“He’s dead,” I blurted out before she could close the door.
“Excuse me?” she said, opening the door all the way. “What do you mean he’s dead?”
“He was found dead three nights ago in a small town south of here.”
“That rotten…leaving me in the lurch when my rent is due!”
I felt my mouth drop open when she said that. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Jake said as he reached over, put his finger under my chin, and closed my mouth. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“What’s it to you?” she said suspiciously. “Why are you here?”
“I’m a reporter with the Brookdale News,” I said, taking my press pass out of my bag and showing it to her. “We’re doing a story about Mr. Winthrop, and we’d like to ask you a few questions about him, if you can spare us a few minutes.”
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Barbara said. She stepped back and opened the door wider. “Please, come in. Give me a few minutes to make myself presentable.”
She disappeared down the hall as Jake closed the front door. “Since when are we doing an article on Ethan?” he whispered as we walked into the apartment.
“It got us in the door, didn’t it?” I replied.
The apartment was quite nice. Plush beige carpet sat under a dark rust couch and love seat. A coffee table with a glass top sat in front of the couch, with various magazines fanned out on either side of silk flowers in a short white vase. The kitchen was to the left, and a chest high, built-in bar served as a divider between it and the dining room. A large sliding glass door led to a patio, where a small table and two chairs occupied one corner. “I wonder what she does for a living,” Jake said. He flipped through a few bills that were on the bar. “Lots of credit card bills here.
“My guess is she doesn’t work, if Ethan pays her rent.”
“Have you thought about what you’re going to ask her?”
“I thought I might lead with ‘Did you have any reason to kill Ethan?’ and just go from there.”
“What kind of question is that?” Barbara said angrily as she came into the room. She had changed into a pair of black leggings, a royal blue silk blouse, and a pair of knee high black boots. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she had put on a little make up. Truth be told, she had a natural beauty that didn’t need a lot of make up. Yeah, I was jealous. Sue me.
“A very awkward one,” Jake said as he walked over to her. “Why don’t we sit down?”
The look on her face said that she’d rather throw us out, but she allowed Jake to lead her over to the loveseat. I sat down on the couch and pulled out my notepad. If I was supposed to be doing an interview, I might as well make it look legit. “How long have you known Mr. Winthrop?”
“About four months.”
And he was already paying for her apartment? “Where did you meet him?”
“A friend introduced us at a bachelor auction last spring. I didn’t have enough money to bid on him, but he kept smiling at me the whole time he was on the block. I don’t even remember who won the bidding, but I was the one he went home with that night,” she said proudly.
I wondered if he ever went on his date with the winner. “But you didn’t officially start dating until July?”
“Right,” she nodded. “He was seeing someone else at the time, so I had to wait until he broke it off with her. I moved in here the day she left.”
“You’re joking, right?” Jake said.
“Nope,” Barbara replied. “You should have seen this place before I redecorated it. Totally tacky. She decorated it in shabby chic. I think they should drop the word ‘chic’, because it was just shabby. Ethan loved the changes I made to the place.”
“And you didn’t have a problem moving into an apartment that belonged to his last girlfriend?” he said.
“Of course not. Ethan wasn’t really serious about her anyway. They were only together for a month or so. He said she was too needy.”
“How were things between the two of you?” I asked her. “Did you have a strong relationship?”
“Absolutely! We were talking about getting married.”
Jake looked shocked. “Really? Are you sure?”
She nodded. “We looked at engagement rings last week. He wanted to make sure he got the perfect ring for me, so he was planning to fly to New York this weekend to look at Tiffany’s.”
Somehow, I didn’t believe her for a minute. If Ethan was planning to fly to New York, he was probably taking another woman with him. “Do you know if Ethan was having problems with any of his ex-girlfriends?”
“Not that I know of, but then again, I didn’t really pay that much attention to things like that. I mean, why should I worry about the past, when we were making plans for our future? Oh wait, he did seem upset about something a few days ago, something about a restraining order or something. He called his lawyer and told him to make it go away, or he would fire the guy. Apparently the lawyer made it disappear, because two hours later, Ethan was in a great mood. He took me to the Galleria and bought me a pair of diamond earrings.”
“How generous,” I said. Frankly, I wanted to throw up. One of the endless gifts that had appeared at my house was a pair of diamond earrings. When I had looked up the store online, they listed a location at the Galleria.
Jake must have noticed the look on my face, because he asked the next question. “Do you know what Ethan’s plans were three days ago?”
“Let me check,” Barbara said, getting up and going over to the bar. She pulled out a spiral day planner and flipped through the pages. “We had dinner with his father that night.”
“His father? Are you sure?” Jake said.
“I’m positive. He called Ethan that morning and said he was flying in on his private jet. Ethan seemed a bit nervous about his father being here, but he didn’t show it when we met him for dinner.”
“What did they talk about?”
“Just business stuff, I guess. I didn’t pay that much attention. That kind of talk bores me to tears, so I always zone out. Usually, I look around the room and critique what the women are wearing. If I see something I like, then I make a note of it so I can get one in my size later.”
“Do you have these notes?” I said.
“No, silly, I keep my notes up here,” she said, tapping the side of her head. If that’s where she kept them, then she was definitely screwed, because she didn’t seem like the brightest bulb in the box. “It did get kind of weird at one point. His dad told him to ‘make this mess go away, because I’m tired of cleaning up after you.’ Ethan’s face turned red, and I thought he was going to punch him. But he just said ‘yes, sir’, and that was the end of it.”
“Do you know what mess his father was referring to?” Jake asked.
“Not a clue.”
“You said you didn’t care to talk about his past,” I said, “but did Ethan ever mention anything to you about it?”
“Why are you asking all these questions? Weird questions to be asking. Don’t you want to know about the charities he supported, or all of the good work he did?”
“Everybody is writing stories like that,” I replied quickly, “but we wanted to do a more personal story. The man behind the public persona.”
Barbara seemed to buy it. “Well, there was one thing. It was a couple of weeks ago. I overheard him on the phone to a florist, placing an order for a dozen red roses to be delivered to a cemetery in Virginia.”
I noticed Jake stiffen a bit. “Were the flowers for a family member?”
She shook her head. “I asked him about it when he got off the phone. He said they were for his first love, some girl who died when they were in high school. He wouldn’t say anything else about her. I guess she must have died tragically, you know, kind of like that girl who was in love with a boy, but their families didn’t want them to be together?”
“You mean Romeo and Juliet?” I said.
“Yeah, that’s
it. But in this case, it was just Juliet that died. Isn’t that the saddest thing you’ve ever heard?” Before I could answer, her phone rang. “Excuse me a minute,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
As soon as she left the room, I looked at Jake. “What’s wrong?”
“The anniversary of Jessica’s death was two weeks ago,” he replied through clenched teeth. “I can’t believe he had the nerve to send flowers to her grave.”
I moved to the other end of the couch, so I was sitting near him. “I’m sorry, Jake,” I said, putting my hand on his arm.
“Not your fault.”
“What do you think of Barbara?”
“I think she’s a few cards short of a full deck, if you ask me. She’s not the most shallow person I’ve ever met, but she’s pretty close.”
“I’m not sure,” I replied. “I think she knows more than she’s letting on.”
“Get serious!” he snorted. “I know what kind of girl she is. She’s the type of girl who wants to be taken care of by a sugar daddy. Now that Ethan is dead, I guarantee you she’ll start working on finding someone else to take care of her. By the end of the week, she’ll have some poor sucker on the line, and she’ll be in a new apartment.”
Somehow, I knew he was right about that. But there was something about her that bothered me, I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was just yet.
Barbara came out of the bedroom five minutes later. I closed the magazine I had been thumbing through. “So, where were we?” I said, picking up my pad and pen off the table.
“Actually, that was my friend Phoebe. She wants to meet for lunch in a little while, so I’ve got to go. Do you have everything you need for your article?”
“I think we have enough,” I said reluctantly. “Do you have a number where I can reach you, just in case I have any other questions?”
“Sure,” she replied. I handed her my pad and pen, and she wrote down her name and number. “Just leave a message and I’ll call you back if I don’t answer right away.” She led the way to the door and opened it for us. “I do have one question.”
“What’s that?” I said, turning back to look at her.
“Do you know when the reading of the will is going to be? Ethan said he wrote a new will, and that I was included in it. I just want to make sure I get what’s coming to me.”
“No, I don’t,” I replied, not believing what I had just heard. “But I’m sure the lawyer knows how get in touch with you.”
“I have him on speed dial,” she smiled. “I’ll just give him a call while I wait for Phoebe.”
As we walked to the car, I asked Jake, “So, do you still believe she’s a few cards short of a full deck?”
“What I truly think cannot be repeated in present company,” Jake replied.
Chapter 16
Since Gladys had been banned from the café, I figured it was a safe place to eat. So, when we got back to town around one, we went straight there. “There’s my favorite guy!” Maddie exclaimed as we walked in. She gave Jake a big hug. “A little late for the two of you to come in for lunch, ain’t it?”
“We had a meeting in Dallas this morning,” I explained.
“Well, I don’t have any of today’s special left,” she said. “The meatloaf was a big hit today. This place was packed for almost two hours. We’ve been packed around mealtimes ever since I banned Gladys from here. If I had known what kind of impact that would have on business, I would have done it years ago.”
“She won’t stay away forever, you know,” I said.
“Yeah, I know. But for now, I’m going to enjoy it. Go sit down, and I’ll bring you the usual.” She gave Jake another hug before hurrying back into the kitchen.
I tossed my bag into the booth and took off my jacket. “What do you think about what Barbara said?” I said to Jake as I sat down. “Do you think his dad is still in town?”
Jake shook his head. “Probably not. I wonder what mess he wanted Ethan to take care of so urgently, though.”
“Probably me.”
“I get the feeling it’s something bigger,” he said. “I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but dealing with TROs and harassment lawsuits is child’s play for him after all these years. I think it’s something bigger.”
“You mean something like getting one of his play toys pregnant?”
“Who’s pregnant?” Maddie said as she put our burgers and fries down in front of us.
“No one, Maddie,” I said. “We’re wondering who might have had a reason to kill Ethan Winthrop, that’s all.”
“I can’t imagine a pregnant woman wanting to kill him. Why kill the golden goose when you can milk it for as much money as possible?” she pointed out before she walked away. She said something to Owen, who had just walked in.
He made his way over to our table, grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down at the head of our table. “I thought I told you to keep a low profile, Mathias,” he grumbled. “Whoever is trying to set you up might be watching you. We’ve got to keep up appearances.”
“I kept a low profile all morning, Owen. We’ve been in Dallas for the last couple of hours.”
“Doing what?”
Jake and I looked at each other before I answered. “Talking to Ethan’s last girlfriend.”
“Oh, really?” Owen replied. “How did you manage to get a hold of her? I’ve been trying for two days to talk to her.”
“We knocked on the door,” Jake told him.
“And she was home?”
“We got the impression that she’s not an early riser,” I said.
“Does she have an alibi for the night of his murder?”
“She said she was at dinner with the governor,” Jake said.
“No, that was last night. Three nights ago, they had dinner with his father.”
“But what about the night of the murder?” Owen said again.
“We didn’t ask,” I sheepishly admitted.
“Some reporter you are,” he scoffed.
Opening my bag, I rummaged around and found my notepad. “I’ve got her phone number.”
Jake pulled out his phone and dialed the number. “Hello, Barbara? This is Jake Mathias. Right, the cute guy who was at your apartment this morning. I was wond…I’m fine, thank you for asking. I was wondering if you could tell me the name of the restaurant you were at two nights ago. Really? My mistake. I apologize, I thought you said you had gone to a new restaurant for dinner two nights ago. Oh, I see. Well, I hope your friend is doing better now. That’s good to hear. Right…I’ll have to get back to you about that. I don’t have my calendar in front of me at the moment. Yes, I’ve got your number. I’ll give you a call when I have some free time. Nice talking to you, too. ‘Bye.” He hung up. “Good grief, that woman can talk!”
“Sounds like she thinks you might be a good candidate for her next sugar daddy,” I teased him.
“God, no,” Jake shuddered. “That would qualify as one of my worst nightmares ever.”
“So, where was she the night Ethan died?” Owen said.
“According to her, she was at urgent care with a friend because she had an ingrown toenail. It was very tragic, because it ruined her friend’s pedicure.”
“How awful!” I said in mock horror. “Did her poor friend survive this horrific injury?”
“An ingrown toenail?” Owen scoffed. “Buy some damn toenail clippers!”
“What? And ruin a perfectly good manicure?” I haughtily replied. I could actually see Barbara and her friend reacting that way. The stupidity of some people…
“Very funny,” Jake laughed. “She says she was with her friend for about three hours that night while she received treatment, then they stopped for ice cream before going back to Barbara’s place for an all-night gab fest.”
“Somehow, I’m pretty sure you’re paraphrasing there,” I said.
“She might have mentioned chick flicks.”
“That is horrible,” I gasped. “Give me a g
ood war movie or western any day of the week.”
“I’m with you,” Jake replied.
“If you two are done bonding now,” Owen interrupted, “can we get back to my case?”
“Frankly, I’m surprised you aren’t having a hissy fit because we talked to one of your potential suspects,” I said.
“As much as it pains me to admit this, sometimes you can get people to talk to you that normally wouldn’t talk to me. So I’m willing to overlook a few lapses of protocol for now. But if I tell you to butt out, you butt out. Don’t step over the line.”
“Me? Never.”
“Neither one of you are allowed to talk to anyone about this. It could jeopardize this whole case,” he groused.
“T.J. obviously being the exception to this rule,” I replied.
“Obviously.”
“I was under the impression that Jake has an airtight alibi,” I replied. “So how is he jeopardizing the case? And how am I doing anything wrong? I was at work all day. There’s no way I could…”
“You’re a victim, Lizzie,” Owen cut me off.
“I wish people would stop calling me that!”
Owen and Jake looked at each other for a minute, then Jake reached across and placed his hand on top of mine. “But he’s right, Lizzie. I know you don’t want to think of yourself that way, but given the way you’ve been acting lately…”
“And just how have I been acting?” I snapped, jerking my hand away.
“Snapping at people when they say something, for starters,” he replied. “Refusing to step foot into your office, and spending most of your time hiding out at home.”
“I’ve done work at the newspaper,” I retorted.
“One day,” Jake pointed out. “One day, and that’s only because I couldn’t go in myself. At some point, you’re going to need to talk to someone about this. We just want to help you, if you’ll let us.”
“I’m not…I don’t…can we change the subject, please?” There was no way I was going to have this conversation in the middle of a public place. “You’ve got a leak in your department,” I said, turning my attention back to Owen. “Some people already know about the unofficial autopsy results.”
Death Vetoes The Chairman (Lizzie Crenshaw Mysteries Book 7) Page 11