by Jessica Beck
“Viv, as much as we appreciate your input, we’d really like to talk about you. Do you happen to have an alibi for last night, say between midnight and two a.m.?”
Viv frowned at me for a moment before speaking. “I was alone, if that’s what you’re asking, so no, I don’t have anyone who can verify it. Why, can you supply one of your own? Whether you like it or not, your name should be on your sister’s list of suspects, too.”
“I was alone as well,” I said.
“Then you’ll have as much trouble proving it as I will,” she said. “Now, if you two will excuse me, I’ve got things to do inside.”
I couldn’t imagine what they might be, but it was clear we weren’t going to be getting anything else out of her at the moment. “Fine. I’m sure we’ll be talking again,” I said.
“You know where to find me,” Viv said, and then she walked back inside.
“Do you believe her?” Pat asked me as soon as she was gone.
“What, her alibi? Who knows? She’s right about that. It’s going to be tough for me to prove, too.”
“I’m talking about the way she felt about Timothy,” Pat replied.
“No. Not for a second. Does Viv strike you as the type of woman who takes no for an answer?”
“Not really,” Pat said. “We’ve done all that we can here. Let’s go speak with Gordon.”
“Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be any better than this was,” I said.
“Cheer up, sis. That’s why we make the big bucks.”
“You know we aren’t getting paid for this, right?” I asked him with a grin.
“It was a figure of speech,” he said as we got into my car and headed for Pepper’s Landing to speak with someone else who might have had something to do with my ex-boyfriend’s death.
Chapter 9: Pat
“What did Viv mean back there?” I asked my sister as she drove us to the nearby town. She would ride around in my truck if we weren’t going very far, but any distance at all and she preferred her transportation to mine.
“Which part?” Annie asked me, keeping her eyes on the road, though traffic was so light we nearly had the highway to ourselves.
“About me being oblivious to women flirting with me,” I asked. “Is it true?”
“Do you want the short answer, or the long one?”
“The short one,” I said.
“Yes.”
I glanced over at my sister and saw that she was smiling at me. “Annie, I’d like something a little more detailed than that.”
“I think it’s charming that you barely notice when a woman throws herself at you. You have no inkling most times, do you?”
“What can I say? I’m a friendly guy. I like chatting with people, and when they interact with me, I’m just enjoying the conversation.”
“There’s your problem,” Annie said.
“Explain.”
“You show interest in them as people, and some of them think it’s because they are women.”
That thought hadn’t even occurred to me before. “But they are people and women, too. Can’t they be both at the same time?”
“Yes, but you’ve got to remember, there are some women who take any sign of attention from a man as meaning that he’s interested in them. I don’t mean me, but some women.”
I pondered that a few moments before speaking again. “So, I guess I really am dense when it comes to that sort of thing.”
Annie smiled at me and risked a quick glance in my direction. “Don’t change a thing about the way you are, brother dear. It’s one of the things that makes you so loveable.”
“Was Timothy like that, too?” I asked her.
She bit her lower lip before answering. “Yes, it was a trait the two of you shared.”
“If Viv was actively flirting with him, and he basically ignored her or didn’t see the signals, could that make her angry enough to kill him?”
Annie hesitated again before replying. “Most women would just write it off, but Viv has always seemed like the type of woman who would hold a grudge. If he caught her in the wrong mood and said something that set her off, it’s possible. For her it could have been a matter of pride.”
I shook my head, not following the logic at all. “I just don’t understand women, Annie.”
“That’s okay. As much as we’d like to think we’re different, we usually don’t understand you, either. There’s the town limits sign.”
I looked up to see the sign proclaiming that we were welcome in Pepper’s Landing. What kind of name was that, anyway? To my knowledge, there wasn’t another place nearby named Salt’s Pier. I took little consolation in the fact that today appeared to be one of those days were nothing made sense. I had them, but rarely, something I was extremely thankful for. Most times, the world around me made perfect sense; there was more order than chaos in my life, and the sun rose in the east and set in the west.
Today, I wouldn’t be sure until I saw the sunset. It was just that kind of day.
As we drove through the small downtown area, I realized it could be just about anywhere in the South. Along the way, I noticed a barbeque joint, a chain grocery, a pair of competing gas stations, more churches than you could shake a stick at, and several storefronts with soaped-up front windows. The downtown looked as though it was struggling to hang on, and I found myself rooting for it. There were enough strip malls in the world; I liked the charm of a true downtown and hoped they’d find a way to bring it back.
“Hang on a second,” I said as Annie started to approach the dry cleaner’s that Gordon owned. He was standing out front, and a car slowed down as it neared him. I watched as the window rolled down, and Gordon handed what looked like a stuffed business envelope through the open window. The driver barely slowed down for the exchange, and a moment later, he took off as though he were late for dinner.
“What was that all about?” I asked Annie as she drove closer.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think we should mention it unless the opportunity arises. Why don’t we stick with Timothy as our topic for now?”
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “Do you want to take the lead, or should I?”
“Why don’t you do most of the talking, and I’ll chime in if it’s appropriate?” my twin sister asked.
“Why not, since that’s what you’re going to do anyway,” I said with a grin.
She didn’t take offense, as I knew she wouldn’t. After all, why should the truth bother her?
“Pull over there. I’d love to corner him before he gets back inside,” I said.
Annie did as I asked, and as Gordon was nearing the door to his place, I called out, “Hang on a second. We’d like a word with you.”
He turned and looked at us, and then he glanced back to where the other car had so recently been. When he made sure they were gone, he shrugged and stopped until Annie and I could both get out and approach him.
“You’re both a ways from home, aren’t you? I thought you never left your store and grill.”
“As a matter of fact, we get out all the time,” I said. “Right now, we’re tracking down folks who saw Timothy before he died. We understand you spoke with him yesterday. If you don’t mind us asking, what were you so upset about?”
“Who said we were upset?” Gordon asked me. It was pretty obvious that he was doing everything in his power not to glare at my sister and me.
“Does it really matter where we heard it?” Annie asked him. “What was the fight about? Was he really dropping you as a client? That must have made you furious.”
“Is that what his snooping assistant told you? As a matter of fact, I was firing him. I didn’t like the way he was handling my books, and there was no way I was going through another tax season with him as my accountan
t. He tried to talk me out of leaving, but I told him that my mind was made up. I don’t know why Robin would say otherwise.”
“We aren’t confirming or denying we heard anything from her. You understand that, don’t you?” I asked him, not wanting to get Timothy’s assistant in trouble with this hotheaded man because of us.
“Sure, if it wasn’t her, maybe a little bird told you instead. I don’t care where you heard it. It’s wrong. I fired him, not the other way around. I pay my bills on time, I run a legitimate business, and I’m not hard to work with. What possible reason would he have for getting rid of me?”
He was baiting us, trying to see how much we knew or had just seen. I hoped Annie would stay quiet. We might need the information to use against him later, so now was one of those times where discretion really was the better part of valor.
Thankfully, my sister didn’t say a word.
When Gordon saw that we weren’t going to comment, he added, “I had no reason to wish ill of the man, no matter what you or anyone else might think. Is that all?”
It wasn’t, not by a long shot, but I had a hunch that if I was going to ask him any more questions, I’d better be quick about it. “Do you happen to have an alibi between midnight and two a.m. this morning? We’re asking everyone,” I said as nonchalantly as I could.
“I don’t have to answer that. I’m finished with the two of you.” With that, he turned and started to walk inside his dry cleaner’s.
“Were you alone, or were you with someone?” I pushed him as he started to disappear inside.
“That’s none of your business,” he barked at me, and then he was gone.
“Should we follow him in?” Annie asked. “We didn’t ask him about what we just witnessed.”
“I’m glad you followed my lead,” I said. “Let’s save that in case we need it later.”
Annie looked at me closely before she spoke. “You’re not afraid of him, are you?”
“Him, no, but his connections? We’d be crazy not to move cautiously, Annie. I have a hunch his business partners wouldn’t like us digging into his life.”
“Then we’ll have to watch our step, won’t we?” my sister asked.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea. Where should we go now?”
She looked around Pepper’s Landing. “There’s nothing here for us. Why don’t we head back to Maple Crest and see what’s going on there? Maybe we can find a little more trouble to get into before the day is done.”
“You know, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised,” I said, and she started driving us back.
As Annie drove toward Maple Crest, she said, “Pat, I’m going to suggest something that I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to like.”
“Then why not save yourself the trouble and not say it at all?”
“Sure, I can do that,” she said, and for the next two minutes, we rode in silence.
It was a game that I knew I was going to lose. I held out as long as I could, and then I finally asked her, “Fine. I give in. What is it?”
“I didn’t think you wanted to hear it,” she said. “I respect your wishes, Pat. It’s okay.”
Her reasonableness just served to drive me crazier. “I was wrong, okay? We should consider every idea at this point.”
“We need to go see Jenna,” she said.
“No.”
“No? That’s it? Discussion closed?” Annie asked me. “If you’re uncomfortable doing it, that’s fine. I’ll drop you off at the Iron, and then I’ll go see her by myself, but like it or not, we need to talk to her. She’s hip deep in this case, and we can’t just ignore her.”
“You’re right,” I said softly.
“I mean, I get why you wouldn’t want to talk to your former girlfriend, but you’ve got to be reasonable, Pat.”
“In case you didn’t notice, I just agreed with you,” I said the moment she took a breath.
Annie glanced over at me. “I thought I just heard you say something, but I couldn’t believe my ears. Brother dear, did you just say that I was right?”
“I won’t repeat it,” I said with a gentle smile. “Let’s go see what we can find out from Jenna.”
“I’m proud of you,” Annie said as she patted my knee gently. There was no sarcasm in her voice, something that was a relief to me. My sister knew all of my buttons, so the fact that she refrained so often from pressing them was entirely to her credit.
“You would have done the same thing if our roles had been reversed,” I told her.
“I’d like to think you’re right, but I can’t be positive. If you’d like, I’ll take the lead with her this time.”
“No, we can do it together, just like always,” I said as I tried my best to get used to the idea of questioning Jenna. Annie was right, but that didn’t mean that I had to like it. I’d done my best to avoid having any prolonged conversations with her since she’d dumped me for Timothy, and now I was about to go out of my way to talk to her. That was just one of the prices we paid for digging into crimes without any authorization. Sometimes it meant we had to do some pretty distasteful things in the course of our investigations.
As we neared Jenna’s house, I saw black smoke coming from the back. “Is that another fire?” I asked Annie as she pulled into the driveway. “I’m calling 911!”
“Hold on,” my sister said as she put a hand on my arm. “That’s clearly not a house fire.”
“How can you tell? It might have just gotten started.”
“Pat, let’s take thirty seconds and check it out first, okay?”
“Fine,” I said, “but I’m going to call it in if anything looks suspicious at all.” We got out of her car and raced to the backyard. I was expecting to see Jenna’s porch on fire, but instead, she was sitting near a sheet-metal fire pit, burning what looked like notes and receipts. “Thank goodness,” I said as we approached her.
Jenna must not have heard us coming, because she looked positively startled at the sound of my voice. “Pat. Annie. What are you two doing here?”
I was about to tell her that we wanted to ask her some questions when my sister had an even better plan. “We were driving by and saw smoke. After what happened to Timothy, we were afraid that the arsonist had struck again.”
I had to hand it to Annie; it was a brilliant cover story that explained our presence without giving away the fact that we were there to interrogate her.
“No, it was a cool day, so I thought I’d get rid of some old paperwork I’ve been holding onto from the vet clinic.”
“We have recycling, you know, and if those documents are too sensitive, there’s always a shredding service,” Annie said.
“I never trusted them,” she said. “I’ve thought about getting a new shredder after my old one conked out, but I figured I could burn these until I could order one.”
“Okay,” I said, shuddering a little at the thought of having an outdoor fire so soon after Timothy’s place had burned to the ground. “Jenna, do you have a second?”
She poked at the flames with an iron, and I saw curls of paper ignite upon fresh exposure to the fire. “I guess so. I’m not going anywhere. What’s up?”
“You said you were at your sister’s place in Hickory when Timothy died, right?” Annie asked her.
“That’s right. I just can’t prove it at the moment.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
“She went out of town as soon as I came back, and evidently she left her cell phone at home, because Kathleen told me that she’s not answering her calls.”
“Isn’t it unusual for someone to travel without their phone these days?” Annie asked her.
“You clearly don’t know my sister. She’d forget her head if it weren’t attached. Anyway, she’ll be back in a few weeks, and Kathle
en will be able to confirm my alibi then.”
“Jenna, I know it must be painful for you, but do you know of anyone who might have wanted harm to befall Timothy?” Annie asked her gently.
“That’s all I’ve been able to think about since I found out that it happened,” she answered. “Timothy didn’t like to talk about work, so if it were someone related to his accounting practice, I wouldn’t know about it. As for his personal life, well, that was mostly just me. Sorry, I can’t help.”
“What about his brother, Mick?” I asked her. “Did he ever say anything about him?”
“Oh, yes. Timothy wasn’t a fan, and that’s putting it mildly. Apparently, when they were growing up, Mick had done his best to make Timothy’s life miserable. Some of the things he did would land him in jail today, but his parents just ignored his behavior. Do you want an example? As a joke, he used to squirt Timothy with lighter fluid and then flick matches at him. If you ask me, he was a real monster.”
“That’s terrible,” I said. I found it hard to believe that a sibling could act that way toward another one. Kathleen, Annie, and I had battled through many differences over the years, but there had always been a core of love there that outweighed everything else. What a miserable existence Timothy must have gone through growing up. It was a wonder it hadn’t scarred him for life, but clearly he’d found a way to get past it all. I hadn’t liked everything that the man had done in his life, especially when it related to my twin sister, but all in all, I’d liked him.
“That’s not the half of it. I could tell you stories that would curl your toes. Mick being back in town brought up a lot of old memories that Timothy had tried to repress. If I were you, I’d speak with the man.”
“We have,” I said.
“Then I’d do it again. Timothy tried his best to be fair with Mick about their father’s estate, despite all that had happened between them in the past, but Mick expected nothing less than the lion’s share of everything as some kind of birthright just for being the eldest son. What a waste of oxygen.”