‘I’m tired of you asking endless questions about his name.’ Truman’s voice suddenly sounded old and strained. Kelsey could tell he had one of his migraine headaches. ‘Let’s get on with what you really want to know. You didn’t drive all the way out here to keep asking us if we knew this bastard. Tell us about him.’
‘He worked at Boward Construction for six months and never missed a day of work until Monday, when he called in sick.’
‘Lorelei came home last Tuesday,’ Kelsey said. ‘If he knew by Wednesday she was here but didn’t miss work during the week, could he have been following her over the weekend?’ She turned to Truman. ‘Dad, where did you and Lori go on Saturday?’
‘Nowhere. She wanted to go riding with me, but some of her friends decided to stop by and then stayed for dinner.’ Truman sounded annoyed. ‘She was exhausted Saturday night. Sunday you came to lunch. You remember – she said she didn’t have an appetite because she was getting a cold. It was an excuse not to eat. She didn’t want to gain a pound.’
‘Did she act frightened?’ Pike asked quickly. ‘Maybe she had no appetite because she was afraid.’
‘Of a stalker?’ Truman frowned. Then he shook his head. ‘She acted nervous, restless, but not frightened. At least she didn’t hang on to her smartphone constantly like she did during her last visit.’ He looked at Kelsey. ‘She went home with you Sunday evening. Did she act scared?’
‘No …’ Kelsey said slowly. ‘Distracted, maybe.’ Because Lori’s mind was on Cole Harrington, Kelsey thought, now remembering the name of Lori’s married love interest. Kelsey realized her father and Pike were looking at her expectantly. ‘I think she was concerned about looking good for the African shoot. She wasn’t eating. She had some popcorn Sunday evening and a salad for lunch on Monday.’
‘African shoot?’ Pike asked.
Kelsey nodded. ‘A fashion layout for Vogue. She was really excited about it. She was going back to New York on Monday and leaving for Kenya on Tuesday.’ She paused and gazed at Pike despondently. ‘So because she wasn’t using her electronic equipment here and this place is somewhat isolated, Lori was safe with Dad. It wasn’t until she came to the city with me on Sunday evening that she was in jeopardy.’
‘It’s not your fault, Miss March,’ Pike said. ‘Unless she stayed inside this house for her entire visit and didn’t use her phone or social media, she wasn’t safe from Nott anywhere.’ He paused. ‘When we searched Nott’s home, we found a picture of him.’ Pike pulled a three-by-five photo from the back of his notebook and handed it to Kelsey.
Vernon Nott stared back at her with mournful dark eyes set in a bleak narrow face with high, sharp cheekbones, hollow cheeks and a long chin. He had deep creases in his forehead and thin, dark hair streaked with gray. A round scar obliterated the end of his right eyebrow, and three more trailed down his cheek. Kelsey closed her eyes for a moment then said, ‘He was alone in Conway’s.’ She sighed and opened her eyes. ‘I remember thinking he looked so lonely that I …’ Her throat tightened. ‘I felt sorry for him. He murdered my sister and I’d felt sorry for him!’
‘At the time, you didn’t know anything about him, Miss March,’ Pike said quickly. ‘Don’t berate yourself.’
Kelsey turned over the photo. Someone had written on the back:
Here’s my favorite guy. J. J. N.
‘Do you have any idea who J. J. N. is?’ Kelsey asked as she handed the photo to Truman.
‘No. It might be someone whose last name is Nott. We’ve checked for Nott’s brothers and sisters, of course, and it seems that he only had one brother, named Boyd Earl Nott, who was three years older than Vernon. But Boyd is dead, as are Nott’s parents, so we can’t question them.’
Truman’s jaw tightened as he stared at the picture. ‘Nothing about him is familiar to me.’ He glared at Pike. ‘Detective, you have a point but you’re damned well taking your time getting to it.’
‘I’m sorry, Mr March. I have more information about Nott. There’s a Kentucky arrest record of second-degree assault on a woman. He and his girlfriend had an argument, it turned physical, and he shot her in the leg. He was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released after three years for good behavior and has been free for almost a year. He hasn’t been in any trouble since then and has been seeing his parole officer regularly.’
‘He shot his girlfriend?’
‘He claimed it was an accident, Miss March, but she said it was deliberate. Most people believed her because it wasn’t his first brush with violence. When he was twenty-three, he was charged with assault for hitting a girl in the face. The blow broke her nose and knocked out a tooth. There was a witness. Nott spent one year in prison and was fined.’
‘So he had a history of violence toward women,’ Truman said grimly.
‘Yes. When he was a sixteen, he supposedly slashed a girl’s arm with a knife.’
Truman raised an eyebrow. ‘Supposedly?’
‘She didn’t have a reputation for telling the truth and the alleged slashing left a cut that took only three stitches to close. She filed charges but later dropped them.’
Kelsey shook her head. ‘A fine citizen just walking around free with the rest of us.’ She paused. ‘You’d think some of that violence would have shown, but Rick said Nott seemed quiet, shy.’
Pike nodded. ‘Quiet. Shy,’ he repeated. ‘Sometimes people like Nott can fool you. Clearly he fooled Conway because he continued to let Nott come to the bar.’
‘Are you sure Conway was fooled?’ Truman asked acidly. ‘After all, unless I’m wrong, you didn’t meet Conway until last night. You don’t know anything about him. Maybe he was more interested in the man’s continued business than his background.’
Kelsey winced. She knew her father was not only suffering physically but even more emotionally, or he would never have been so scornful of someone he’d never met. Someone who had saved her life. Pike accepted it calmly. ‘You’re right, Mr March, I don’t know Richard Conway personally but we’ve done a preliminary background check. He has no arrest record and excellent references from former employers. Also, I believe anyone who has just started a new bar is especially careful about his clientele. It seems to me he wouldn’t want the business to suffer because of one customer and he’d want to maintain the good reputation of Conway’s.’ Pike paused, then delivered a verbal slap. ‘And because he was keeping an eye on your daughters, he saved Kelsey’s life.’
Truman went pale. He lowered his eyes and Kelsey could feel him searching for something to say, something near to an apology, but remembering that Rick Conway had tried to save both her and Lorelei overwhelmed him. She saw a tear run down his face.
‘I don’t understand why Nott came to Conway’s twice a week,’ Kelsey said, drawing Pike’s attention away from Truman. ‘Why Conway’s Tavern when there are other bars closer to where he lives? He had Lorelei’s picture with him. If he was obsessed with her, did he know that I was her sister, lived two blocks away, and came to Conway’s fairly often? Was he expecting me to show up with Lori at any time?’
Pike took a drink of his iced tea and leaned forward, his sleek black brows drawing together. ‘That’s an excellent question, Miss March. It’s one that’s been bothering me. I don’t know why he was drawn to Conway’s. As for him tracking your sister … well, he had no computer equipment in his mobile home. We found no family pictures, either framed or in an album. We did find the picture of Nott I just showed you. That’s all. Stalkers usually have at least a few photos of their prey even if, as in Lorelei’s case, the photos are from magazines. He didn’t have even one magazine shot of her. There was nothing to indicate that he was fixated on Lorelei or following her.’
‘But he was in Conway’s,’ Kelsey said faintly. ‘You said it wasn’t one of his usual nights. He was following us.’
‘So it would seem.’ Pike frowned. ‘You said you didn’t tell anyone you were taking Lorelei to Conway’s last night.’
‘I didn’t.
I knew we were going shopping and I thought we’d be too tired, but Lorelei wanted to go out again.’
‘Did you tell anyone you planned to take Lorelei to Conway’s at some time during her visit to you?’
‘I told Eve and Stuart. I thought they might like to come with us. But I didn’t say we were going last night. I didn’t know myself until about half an hour before Lori and I left my apartment.’
‘Do you remember if you told anyone at Conway’s you’d be bringing in your sister this week?’
‘No. I’m sure I didn’t.’
‘So Nott needed to know your habits, for instance that you frequent Conway’s.’ Pike leaned forward. ‘Are you certain you’ve never see him someplace aside from the bar?’
‘If I have, I don’t remember.’ Kelsey paused, puzzled. ‘Why do you keep asking me the same question? I’ve told you I’ve only seen him in Conway’s.’
‘And you may be right.’
‘May be?’ Kelsey drew a deep breath. ‘Detective Pike, could you please stop circling around the subject and tell me what the hell you are getting at?’
‘Your sister is the most obvious target for Nott’s attention, but we don’t want to jump to conclusions.’ Pike put away Nott’s photo. ‘I came here today because I wanted to show you something, but first I should tell you what we’ve found out about Nott’s finances. He made four hundred and twenty dollars a week, less than twenty-two thousand a year at Boward Construction.
‘This is what’s interesting,’ Pike went on, consulting his notebook. ‘On Thursday, he had a little over twelve hundred dollars in his checking account. He didn’t have a savings account. On Friday, he deposited two thousand dollars in cash in the checking account. Saturday evening, he spent five hundred and eighty dollars in cash at Walmart, three hundred and nineteen dollars of which was for an HD television on sale.’ Pike glanced up and smiled slightly. ‘A retired couple live in the mobile home next to Nott, and the husband helped him carry in the television and set it up. The man said Nott was unusually talkative, almost jubilant about his television.’ He cleared his throat and looked back at his notes. ‘In Nott’s pocket we found a receipt for forty-one dollars in cash from a local Stop & Shop. After the shooting, police found ninety-four dollars in his wallet. We searched his mobile home today and found twenty-two hundred dollars tucked into an empty coffee can. His boss said he wouldn’t have been paid until the end of this week.’
Pike looked at them. ‘Nott seems to have had a cash windfall. We’re tracing the bills to see if they came from a robbery. I don’t think we’ll have any luck.’
‘Was he making money doing part-time jobs?’ Truman asked.
‘That’s doubtful. Nosy neighbors, God bless them, are often better than a professional surveillance team. The couple who live next to him said that in the six months since he moved in his hours didn’t change. On weekdays he left at seven thirty in the morning and returned at six in the evening, except for two nights a week when he got in around ten o’clock. We know those were the nights he went to Conway’s.’ Pike allowed himself a slight grin. ‘The wife says that sometimes he went out around eight o’clock on Saturday nights wearing khaki pants instead of jeans. She thinks he had a girlfriend, although he never spent the night away.’
‘How would she know Nott never stayed out all night?’ Truman asked. ‘Did she sit up and wait for him to come home?’
‘I wouldn’t be surprised. She seems to have kept close tabs on him. Nott’s boss says that yesterday he called in sick for the first time in the six months he’d been employed at Boward Construction. The neighbors said Nott left around ten in the morning and didn’t return all day. We’re trying to track his movements, but so far we haven’t turned up one person who remembers seeing him until he walked into Conway’s yesterday evening.’
‘Where do you think he got the money?’ Truman asked.
Pike paused then said slowly, ‘I told you he had a photo of Lorelei. I wasn’t completely forthcoming. It was a photograph of Lorelei and Kelsey walking by the storefront next to MG Interiors. As I’ve said before, it’s in Evidence so I couldn’t bring it to show you. I can only describe it. The photo was taken from about forty feet behind them and most likely by someone who’d been waiting in the alley separating MG Interiors and the florist shop. Lorelei and Kelsey were just past the boutique. Even though their backs are toward the camera, their faces are turned toward each other and the wind is blowing back their hair. Lorelei is leaning down, her head close to Kelsey’s. We can see the right side of her face and the left side of Kelsey’s.’
Pike diverted his gaze to a bluebird swooping unusually near Kelsey then said slowly, ‘There is an X drawn in black ink above the top of their heads.’
‘An X?’ Truman repeated blankly. ‘On the photograph?’
‘Yes, sir. The X is a bit closer to Lorelei’s head but only slightly. Since the shooting, we assumed that Nott was stalking Lorelei. The X made us look at things differently. If he was stalking her, why would he put an X above her head? He’d certainly know what Lorelei looked like.’
‘What the hell difference does an X make?’ Truman demanded loudly, the way he did when he was alarmed. ‘My daughter is dead and you’re concentrating on the placement of an X! I don’t think you know what the hell you’re doing! You’re wasting time—’
‘If you’ll just be patient, sir, I’ll explain our theory—’
Truman leaned forward aggressively. ‘Then let’s hear about this theory!’
‘Dad, just relax. Please, for me,’ Kelsey said softly, like her mother used to do when Truman was getting upset.
Truman looked at her for a moment, then settled back in his chair and said grudgingly, ‘Go ahead, Detective Pike.’
‘We now wonder if the X was supposed to be above Kelsey’s head.’
Kelsey and Truman stared at Pike. Finally, Kelsey asked, ‘Why would the X be above my head?’
‘Possibly Vernon Nott wasn’t stalking Lorelei. Maybe he was stalking you, Miss March, and he wasn’t as familiar with your appearance as your sister’s. After all, she was quite a bit taller than you and her hair was much longer. First, why would Vernon Nott need a photograph of Lorelei when she’s on the cover of so many magazines? Second, the photo was taken with an instant film camera but we didn’t find a camera of any kind in Nott’s mobile home. And last, Nott had the photo in his pocket as if he might need quick verification that he was seeing the right woman.’
‘The right woman?’ Truman asked. ‘I still don’t get it—’
‘Maybe there was nothing personal about Lorelei’s murder, Mr March. Maybe Vernon Nott had no interest in Lorelei as a woman. She could simply have been a target, and Nott’s new wealth was payment for doing a job.’
‘Payment for a job?’ Kelsey asked faintly. ‘What job?’
Pike looked at her solemnly. ‘Killing your sister, Miss March. Or killing you.’
FIVE
‘Grandfather!’ Kelsey jumped up from the couch and ran toward the tall, brawny, silver-haired man who’d silently entered the living room. She flung herself into his arms as they closed around her. ‘Oh, Grandfather, I’m so glad you’re here.’ She pressed her head against his wide chest and heard his heart beating hard and fast and a slight crackling sound in his lungs. ‘Are you sick?’
‘Sick?’ He drew away from Kelsey, his thick white eyebrows drawing together in his strong-featured face. ‘Do I look sick?’
‘You sound sick. Your lungs—’
‘It’s just a chest cold, vacker ängel.’ Beautiful angel. Pieter had always called both of his granddaughters beautiful angel. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t kiss me.’
‘I couldn’t stand not kissing you.’ Tears filled Kelsey’s eyes as she pressed her lips to his cheek and caught a whiff of the fruity-smelling Swedish Fish candy he’d substituted for cigarettes twenty years ago. Kelsey had always told him the candy smelled like strawberries. Lorelei had insisted it was cherries. ‘I’ve missed you.’
‘I’ve only been gone two weeks.’ Pieter held her tight, his Swedish accent stronger as always when he was upset. ‘I should have come back as soon as Lorelei came home but, fool that I am, I put work first. Just like I did with my daughter, just like I did with my wife.’
Truman draped his arm around Pieter’s broad shoulders. ‘You thought you’d have time with Lori most of this week. So did we—’ Truman’s voice broke.
Pieter hugged his son-in-law and closest friend. ‘If you break down, Truman, we all will. Don’t be selfish.’
Truman pulled back and smiled weakly at Pieter. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘Ah!’ Pieter suddenly jumped, then looked down as Gatsby flung himself ecstatically against Pieter’s leg. ‘My friend! I almost forgot about you!’ Pieter bent and picked up the large strawberry-blonde cat. Something long and gold glittered from the cat’s mouth. Pieter gently pulled it out and held up a heart pendant on a chain. ‘What’s this?’
‘A necklace,’ Kelsey said, taking it from him.
‘Yours?’ Truman asked.
‘No.’
Helen had slipped into the room and stood by, frowning. ‘He was in Lorelei’s room a few minutes ago. I left him alone because he was just sniffing around.’
Pieter looked at Gatsby. ‘Where did you find that pretty necklace, boy?’
‘Lorelei never left jewelry lying on the dressers,’ Helen said. ‘She packed to go to Kelsey’s in a hurry and didn’t get one of her suitcases completely closed. When she picked it up, everything spilled right beside the bed. Maybe the necklace fell out and she didn’t see it.’
Kelsey straightened the fine twisted rope chain and opened the floral-patterned gold heart locket. A set of initials was engraved on the left side: CGH. Cole Grant Harrington, she thought immediately. The other side was empty, clearly awaiting a small picture of the man Lorelei loved.
‘Does it say anything?’ Truman asked.
‘No.’ Kelsey closed her hand around the locket. ‘But she loved hearts, and it’s pretty.’
Just a Breath Away Page 8