“Thank you. Let me just make sure my pets are okay out there,” said Johanna as she headed for the door.
“Sure thing,” agreed Roz with a smile.
Johanna went outside to update everyone. “The secretary said no pets this time, but Tim is here, and I can see him.”
Whitley’s hands cradled either side of her face. “But Hanna! You can’t go in to see that creep alone! What if he figures out what you know?!”
Johanna had the same worry, but she was trying to think logically, and her logic told her that he wasn’t going to hurt her in such a public location. “He’s not going to hurt me in there, Whit. I just wish Mitch were here. I wonder where he is!”
Whitley shook her head. “I don’t know, but you could easily wait for him.”
Johanna groaned. “It’s freezing out here, Whit. We can’t wait. He might never come. Listen, I’m going to take the recorder in there and get Tim to incriminate himself. Then we’ll take the tape to the police and get him arrested. Alright? You need to stay out here and watch Rocky and Es. I’ll let Roz know that I’m waiting for Mitch so when he gets here, she’ll send him back. Okay?”
Whitley nodded, but her eyes told of her hesitation. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Be really careful, Hanna. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“Nothing bad is going to happen to me, Whit. Tim’s not dumb. Even if he thinks I suspect him, he’s not going to do anything to me in his office.”
Johanna hung the tote bag around Rocky’s neck. Esmerelda poked her head out of it and looked up at her. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, JoJo.”
Johanna gave her a funny look. “Since when do you call me JoJo?”
“I don’t know,” sighed Esmerelda. “Just be safe, alright? We can’t have anything happening to you.”
Johanna smiled at her. “I will, thanks for caring. Even though I know the only reason you don’t want anything to happen to me is because I’m solving the mystery for you.”
Esmerelda rolled her eyes. “You’ve been telling me to be nice since I met you. Now I’m finally trying to be nice and you don’t buy it. Jeez, I can’t win!”
Johanna scratched the back of her ear. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Thanks for caring.” She gave Rocky a hug next. “Take care of these two, alright, buddy?”
He gave her a big lick on the side of her face, making her giggle despite the trepidation she felt in the pit of her stomach.
Johanna stood up, wiping the slobber from her face, and smiled at Whitley. “Welp, here I go. Wish me luck.”
Whitley sighed and threw both of her arms around Johanna’s shoulders. “Be careful, Hanna. I mean it.”
Johanna glanced around the street. Sure that no one was paying any attention to her, she hugged Whitley back. “I will.” She pulled open the glass door again.
“Good luck, Hanna!”
Mitch’s feet pounded the treadmill in a perfect cadence with the music blaring in his ears. It felt good to get a workout in. It had been a while since he’d made the time for one. But today, he’d called in to the office and taken a personal day. Darcy, his office assistant, had been shocked to hear it as Mitch rarely took days off work, but today he needed to clear his head.
Since the run had begun, Mitch had done little else but think about Jo. He smiled as he replayed their trip to her family’s house in New Jersey and how she’d fallen asleep on the ride home. And then he replayed what had happened when they got to his apartment. He’d dared to kiss her. At the time, he’d thought she was okay with it. He knew she spooked easily, but last night it seemed like she’d finally gotten over her fears. After the kiss, she’d been relaxed and at ease with him. They’d watched movies and laughed and talked together until the early-morning hours, and then they’d fallen asleep. The day they’d shared had been everything to him, and then in the snap of a finger, it was morning. And it was as if the magic from the day before had worn off. She’d bolted so fast and furiously from his apartment that he almost hadn’t seen what’d hit him!
Since she’d gone, Mitch had picked up his phone at least two or three dozen times. He’d typed out a few messages to her, edited them, and then promptly deleted them. She’d said she’d call when she was ready. He had to give her a minute.
It was just that the thought of having feelings for someone again and then promptly losing them? It killed him. He hated the idea of it, literally couldn’t bear the thought. He’d sat around in his apartment and nearly driven himself mad long enough. He had to get away. He had to stop checking his phone like a crazy person and clear his head. He grabbed his iPod, put on his favorite playlist, and took off for the gym in the basement of his apartment building.
By the time his mind was clear, he’d been gone for several hours. And while he hadn’t come up with any new answers, he hoped like mad that when he got back to his apartment, he’d have a call or a text message from Jo waiting for him.
Mitch caught the elevator before the doors slid shut. Inside, he pulled out his earbuds and bent over, breathing heavily, fighting to catch his breath. By the time the elevator doors reopened, he was breathing a little more normally, but his heart was still racing. He let himself into his non-decorated apartment and wished he’d put some effort into the holiday. Of course, he’d had no way of knowing that he’d end up getting snowed in with Jo.
Inside his apartment, Mitch dropped his iPod and earbuds down on an end table and went straight to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He pulled one from the fridge and cracked it open, guzzling half of the bottle in one big slug. Feeling a bit better, he reached for his phone, next to the empty popcorn bowl from the night before. He pushed the home button and was shocked to see his front screen littered with missed notifications. They were all from Jo!
His heart began pounding faster again. He had two missed voicemails and two text messages. He looked at the text messages first. The first one was just an address on the map. Somewhere on the Lower East Side. He read the second text message aloud. “Hey, Mitch, change of plans. Meet me at Four Seasons Realty in forty-five minutes. I’ve got huge news about Felicia.” His eyebrows pinched together. “Change of plans? What plans?” He dialed his voicemail and Jo’s voice poured from his speakerphone.
“Hey, Mitch. Once again, I’m really sorry about this morning. I hope you’re not angry with me. Listen, I think I know who killed Felicia. I’m here, at the address I texted you. I really hope you’re on your way. If I don’t hear back from you in the next couple of minutes, I’m going to go in. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. I have a plan!”
And then the first message played. “Hey, Mitch, sorry for rushing out of your place this morning. But, hey, big news. There’s been a major break in Felicia’s case. Drop whatever you’re doing. I need you to meet me somewhere in a half hour. I’ll text you the address. See you soon!”
Mitch stared at his phone, mentally piecing together all the information he’d just been given. What was the break in the case? How had Jo suddenly figured out Felicia’s killer? What was going on? He didn’t understand, and he didn’t have time to think about it. Whatever her plan was, she’d already put it into motion, and she’d gotten started without him!
He grabbed his car keys and his wallet from the counter. One thing was for certain, even though the realty company wasn’t very far from his apartment, there wasn’t going to be time to walk there. He was driving.
35
Johanna smiled despite the bubbling in her stomach as she took a seat in front of Tim Shaw.
“So, Ms. Hughes, you’re back. What can I do for you today?”
Johanna cleared her throat and fingered the tape recorder she held in her pocket. It was running, but she worried it would be muffled in her pocket, so she snuck it out and held it under his desk. “I had a few more questions about Felicia Marshall’s case.”
“Boy, you’re really interested in her story, aren’t you?” he said, his face red.
Johanna felt like she was navigating a field of land m
ines. She had to say the right things, something that wasn’t particularly her forte. “Yeah. Well, I don’t know if I mentioned it to you before, but I’m a mystery writer.”
His eyebrows shot up animatedly. “Oh, no, I don’t think you mentioned that before.”
She gave him a tight smile. “Yes. To be honest, that’s actually how I got mixed up in the whole Marshall case in the first place. I was doing a little research on something else kind of unrelated, and it led me here when you told me that Felicia Marshall had been killed in a mugging.”
He nodded, pretending to be intrigued. “Oh, I see. Uh-huh. Interesting.”
“Right. So, long story short, Mr. Shaw, I came back because I was recently given information from a source that Felicia Marshall was having conflicts with some of her coworkers while she was here at Four Seasons Realty.”
“Conflicts, huh? I suppose you’re referring to the conflicts between Janet and Felicia?” he prodded.
Johanna tipped her head to the side. “You did mention the last time we’d spoken that Janet and Felicia didn’t really get along very well.”
“Yes, and you know, I got to thinking about that,” said Tim carefully. “And I did a little digging, and I found out that the man Felicia had shown the house to the day that she was killed ended up buying that very property from Janet! Isn’t that sort of an interesting fact?”
Johanna narrowed her eyes as she stared at Tim. He was trying to cast suspicion on Janet, the creep! She wanted to leap across the desk and maul the man sitting in front of her for trying to put the blame on Janet, but she fought hard to keep it together. “Mm-hmm,” she said. “There are definitely some very interesting facts surrounding this case.” She glanced up at the door and wished that Mitch had been there. “You know, Mr. Shaw, there’s one thing that I don’t know if I quite understand about how things work in the realty world. Maybe you can help me out with that?”
“What’s that?”
“Well, the last time I was here with Mitch, Janet told us that Felicia had stolen her client. Janet admitted that she was upset about that fact, even though Felicia had actually called her to apologize for stealing her client, so to speak. But, would it really be considered stealing a client if the client asked for Felicia by name?”
Tim leaned back in his seat. “No, if a client asks for a realtor by name, that’s completely aboveboard.”
“Right, so obviously it wasn’t Janet who gave Dutch Felicia’s name and number the day of her wedding rehearsal. I mean, why would she have done that?”
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s very true. I’m not sure how exactly Dutch wound up with Felicia’s name and number.”
“You know, I was curious about that for a while. You know, I actually spoke to Dutch the other day.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Yeah, and he explained to me how he’d gotten connected with Felicia in the first place.”
Tim cleared his throat uncomfortably. “He knew who had given him Felicia’s name and number?”
Johanna waved a hand in the air dismissively. “Well, he didn’t mention the person by name. He just said he called the office and was given her name and number that day.”
Tim nodded. “I see. Well, I’m sure the secretary gave him her name.”
“But that’s the funny thing. The other day, you mentioned that it was just you, Felicia, Janet, and Dean working at that time.”
Tim shook his head. “Oh, yeah. I guess we might not have had a secretary at that time. It’s hard to remember, you know? Six years ago and all.”
Johanna nodded and continued, “Well, if it wasn’t Felicia or Janet who took Dutch’s phone call, and there wasn’t anyone else in the office, then it had to have been either you or Dean. Would you say that sounds accurate?”
Tim shifted in his seat, leaning on his right arm and hip. “Well, I guess it would have to have been either Dean or me. I certainly don’t remember taking the phone call, so I’m going to have to assume it was Dean.”
“Mr. Shaw, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you and Felicia Marshall get along?” asked Johanna. Her hand shook as she held the recorder under the desk.
“We got along fine. I think I mentioned before, everyone really loved Felicia. You know, she was a nice woman and a good agent.”
“How did she get along with Dean?”
Tim frowned and gave a little shrug. “I don’t really know. I mean, he was her boss. I think they got along just fine. Why?”
“Well, like I said, I was given information from a source that told me that Felicia Marshall was having conflicts with some of her coworkers. I don’t think they were specifically referring to Janet, so I was wondering how Dean got along with her.”
Johanna could see Tim’s mind spinning then. He rocked back and forth on his squeaky office chair. “Well. I mean, I certainly don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but I think that you could say that Felicia could be considered a promiscuous woman.”
Johanna’s eyes widened intentionally. “Felicia? Promiscuous? I was under the impression she was a very focused and dedicated woman and that she really didn’t have time for relationships and the like.”
Tim looked put off by that statement. His cheeks turned even more crimson than they already were. “Well, Ms. Hughes, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that your friend Mitch was a client of hers at one time. That doesn’t sound like the behavior of a professional woman, does it?”
“Mr. Shaw! Are you referring to Felicia’s fiancé?”
“I am.”
“I think you might be exaggerating that statement a tad, don’t you? I mean, they met and kind of fell for each other.”
Tim gave a one-shouldered shrug. “If that’s how you see it. They’d only been together a few months before she coerced a proposal out of him. I find that a little disturbing.”
Johanna wanted to laugh in Tim’s face. “Disturbing! I hardly find that disturbing. I think they found their person, nothing wrong with that.”
He cleared his throat again.
Johanna could tell she’d gotten him fired up. She felt like he was on the cusp of admitting something. She glanced back at the door again and wished that Mitch was there!
“Yes, well, what’s your point, Ms. Hughes?”
“I just wondered if perhaps you had any kind of issues with Felicia Marshall.”
“Issues?”
“You know, hard feelings, disagreements, confrontations.”
“No. We got along just fine,” he said curtly.
“No issues?”
He shook his head resolutely. “Nope. None.”
Johanna lowered her brows. It was time to take another approach with Mr. Tim Shaw. “Mr. Shaw, was Felicia Marshall up for the managing broker position before she was killed?”
That caught him off guard. He put a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat once again. “Yes, I believe we were both up for the same promotion at that time.”
“And you said it yourself, she was really liked by the entire office, huh?”
“Yes, she was.”
“And she had really great results with the clients?”
He nodded.
“I bet she had a really good shot of getting that promotion had she still been alive.”
Tim frowned. “Yes, she had a very good shot at it,” he was forced to agree.
“Mr. Shaw, I find it kind of odd that there wasn’t a secretary working here back then. Your realtors had to answer your own phones.”
“Well, we had a secretary. I think we were just between employees at that time,” he said.
“But you’d had a secretary before?”
“Of course. We’d been through numerous secretaries.”
“They didn’t like to stick around, huh?” asked Johanna.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess not. What’s your point?”
“Well, I was just kind of wondering why the secretary left around the same time that Felicia was killed. It occurred to
me that maybe she was having the same problems with a coworker that Felicia was having.”
“I really wouldn’t know, Ms. Hughes. Now, you know, I have a lot of work to do, so if you could get to your point… or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Johanna held her ground. She knew she was close. “Mr. Shaw. Did the secretary leave because perhaps she was being sexually harassed in the workplace?”
“Sexually harassed?” He frowned and leaned forward in his seat so his big belly touched the desk. “I don’t know what kind of work environment you think we run here, but I can assure you—”
“Mr. Shaw, I don’t need your assurances. I think I have a pretty good idea of the kind of work environment you run around here. I bet if I went out and visited with Roz, she might give me a pretty good idea just what kind of boss you are to work for.”
His face went pale then. “Ms. Hughes, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Johanna gripped her handheld recorder tightly. “Mr. Shaw, isn’t it true that you were the one creating the hostile work environment that both Amy and Felicia Marshall complained to Dean Klatworthy about?”
He stood up then and pointed at the door. “Ms. Hughes, I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating.”
Johanna wanted to stand up too, to challenge him, but she couldn’t. Her recorder was still in her hand. So she stayed seated.
“Mr. Shaw, I’m not insinuating anything. Felicia Marshall shut down your advances, and you didn’t like it. So eventually your harassment turned into threats and she became scared of you. Yet, despite your threats, you were infatuated with her, and you were jealous about the fact that she’d met someone so easily and agreed to marry him without even hardly knowing him. It drove you mad, didn’t it?”
“That’s not even remotely—”
“And you didn’t like the fact that she was probably going to get the managing broker position over you. So then, she’d be your boss, wouldn’t she? I bet she wouldn’t keep someone around the office who was threatening her, would she?”
He was speechless.
Snow Cold Case_A Mystic Snow Globe Romantic Mystery Page 28