Laugh or Death (Lexi Graves Mysteries Book 6)

by Camilla Chafer

  "Why do you think Nancy was murdered?" Solomon asked. After a long pause, Carl looked up, just as his father warned him again not to say a thing.

  "Dad, we have to. These people could help Peta even if we can't. Mom's been a wreck for months and I can't sleep with the worry. We're all just pretending everything is okay and managing fine whenever one of your friends brings over a casserole or pot pie. We can't keep pretending that we don't know what's happening, or where Peta is. We've always known," he added, turning to us. "It was my idea for Peta to take Nancy's identity. No one else would look for Nancy and it gave Peta a valid identity so she could work and live until we figured out how to keep her safe."

  "That was smart," said Solomon. "If I wanted to protect my sister, I might have done the same thing. Tell us about Nancy."

  "Nancy was having problems with her boyfriend for a while. I overheard Peta and Nancy talking one night; and Nancy said how controlling he was becoming and so moody that she had to tiptoe around him. He wanted every bit of her, including all of her time and space, and he became increasingly jealous of any attention she gave anyone else. She thought about leaving him, but deep down, still wanted to make it work."

  "That guy is Leo Chandler?" Solomon asked, waiting for Carl to nod. "When was this?"

  "Two weeks before she died."

  "Go on."

  "Nancy said Leo was making it hard for her to find a new job, and she was getting tired of always having to run every little thing past him... but he also began talking about marriage and maybe having kids with some excitement. He was sweet except for his occasional rages and was always so apologetic afterwards. Nancy said she was really confused and wasn't sure they wanted the same kind of future. She needed a job so she could go back to school, but Leo insisted he could support them both and she could be a stay-at-home mom."

  "And Nancy didn't want that?" I asked to clarify things.

  Carl shook his head. "She said, eventually, but not yet, and definitely not if she were being pressured into it. She said she would talk to Leo and try to get him to see things from her point of view. I didn't see Nancy again after that night."

  "Did Peta?"

  "Yeah."

  "Did she ever tell you what they talked about?"

  "No, she didn't say anything else about Nancy until Nancy died. She didn't believe Nancy fell and hurt herself."

  "What did Peta think happened?" I asked.

  "She said she thought Leo hurt her and she intended to find out the truth. I don't know if she did or not because she kept to herself for the next couple of days. When she got more of those creepy flowers, she totally freaked."

  "Creepy flowers?" Solomon interjected as Esther heaved a fresh round of tears.

  "Some anonymous person kept sending her flowers and gifts. At first, Peta thought it was sweet. We all did," Esther said as she reached for a tissue to dab under her eyes. "I thought it was romantic for her to keep getting these lovely little gifts. We guessed a young man had a big crush on her. Peta and Nancy used to giggle about it. Peta thought the admirer might identify himself, but he didn't although the gifts kept coming. After several months, Peta got tired of it and it wasn't fun anymore."

  "If they're unwanted, I can see the creepiness," I said, glancing at Solomon to see what he thought of the phantom gifts. Having once had a stalker situation of my own, I knew it could get very weird. Fortunately, that guy ended up spending a long vacation behind some very tall walls on separate charges. "Did the gifts all arrive here?"

  Richard took over, sitting next to his wife and taking her hand. He seemed beaten, like he folded in on himself and his face was no longer red with anger, but instead, appeared tired and concerned. "No, that was the creepy thing. The gifts often arrived at work, or she'd find them on the porch of a friend's house that she was visiting. Once, she got a delivery when she was out to dinner."

  Carl nodded. "When she found a teddy bear strapped into the passenger seat of her car, we knew it was more than a secret admirer. This guy was telling her he always knew where she was, and could break into her car anytime. Peta was terrified."

  "How long did that go on for?"

  "Like Esther said, months. The last time was a couple of weeks after Nancy died, when Peta told us she had to disappear," said Richard. "She said she thought Nancy's killer was also the one behind the gifts, but she couldn't prove it. I thought she was getting paranoid when she became convinced someone had been in our house, specifically, in her room. We were all afraid that if Peta stayed, something awful might befall her."

  "You have to understand, we didn't want to let her go, or deceive anyone. We just wanted to protect our daughter," added Esther. "We couldn't bear to lose her like we lost Nancy and the police didn't respond or care."

  Richard interjected, "I insisted Peta take Nancy's identity. We knew no one would be looking for her. Nancy left some of her personal things here, and a list of important information that she knew she would need when she left Leo. We had her Social Security number. As long as Peta didn't stay in any one place too long, she decided she could risk it. We all agreed hiding was the best thing for now."

  "Richard took Peta late at night. We had to sneak her out of the house in the trunk of the car in case that creep was watching," said Esther. "Can you imagine my daughter curled up in the trunk like a criminal?"

  "No, ma'am, I can't. Where did you take her?" asked Solomon.

  Richard said, "I drove her to Boston, where I stayed a couple days for my conference, then drove home. I gave Peta all the cash we had, nearly ten thousand, to keep her going until she could find a job. We agreed she shouldn't call us or write."

  "If that creep could get into her car, he could easily have read our mail. Maybe even bugged our phones," explained Carl. "But we communicate with her via a message board every few days just so we know she's okay."

  "Then we reported her missing," said Esther. "We said she'd gone out for a walk one night and never came home. It was easy really, to pretend she just disappeared, especially since she filed a police report for being stalked."

  "Do you think Nancy's murderer and Peta's stalker are the same person?" I asked. We waited as the Hansons looked at each other.

  Finally, Richard spoke. "We just don't know. Maybe. I was never entirely sure why Peta was so adamant Nancy was murdered. She wouldn't say why."

  "Do you have any of the gifts?"

  "Yes. We have them all. Not the flowers, but all the other things. I keep them locked in our floor safe in case that bastard tries to get into our home again."

  "We'd like to see them," I told them.

  "Will it help?" asked Esther.

  "I think so. We might see something that you missed."

  "I don't know how. We've looked at every item so often. Those gifts just give me the creeps."

  Richard stood. "I'll get them." He left the room, walking towards the back of the house. While he was gone, I took the opportunity to ask if Leo ever stopped by the house.

  "Well, yes, he did, a couple of times," Esther said. "He was devastated by Nancy's death. We saw him at the funeral, then he came by when he heard Peta had gone missing. He offered to help find her."

  "If you ask me, he had something to do with Nancy's death," said Carl. "She was terrified of him."

  "Do you share that thought?" I asked Esther, but she shrugged.

  "I'm not sure. He always seemed pleasant, but if Nancy was scared, well... that's got to count for a lot. But murder? I don't know if I believe Leo was a murderer," Esther eventually replied.

  "I do," said Carl adamantly. "I think he killed Nancy and was stalking Peta."

  "Do you think he killed Nancy to get to Peta?" Solomon asked as the sinking feeling in my stomach grew heavier.

  Carl hung his head, deflated again. "I sure hope not."

  Richard reappeared in the doorway, a plastic bag in his hands. He upended it on the coffee table, toppling small boxes and cards across the surface. Solomon and I reached for the first items
that came to hand. I got a small card box with a pretty bow stuck to the top. Lifting the lid, I found a silver star pendant necklace inside. It wasn't particularly expensive, but very pretty. Solomon had a shell with a painted heart on it, the kind of souvenir that got sold at the beach for a couple of dollars. He held it up to me. The name Peta was painted on the underside with another heart. There were several other gifts, the nicest being a jeweled hair comb.

  "Peta picked that up one day when we were shopping," said Esther, "but she said it cost too much and returned it to the display. The next day, it was in a gift box on our porch."

  "Did you see anyone you recognized while you were shopping?" I asked. I wasn't surprised when she shook her head.

  Solomon had a sheaf of cards in his hand, which he shuffled through. He stopped at one and passed it to me. "Recognize this?" he asked.

  I took it and only had to study it for a moment to know where I’d seen the handwriting before. "Yes, yes, I do."

  "Go make the call."

  ~

  I was standing by the car, my back against the passenger door and my phone to my ear. There was a gentle breeze that had me reaching for my sweater to wrap around my shoulders. It took me a few minutes to fill Maddox in on our latest findings, and he seemed pleased.

  "It's definitely Leo's handwriting?" Maddox asked again.

  "One hundred percent," I confirmed, again. "I recognized it from the client sheet Leo completed when he came to us with his case. He's our stalker, and from what the Hanson kid said, he could be behind the real Nancy's demise."

  "That's good work."

  "How are things at PD?"

  "Good. The detective who made the connection is smart, tenacious. She's wasted here."

  "Apparently not. She made a connection that could break your case and mine."

  "Her local knowledge is excellent, but so is the killer's. We went over the dump sites again. Even though they were each in different jurisdictions, they were only just far enough over that it wasn't too much of an effort. Same with the missing persons. I think we should be treating those as murder cases now too, except for Peta, who has really thrown us for a loop."

  "By being alive," I said.

  Even though it was a rhetorical question, Maddox still answered, "Yes. That's what gets me. If Leo is the stalker, and maybe even the killer, Peta Hanson got away. He's never lost a target, as far as I can see."

  "Nancy still died."

  "My theory is: Nancy was collateral damage, not a target. I'm putting in a request to have her body exhumed. I got the coroner's report and I'm not happy with it. It's sloppy."

  "How so?"

  "Too basic. I asked around and the coroner never even worked a murder case before. Never will again, I hope. He steamrollered through the most basic of autopsies, called her head injury an accident, closed the file, and released the body."

  "To Leo?"

  "No, to some aunt. I'm going to talk to her soon. She's within walking distance of the police station, so I'll catch a cab back to the inn after. Where are you heading next?"

  "I don't know. Solomon asked me to call and tell you what we found. He's still talking to the Hanson family."

  "Okay, well, after what you told me, I'm going to put a 'bolo' out on Leo Chandler. It's time we spoke to this guy. We can pick him up on the stalking issue for a start and see what else I can get out of him from there."

  "Solomon has people watching him."

  "Have them check in with me. I'd like to have him in FBI custody within twenty-four hours."

  Replying I would do that, I hung up as Solomon exited the Hanson house, the bag of creepy gifts in his hand. "Maddox is putting a 'bolo' out on Leo," I said, "I guess you won the vacation."

  "Don't be so hasty. There's no victor until one of us wins for sure. Taking the guy in for interrogation isn't an arrest warrant or a charge."

  "I thought you'd be happier just knowing you were right."

  "I'll be happier when we find Peta Hanson." Solomon handed me the “gifts” and opened my door. He leaned in as I buckled up. "We won't get anything more out of the Hansons today, but I told them we'd keep them informed. Let's go talk to Abigail Harris at Nancy's old bookstore. We need more evidence to tie Leo to Peta, and Nancy's death."

  "We don't have enough? What happened to your gut instincts?"

  "It's all supposition, so far. Nancy's death could be an accident, and Leo could have sent these gifts innocently..."

  "They're so creepy! And he was trying to marry Nancy, but making a play for Peta!"

  "Some guys don't know their boundaries." Solomon shut the door, rounded the car, and climbed in. "I still don't like the dude," he added, buckling up. "I still think he's a creep, but if every creep got arrested for that charge alone, we'd have to turn the entire Midwest into a penal colony. We need something substantial. Something that unequivocally ties him to the crimes."

  "Maddox thinks Nancy was collateral damage. He's going to visit her aunt and have her corpse exhumed."

  "I can see why he'd think that. If Leo killed her, her body could be the key to catching him."

  "He put a 'bolo' out on Leo, and asked you to get the team to watch Leo and check in with him."

  "Not a problem." Solomon pulled out his cell phone and fired off a text. "While Maddox deals with Nancy and her aunt, let's talk to the employers and find out why Nancy left. I checked with the Hansons, and there's no one else Peta would have confided in besides Nancy, so every other clue regarding Peta is a dead lead."

  Abigail Harris was an extremely tiny woman with a very big voice. We found her behind the cashier's desk at the bookshop and she told us to grab a seat while she got her assistant to cover the desk. When he arrived, she stepped down, and I realized she'd been standing on a foot-tall platform. She barely scraped five feet in her flats, but had a commanding presence nevertheless.

  "Like I told you on the phone, Nancy passed away six months ago," she said, taking the chair opposite me. "I can't think of a good reason why you'd be looking for her."

  "We think her identity may have been stolen," said Solomon.

  "Really? How awful. I still don't see how I can help you."

  "Actually, we hoped you might tell us why Nancy left her job?"

  "Well, sure that's easy. She was lovely, really great, but I had no choice..." Abigail trailed off. "I didn't want to, and truthfully, I regretted it, especially after she had that awful accident."

  "Why didn't you want to let her go?" I pressed.

  "It wasn't her, but that boyfriend of hers, Leo. He used to come in and just stare at her, and if she got too friendly with the customers, he'd say mean things."

  "To Nancy?"

  "Yes, and the customers too. There were complaints. I told Nancy and she pleaded with me to give her another shot, but I'd had enough by then."

  "Why was that? Was he mean to you too?"

  "He punched one of my delivery guys after he thought he was getting fresh with Nancy. I had to let her go. I couldn't afford any trouble here. She said she'd leave him, but really... I could just see things with Leo getting worse. If she left him and he kept following her around... oh, you must think I'm awful. I feel terrible about it now."

  "Do you know what happened to Nancy after that?"

  Abigail shook her head. "I saw her around town a couple of times. Next, I heard she died after some kind of fall. I went to the funeral. Her aunt was all shook up. They were all each other had left."

  "What about Leo?"

  "He never came around again after I let Nancy go. Nasty piece of work, if you ask me. Something’s not right about him."

  "His temper?" asked Solomon.

  "Yes, and something else. I couldn't say what. It's just a feeling."

  "Did you know Nancy's friend, Peta?"

  "The missing girl? Yes, I did. She bought books here and I let her teach an art history class one evening when Nancy still worked here. Really sweet girl. So sad what happened to her, and right after Nancy too. Wh
y?"

  "No reason," I said. "Just wondered about the two of them."

  "If that's all, I have to get back to my customers," Abigail said, rising. "I'm sorry I couldn't help."

  "You've been plenty of help," said Solomon, passing her his card. "We'd appreciate a call if you think of anything else."

  "Actually, there is something. Leo attended Peta's art history class. Didn't seem the art appreciation type, but he was fascinated all night, and unusually interested," said Abigail. "But now, I think it was just creepy the way he stared at her."

  ~

  I lay on top of the covers while Solomon brushed his teeth in the small bathroom. I could see him through the open door with his back to me and a towel around his waist. He smelled of mint and the bathroom was steamy. Parts of my brain were steamy too, but I was trying to ignore them. Instead, I texted with Lily.

  “So, Maddox's headboard is how far from your headboard?” she texted.

  Ten inches at a guess, I replied.

  “Ten inches. Uh-huh.”

  Ten inches of sheetrock and two headboards, I typed back.

  “It's practically a threesome.”

  I sighed and closed my eyes as Solomon dropped onto the bed. "What is Lily texting? All I saw was the word ‘threesome’ and I now I wish I hadn't asked."

  "Don't ask," I told him.

  "Is it anything to do with your pro bono case? Any breaks?"

  "The robberies? Lily is still watching Kyle, but no dice. He just hangs out at home and does normal things."

  "Like what?"

  "Grocery shopping or has a friend over."

  "Even thieves have to eat. Come here." Solomon held his arm out for me to snuggle into him. The phone got lost somewhere in the covers, and we both shuffled down in the bed. Solomon was warm, a little damp, and smelled good enough to eat. Since I wasn't a cannibal, I settled for a good sniff. "Are you sniffing me?" he asked.

  "Yesh," I admitted, my mouth muffled against his chest.

  "Not going to ask. Just going to enjoy it."

  "Do you think Lily has the wrong guy?" I inquired, lifting my head to repeat the question since my first attempt sounded like "Dush ye feenk Lily hazh ong gee?"