by Laina Turner
She shrugged, but Edna answered.
“Jeff was a CPA. Maybe Jonathan had worked with him in the past?”
“Jeff was an accountant?” I asked.
“For one of the biggest firms in town,” Edna said.
“And you’ve never seen this man around here before?”
“I don’t routinely spy on my neighbors. So, no.”
I found that a little hard to believe, but I wasn’t going to say anything. “I’m glad you called, Edna. It was nice visiting with you,” I said, standing up.
“I must say you passed the test of coming out here to see an old lady.”
“Any time, Edna. I may just drop by and visit for some of that great tea.”
That got a smile out of her. “We’ll see.”
We walked to my car and I handed my keys to Katy. “I’m not sure I should drive. I only had a little of that iced tea, but I think I would still blow the legal limit. Damn, that stuff was strong.”
Katy laughed and we got in the car.
“Since we’re already out this way, would you mind seeing if we can find those two unhappy housewives Tobey and I were going to go see?”
“Sure. As I said earlier, I’ve got plenty of time. What’s the first address?”
Tobey texted me the directions and I told Katy to head to Highway 41 and go north.
“Do you think Jonathan really did business with Jeff West? It seems like he would use a local accounting firm in Alkon. You know, keep it in the community.”
“Funny you should say that. I was thinking the same thing. Made me wonder if maybe Jonathan wasn’t trying to talk to Jeff for some other reason. “
“What? You think maybe that was just something he told Edna? I guess he did say only business, not accounting. Jeff may have been buying real estate.”
“Maybe. I was actually wondering if Jeff might have been trading services.”
Katy took her eyes off the road for a second to glance at me. “You mean he might have been doing Bethany as well as her books?”
I laughed. “That’s an interesting way to put it, but yes. So maybe Jonathan wants those records for some reason. Oh. Turn left up there and the subdivision should be on the left,” I said to her, calling out the directions showing on my phone.
We found the place easily enough, the Jonathan topic put on hold for just a moment.
“This is where Diane Abbott lives. Rachel, the girl we talked to said she was very unhappy with Bethany for leading her husband off the straight and narrow.”
“Well, let’s see what she has to say,” Katy said.
Our knock on the door was answered by a pretty woman, probably late thirties. A toddler was hanging on to her leg.
She smiled at us and said, “How can I help you?”
“Diane Abbott?” I asked, wanting to make sure I had the right person.
“Yes.”
I introduced the two of us and then hoped what I was about to ask wouldn’t get the door slammed in our faces.
“We were wondering if you would talk to us for a minute about Bethany Granville,” I said, almost cringing, expecting her to yell at us or something.
To her credit, she maintained composure, barely flinching. So either she was a very controlled person or she didn’t care anymore. Though with a toddler, I couldn’t imagine the latter being true.
“What about her?” she finally said.
“I’m sure you heard she was murdered?”
“And you think I did it?” She snorted. “I already told the police I wouldn’t waste my time on that trash. Plus, I was out of town visiting my sister when she was killed. Now if you don’t mind, I have things to do,” she said, closing the door.
I turned to Katy, “Well, I guess she has an alibi.”
“True, but we don’t know any more than we did.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky at the next house.”
We were driving and I couldn’t help but think about the plan Dirt had to clear his name.
“Do you think Dirt’s plan will work?” I finally asked Katy.
“I don’t know. It seems a little like grasping at straws, but I can’t think of anything better.”
“Me, either.”
“Did you call Cooper?”
“And tell him Dirt’s plan?”
“Yeah.”
“I left a voicemail and I haven’t heard back from him, but I know he’s busy.” Since things had seemed a little less tense last time we talked I wanted to believe he was just busy and not avoiding me.
“He’ll call back. What house number are we looking for?”
“1927.” We pulled up in front of a nondescript ranch home. There were kids’ toys on the front lawn and a Prius in the driveway.
“Well, she’s eco–friendly,” Katy said, pointing at the Prius.
Walking up to the front door, I hoped we would be more successful this time. We were running out of options.
“We might not get very far with this one,” Katy said.
“Why?”
“Look at the lawn. It hasn’t been mowed. The mailbox post is rolled and flowerbeds are overrun with weeds.
I looked at her strangely. I had no idea what she was talking about.
“These are all things that a husband might do. I can tell it hasn’t been that long that the flower beds or the grass have been abandoned, so my guess is her husband recently moved out and she’s too depressed to do these things, or I’m just completely off base and making things up.”
“Sounds good to me. I would have never thought of all that, but it makes complete sense.”
“You don’t live in a home with a yard, so you just don’t think about it the way I do.”
“True.” My condo in Chicago had a doorman and a small dog run for those pet lovers. Not a yard and outdoor responsibilities.
I knocked on the door and after a few seconds when I didn’t get a response, I knocked again.
“I swear I heard Trish moving around in there,” I said to Katy after still no response.
“Yeah, me too. Maybe she just doesn’t like opening her door to strangers.”
I tried once more, knocking hard this time and still nothing.
“I saw a curtain move. At least I think I did,” Katy said. “Someone is in there. They just clearly don’t want to come to the door.”
I sighed in frustration. I was stumped and wasn’t sure as to what the next move should be to get closer to finding who killed Bethany.
“Come on, Pres. Let’s go. We can’t camp out on her front porch,” Katy said and started walking back to the car.
Since she was right, of course, I had no choice but to follow her.
We were heading back out of the subdivision when I just happened to glance at my side mirror. I sat up a little more quickly, and looked more closely.
“Pull into the next side street.”
“What?” Katy asked.
“Just turn right up there.” I pointed to an offshoot from the main. “Here, quick. Turn around so we’re facing the main road again and pull over.”
“What is going on?” Katy said, doing as I asked.
“Shh…just a second.” I watched the main road and a few second later the Prius that had been in Trish’s driveway drove by with a brunette at the wheel.
“Guess someone was in the house ignoring our knocks,” I said.
“Apparently.”
“Let’s follow her,” I said.
Katy pulled out and turned back onto the main road just in time to see Trish turn left onto Highway 41. Katy pulled out a few car lengths behind her.
“Don’t get too close. I don’t want her to notice she’s being followed.”
“I’ll try, but I don’t want to lose her,” Katy said.
After about ten minutes, we were definitely headed out of Clermont. I wondered where she was going. I initially had figured we would be wasting our time, that she was headed to the grocery store or something. But once she passed the turn off to go into town
I had no clue. She could be going anywhere.
“Do you think she might be headed to Alkon?” I asked Katy.
“It kind of looks that way. I mean, what else is out this way?”
“Hmm, it will be interesting to see where in Alkon she’s headed then.”
Trish made it into Alkon for sure, but then she went all the way through town.
“Where in the hell is she going?” I wondered out loud. “We’re almost out of our town.”
“I don’t know, but if she doesn’t stop soon, we will have to. We’re almost on empty and your light just came on.”
“Dammit. OK. We still have about forty miles of gas left but you’re right, if she starts to head out of town, we’ll have to stop.”
There was a car in between Trish’s and ours, but I was watching and could see her brake lights come on.
“She’s slowing down,” I said to Katy. “She’s pulling into Mills and Associates. Drive ahead to the next building.”
Next to the strip that housed Mills and Associates was a family restaurant, and if she hadn’t noticed us following her yet she probably wouldn’t notice us parked over here.
Katy pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot and turned before she parked so we had a perfect view of the offices. But it wasn’t as if we could see inside, so right now that didn’t much help.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to be like Superman and see through walls?” I said.
“Sometimes. Not sure I’d want to see through everyone’s walls. Some things should be kept private.”
“The door’s opening. Whatever business she had didn’t last long.”
“Why didn’t she just use the phone?” Katy said.
“Ooh, look. Something’s going on,” I sat forward, excited, as I saw Trish walk out of the building, Jonathan on her heels. I saw him grab her arm to stop her, and she turned around and pushed him. He fell back a step because he clearly wasn’t expecting it. I could tell they were angry, but of course from here I had no idea what they were saying. A few more heated exchanges and then Trish stuck her finger in Jonathan’s chest, poking him several times until she finally turned around and stalked to her car.
She headed back the way we had just come and I assumed maybe she was going home. Of course, I didn’t know for sure. And we didn’t have enough gas to follow her anyway.
“What now?” asked Katy.
“Dare we go in and talk to Jonathan?”
“It might liven up our day. Why not?”
Katy made the quick hop to his parking lot and we walked into his office. He charged out of his office to the front reception area with a scowl on his face, which changed to a semi–smile when he saw us. I had a feeling he thought it might have been Trish coming back.
“What do you want?” he said gruffly, super nice salesman persona very absent today.
“Nice to see you again, too, Jonathan.”
He sighed and to his credit tried to put on a friendly smile. “I’m sorry. It’s been a rough day. What can I help you ladies with?”
“What were you fighting with Trish Young about?” I said bluntly, deciding there was no reason to beat around the bush. It quickly brought the scowl back to his face.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we had some matters to discuss.”
“It looked like you were arguing.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” His eyes narrowed. “Were you spying on us?”
I ignored his question and asked another one of my own. “What did you want from Jeff West?”
That really fired him up.
“Have you been following me?” he yelled. “I ought to call the police!”
“Go ahead. They might be interested in your business dealings with Jeff West. Trish Young, too, for that matter.”
“Why you little…”
“Now, now, now, Jonathan. Don’t get so worked up. We just want to know about how you got involved with Bethany’s business.”
“What do you mean? I was her broker until she screwed me over.”
“Jonathan. You know I don’t mean the real estate business.”
Jonathan tried to hide his surprise, but he didn’t do a very good job at it. It was evident to me that he absolutely knew about Bethany’s non–real–estate endeavors. But exactly how much did he know and was he involved? He didn’t really seem the type to help run an escort service, but with some people you just never know.
“She sold real estate for me. That’s all I know,” he said again, but with less conviction this time. Or at least that was my impression.
“Jonathan, I don’t exactly believe you,” I said. He had to be involved in some way. Trying to get in contact with Jeff West and then arguing with Trish Young was just too much of a coincidence.
“I don’t know who’s been feeding you stories, but I wasn’t involved in any of Bethany’s business outside of Mills and Associates. If she even had another business,” he quickly added, but not before I noticed his little slip. “Now, I’ve got work to do, so if you ladies would please leave.” He walked to the door and opened it for us.
Clearly, he wanted to get rid of us. It wasn’t like I could beat him into telling us, so there wasn’t much more to say. I knew he was involved. I just needed to figure out how this was all related.
Chapter 17
You really think this is going to work?” Katy asked me about step one of Dirt’s plan to prove his innocence.
“All we can do is try.”
Dirt wanted me to call Helen and Simon, who were now married and living in Vegas. Simon had taken over the family business when his dad had been sent to prison and presumably did so in the effort of cleaning it up and making it right. But knowing what I now know, I wondered if Simon hadn’t relished the thought of his dad going to jail so he could have control, since he clearly wasn’t the good guy he wanted us all to believe.
Dirt thought if I told them the truth—that he had escaped from jail and was saying he was innocent and that Simon had killed the senator—it would get them to come back to town where Dirt could get them to admit it. Somehow. He hadn’t shared that part of the plan yet.
“I placed the call and had nervous butterflies in my stomach. Silly, since I was just trying to reach Helen on the phone, but the thought of what she had been involved in just gave me the creeps.
“Presley, is that you?” Helen asked when she answered the phone. Thanks to caller ID, of course she knew it was me.
“Yes, Helen. How are you?”
“Fine. Why are you calling me?”
I rolled my eyes. Typical Helen. She wasn’t the sweetest person I knew. “Well, I have some news you may be interested in.”
“Go on.”
“I don’t know if you heard, but Dirt escaped from jail.”
“Yes.”
“He’s claiming to be innocent. He says he didn’t kill the senator.”
“What’s your point, Presley? I’m running late for an appointment.”
“He blames Simon. Your husband,” I said for emphasis. “He said Simon killed the senator.”
I heard her inhale sharply and I knew I hit a nerve.
“Please, Presley. Why would anyone believe someone who has already admitted to committing murder and is now an escaped convict?” she said, obviously trying to sound bored.
“I don’t know, Helen, but he has some pretty compelling evidence. Someone might believe him.”
“Why are you telling me this, Presley?” Helen snapped impatiently. I had her attention.
“Hey, I thought I would be nice and give you a heads up.”
“Don’t do me any favors,” she said, hanging up.
I held the phone away from my ear and turned to Katy. “She hung up on me. Someone isn’t too happy.” I smiled. “Maybe the plan will work.”
Chapter 18
This is awesome food, Mrs. Thurman,” Katy said. When she found out we were having chicken and dumplings, she decided to stay for dinner.
“Thank you, Ka
ty. Glad you like it. How are you doing?”
I’m sure the last thing Katy wanted to do was answer questions from my mom about her called off wedding, but before I could intervene, Katy answered.
“You know, not too bad surprisingly. It was hard telling my mom and dad, and a lot of money has been wasted, but better it happen now than to make a mistake and regret it later.”
Katy hadn’t told her parents the real reason she had called off the wedding, so it had been hard for them to understand, but Katy had finally gotten her mom on a plane right before dinner.
“Mom, what can you tell me about Jonathan Mills?” I asked.
“Not much. He’s a nice enough guy. I hear he’s a decent realtor, though he has had some hard times lately.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Just with his business. But then every small business owner has their ups and downs.”
“Do you know if he blamed his business issue on Bethany Granville?”
“I know he wasn’t happy when she left, and he once had a little outburst at a charity luncheon because someone had accidentally stuck them at the same table, not realizing she had left and started her own company. Why are you asking so many questions about Jonathan Mills?”
“Just curious, I guess, about people Bethany worked with.”
Mom raised her eyebrows. “You’re not sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong are you?”
“Well, someone did put her dead body in Katy’s salon.”
“And I’m sorry about that, Katy, but you girls need to let the police handle it.”
I got up and started clearing the dishes. “Mom, if you had a friend who did something really bad but then later said he didn’t do it, that he just lied to protect someone else, would you believe him?”
Katy looked at me like, really, you’re going to tell her about Dirt? Which, of course, I wasn’t, but I did want her opinion.
“Are you talking about someone in particular?”
“No, Mother.” Man, she was nosy. “Merely a hypothetical question.”
“Then it depends on how close I had been to this friend and what their track record had been in the past for being honest. Everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance.”
“That makes sense. Mom, if you and dad want to take your coffee into the living room, Katy and I will clean up.”