frida, taking a bite out of crime.”

  “Get the hell out of here.”

  “You’re a bad liar, Eve.”

  Grandy insisted on coming with me to police headquarters the next morning. Honestly, I liked the plan, because the only food I had in the house was some leftover pizza from the night before.

  “I’ll take you out for breakfast after, and I’ll show you our shop,” I said on our drive over.

  “Breakfast first, then we buy some food for the house. Don’t you ever eat in?”

  “We ate in last night. It’s only called ‘takeout’ because you take the order out of the restaurant and then eat the food at home.”

  “Right,” she said. “I like Alex.”

  “Oh, I like him, too.”

  “Not as much as you should.”

  “I got divorced two days ago. Give me a break, will you?” I swung into the left lane to pass a trailer with two horses in it.

  “Watch your driving. I think you scared those horses.”

  “Nothing scares cowponies. They’re fearless. They share pastures with bulls and alligators.”

  She continued to watch the country go by. “This is a whole new world around here. I didn’t even know that this part of Florida existed.”

  “Rural Florida’s beauty won’t exist for long if the developers and big agribusiness players have their way.”

  “Money talks.”

  I nodded.

  When we walked into Frida’s office, the knife was laying on her desk.

  She gestured to the chairs across from hers. “So, look, although I can’t see what’s so interesting. It’s just a kitchen knife that was used for something that kitchen utensils shouldn’t be used for. This is the murder weapon, the knife we thought came from your store. Now you’re saying that it’s not the right one, that you discovered that knife when you were throwing away packing material yesterday. But that knife somehow disappeared.”

  “I told you. I was crumpling up packing material and cut myself with a knife. When I examined it, I realized it had to be the knife that belonged to the set in our store. This knife, the murder weapon, wasn’t from our set, but from another. Perhaps Valerie carried it into the store to defend herself. Maybe she knew her life was in danger.”

  “A lovely theory, but where is the other knife, the one that actually belongs to the set? Who took it? You say someone came into the shop besides Alex.”

  I leaned forward and bent over the knife, examining the rivets in its handle.

  “Um,” I said.

  “ ‘Um’ is all you have to say after making such a fuss about seeing it?”

  “Sorry. It sure does look like it came from the set in our shop.”

  Grandy reached in her purse and pulled out her reading glasses.

  “Let me see that.” She stuck her nose a few inches from the weapon. “Fine quality knife.”

  I showed Grandy around our shop and encouraged her to try on whatever she liked.

  “Quality merchandise.” The same word she’d used to describe the knife. “I’m not sure I can afford any of this, despite the fact that you have priced it all very fairly. Besides, I never have occasion to wear anything other than tees and cut-offs.”

  “You never know what you’ll be doing now that you’ve moved the boat to another marina. There could be parties or, with your new schedule, time to dine out.”

  Grandy chuckled. “I’m imagining me in a cocktail dress and Max in flip-flops and swim trunks.”

  “Take care of yourself now and see to Max later,” said Madeleine.

  It was hard to tell what Grandy thought of the suggestion. She gave Madeline a “We’ll see,” and wandered off through the store. She stopped at a rack of matching skirts and tops.

  “Wow, Dana Buchanan.” She pulled a set from the rack and held the shirt up to examine it.

  “Try it on. Oh, here’s a really cute black velvet warm-up suit in your size. For those northern Keys nights,” I said.

  “I’d never have anywhere to wear that,” she said. But after donning the outfits, with a little encouragement from Madeleine and me, she bought both—at a substantial discount, of course. She was my Grandy, after all.

  Madeleine left the shop early to get ready for a date. She was on Yourperfectpartner.com and, of course, she had a line-up of men vying for her attention. She was trying them all out. It seemed safer that way, she confessed, because no one on the site knew she was a disaster magnet … yet.

  Business was slow that afternoon. At least that gave me the opportunity to pump Grandy for information about her relationship with Valerie’s grandfather. There was more to our family ties than Valerie’s accusation of theft, and I wondered what the story was. Maybe I would find a link to her murder. I hadn’t given up on the theory that someone had killed Valerie, thinking she was me. And although I was pretty certain that Mr. Napolitani wasn’t interested in doing me in now, that didn’t mean he hadn’t tried in the past.

  I was trying to think of the best way to approach Grandy about the Sanders family when a customer came into the shop. I busied myself by taking her selections back to the dressing room. While I was hanging up her clothing, the shop phone rang.

  “Let it go to voice mail,” I said. I stepped out of the dressing room and saw Grandy grab the phone. My customer handed me some additional choices, and I was momentarily distracted by her demand that I help her unstick the back zipper of a dress. When she left several minutes later—having bought none of the size 8 to size 12 dresses she had tried on (she was a 14, at least)—Grandy was still on the phone. She laughed several times and when she hung up, she was still smiling.

  “Now I have an occasion to wear my new warm-up suit.”

  “Really?”

  “Yup. I’m going out tonight.”

  Ah, I thought to myself, that’s perfect. I didn’t have to leave her alone all evening while I tended to my business. Wait a minute. Whom did Grandy know in Sabal City aside from me and Madeleine? Grandy and I were family. Not only that, but she raised me. She was the queen of plotting, and I was merely her lowly apprentice.

  However, my need to find out more about how theft and love connected Valerie’s family to mine caused me to shove any suspicions about tonight from my mind.

  “About this relationship between you and Valerie’s grandfather …”

  She plopped down in a chair. “Now that’s a sad story. He was my first love.”

  “I didn’t even know you were acquainted with the Sanders family.”

  “To be accurate, the name was Warton. Sanders is the family that Valerie married into. Anyway, I worked for the Wartons for several years as their downstairs maid. Franklin was their eldest son, and his father wanted him to take over the family business. They were in transportation—trains, mostly, then planes. They designed, built and owned several railroads and later, airline transport companies. Now they’ve diversified, I guess.” She shifted her round frame in the chair.

  “If this is too painful for you …”

  “No, it’s this chair. Despite all the padding on my rear, it’s like sitting on a concrete block. No give.”

  I ran into the office and rolled my desk chair out for her. “Try this.”

  “Better. Now, where was I?”

  “Telling me about you and the Warton boy.”

  “Nothing much more to tell. We fell in love, a love that was impossible, of course. What prominent Connecticut family would allow their son to marry a lowly servant?”

  “They found out about you two?”

  “Oh, yes. Franklin insisted on telling them. He thought he could convince them that we should be together. I knew he wouldn’t win. He didn’t. They threatened to write him out of the will. He wasn’t cut out to be poor. I saved the poor dear from himself by leaving and marrying an old friend—your grandfather.”

  S
he raised her hand as if to put a halt to what I was about to say. “He was the best man in the world, and I loved him fiercely. Have no doubt about that. Soon, Franklin married the woman his family selected for him. I believe he was very happy, too. Only his family always harbored bad feelings toward me.”

  “Why?”

  “That’s where the theft comes in. Franklin gave me this.” She pulled a gold chain from beneath her shirt. Hanging from the chain was an antique gold locket, heart-shaped, a large diamond in the center, nine rubies outlining the shape. I counted them.

  “It opens.” She inserted her nail between the front and back of the locket. I expected to see two pictures inside, and I wasn’t disappointed. Looking at the figures in the photos I saw two women. Not what I was expecting at all.

  Grandy watched my expression with something akin to amusement. “You thought the locket might contain a picture of Franklin and me.”

  I nodded.

  “Eve, dear, I can remember a time when you loved Jerry to distraction. Am I right?”

  I thought back to when Jerry and I met, to when I thought he was the most exciting man in Connecticut, maybe in all the world. Somehow, at that time he had seemed smarter, sexier and even taller than I saw him now.

  “I did love Jerry. Then.”

  “I loved Franklin, but some loves don’t last for a lifetime and they probably shouldn’t. I found your grandfather, and you’ll find someone else, too.”

  I nodded. “Why did the family accuse you of being a thief?”

  “The locket had been in the family for a long time. It’s worth some money, and the family viewed it as theirs, not as Franklin’s to give to whomever. Certainly not to a maid.”

  “Did Franklin have the right to give the heart to you?”

  “Debatable, both ethically and legally, but they never took action. Instead they just spread rumors that I had stolen some property of theirs. Most of them viewed the locket only as property, never saw the beauty of it or its emotional significance. Except, perhaps, for Valerie. She came to me once and asked to see it.”

  “That’s an odd request.”

  “I thought so.”