A Killer Stitch

by Maggie Sefton

  Diane looked up at Kelly, and something resembling a smile tweaked her lips. For the first time since they met, Kelly could see that Diane was a very pretty woman. “Stormy, yeah, you might say that. In the good times, when we were together, it was fantastic. But those never lasted too long.” She stared out into the café. “He’d start sneaking off with other girls, and I’d rag him about it, even though I knew that wouldn’t help.”

  “Derek couldn’t keep his pants on,” Jennifer interjected.

  Diane shook her head, as if all those bad times and good times were jumbled together in her mind. “And then, he’d start going after other girls right in front of me, at the bar, for instance. Or anywhere we’d go. I remember when we stopped for dinner on the way back from a concert in Denver, and he put the moves on a waitress right in front of me.” Her tone turned bitter.

  Jennifer caught Kelly’s eye. “I told you he was a bastard.”

  “He sure sounds like it,” Kelly agreed with a wry smile. “But, you know, that doesn’t mean a damn.”

  Both Jennifer and Diane stared back.

  Now that she had Diane’s attention, Kelly zeroed in. “It doesn’t mean a damn, because Derek’s dead now, and the police are looking for the killer. And because of that stormy past you two shared, you can understand why the police have questioned you, can’t you, Diane?”

  Diane’s mouth tightened. “Yes.”

  Kelly leaned forward, crossing her arms on the table. “Why don’t you tell me about your fight with Derek at the bar? What happened that night?” she asked in a gentle tone.

  Diane took a breath. “Derek and I had broken up again and hadn’t dated for a couple of months. Whenever he showed up at the bar, he always had a new girl with him so I stayed out of his way. Then that night, he shows up alone.” She began tracing invisible patterns on the tablecloth. “I’d already had too much to drink by the time he showed up, so I must have smarted off to him or something, because he starts in on me. Taunting me, telling me how glad he was to be rid of me, how bad I was in bed, and how I’d be passed out drunk half the time he was with me.”

  Diane’s voice had dropped so low that Kelly had to strain to hear her over the lunchtime noise.

  “Anyway, I just snapped. I don’t know. I was sick and tired of his bad-mouthing me to my face, and now, now he was doing it in front of others.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t remember exactly what happened next, but I must have gone for him, I guess. That’s what Ted, the bartender, told me later. He said I smashed the glass I had in my hand and lunged for Derek. Ted said one of the guys held me back, but I guess I shouted something. Something like, ‘I oughta bash that pretty face in.’ I don’t know….” Her voice drifted off, eyes still closed, as if afraid the vivid memories would reappear.

  Kelly, however, saw the violent images forming in her own mind. An ugly, drunken bar scene. “Do you remember anything else?”

  Diane’s mouth twisted. “Yeah, I remember Derek laughing. Laughing his head off as I left the bar.”

  “Bastard,” Jennifer hissed.

  “How’d you get home? Please tell me you didn’t drive,” Kelly asked.

  The lighter tone seemed to penetrate Diane’s ugly memories, and she opened her eyes. Kelly glimpsed some of the pain of that experience before Diane stared at her hands, which were clasped tightly on the tabletop.

  “One of the girls—Cindy, I think—drove me home.”

  Kelly leaned back in her chair, letting Diane’s story filter through her mind, while the waitress served their salads and soups. She deliberately turned her attention to Eduardo’s good cooking and away from painful memories while they enjoyed their meal.

  From what she’d heard so far, Kelly was surprised Lieutenant Peterson hadn’t already questioned Diane a second time, especially since she’d lied in the first interview. Kelly poked through the romaine lettuce, searching for a juicy morsel of mozzarella, picturing Peterson’s quiet, burrowing interview style. Judging from how anxious Diane was now, Kelly figured she would crumple like a dry leaf if Peterson went after her.

  Waiting until they’d finished eating before she resumed her questions, Kelly sipped her coffee and ventured into neutral territory. “What kind of work do you do, Diane?”

  Diane hesitated before she answered. “I’m a landscaper. Got my degree from the university years ago. That’s where Jennifer and I met.” She gave her friend a quick smile. “I’ve been working with a local landscaping company for several years, but…but I’ve missed work recently and been late a lot, and my boss kind of gave me a warning the other day. So I’m getting kind of nervous now. I mean, I can’t afford to lose my job.”

  “Why’d you miss work? Were you sick?” Kelly probed, even though she sensed she knew the answer. She wanted to hear Diane say it out loud.

  “I’d…I’d had too much to drink the night before and slept right through the next morning,” she admitted in a soft voice as she stared at her clasped hands.

  “Not good, Diane,” Jennifer said. “You know that.”

  Diane’s head dropped lower. “Yeah, I know.”

  Kelly could feel Diane’s despair coming at her in a wave. Jennifer was right. Diane was deep into depression and despair. And if she had been drinking so much she would sleep the next day away, that only made it worse.

  Even though she knew her questions were forcing Diane to confront the very things that had sent her into a tailspin, Kelly knew she had to continue. How else could she help her? And maybe, this sober questioning in the harsh light of day would cause Diane to rethink her self-destructive behavior. Maybe.

  “Why don’t you tell me about the night of Derek’s death,” she ventured in a gentle voice. “Jennifer said he called you while you were at the bar, right?”

  Diane looked out into the café. “Yes, he called while I was there. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, we’d had that awful fight the week before, and there he was on the phone, sweet-talking me like always. Like nothing happened.” Her bitter tone returned.

  “What’d he want?”

  “He wanted to get laid, that’s all,” she said with a disgusted snort. “Begged me to come on out to his place. He wanted to make up. Promised we’d have a new start. He said he was only joking that night at the bar. He knew that I’m the only one who really loved him.”

  “What’d you say?”

  “I told him he was a lying bastard, and I wasn’t going up there. I told him he could screw himself.”

  Kelly glimpsed a spark within Diane that she hadn’t seen as yet. Anger. Normally, that could be a good sign for someone who was putting an end to a bad relationship. But in this case…

  “Good for you,” she told Diane. “Sounds like you’d had it.”

  “Damn right. He’d been using me for three years, and I was sick of it.”

  Kelly paused. “Then why did you go up there that night? What happened to change your mind?”

  Diane shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to say. “Everyone at the bar had heard my conversation with Derek, and they were laughing and all. But a couple of guys told me I should give him another chance. One guy said I should at least hear what Derek had to say.” She closed her eyes, clearly not wanting to see what was in her head. “I can’t believe I let them change my mind.”

  “Had you been drinking?” Kelly probed.

  “Ohhhh, yeah,” she admitted. “I had a couple more after the phone call. The guy kept on trying to persuade me. Jeeeez. He was like a salesman, almost.”

  Jennifer leaned closer. “Do you remember the guy’s name? Was he a regular?”

  Diane nodded. “Yeah, he was. Gary something or other. I don’t know.”

  Jennifer sent Kelly a sharp look. Gary, Gary…Kelly mulled the name. Gary was the guy that Derek burned in a business deal. The guy who threatened that “one of these days Derek Cooper will get payback.”

  “Did you go up to Derek’s place alone?” Kelly continued.

  “Yeah, I
was still okay to drive,” Diane said with a nonchalant nod. “But as I drove up the canyon, I got angrier and angrier every mile. I was finished with that bastard for good. He’d used me for the last time, and I was going to let him know.” She glanced to Kelly with an apologetic smile. “Don’t worry, I didn’t run anyone off the road. Believe me, every drop of alcohol was burned out of my system by the time I reached his ranch.”

  Not sure whether she should believe that description or not, Kelly continued. “Was he alone?”

  “Oh, yeah. He was in the barn, and I let him have it.” Diane’s eyes sparked with fire this time.

  “Uhhh, you mean you told him off, right?” Jennifer prodded.

  “You bet!” Diane’s eyes narrowed. “I told him exactly what I thought of him and how he’d treated me. I told him he could find some other girl to jerk around, because I was through with him.”

  “I bet that felt good, didn’t it? To finally tell Derek off, I mean,” Kelly said.

  “Boy, did it ever.” Diane’s face was flushed with color, revealing the good looks that depression had cloaked until now.

  “What did he say?” Jennifer probed. “I would have given anything to see you tell off that bastard at last.”

  “You know, I didn’t wait to hear. I cussed him out, then turned my back and left.” Diane closed her eyes, as if savoring that moment. “God, that felt good.”

  “Did you leave then?” Kelly asked, watching Diane’s expression carefully for any sign of deliberate evasion, anything that might hint Diane was lying to them. After all, she’d lied to Lieutenant Peterson. Maybe Diane was lying now. But Kelly saw nothing, no shifting glance, no nervous mannerisms, nothing that aroused Kelly’s naturally suspicious nature.

  Diane looked Kelly straight in the eye. “Yes. I drove down that canyon as fast as I drove up, but I felt a helluva lot better driving down.”

  Kelly returned Diane’s clear gaze, still searching for some sign of evasion and seeing none. Kelly believed her. She couldn’t explain why she believed Diane, but she did.

  A wisp of an idea feathered in the back of Kelly’s brain. Another question. “Tell me, did you notice anything that looked unusual while you were there at Derek’s?” she asked. “Any sign of someone else having been there? Did he get any phone calls?”

  Again, Diane closed her eyes as if recalling the scene. “No, he was alone and nobody called while I was there. Everything else looked the same, normal, I guess. The alpacas were in the barn, and Derek’s car was parked in the usual spot, and…and…” Suddenly Diane’s eyes popped open. “Wait a minute! I saw another car coming up the driveway as I left. I forgot about that until now.”

  Jennifer and Kelly exchanged glances. “Do you remember what it looked like?” Kelly asked.

  Diane shook her head. “It was pitch-black outside, so all I really noticed were the headlights. But it might have been a dark color. And I think I remember another car parked on the side of the road as I drove off.”

  “Did you see anyone you recognized?” Jennifer pressed, leaning closer to her friend.

  A disgusted expression passed over Diane’s face. “No, I didn’t get a good look. I figured it was another one of Derek’s girls.”

  Kelly leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee, her brain sifting through the tantalizing information. There was another car coming up the driveway. Someone else was coming to see Derek that night. Who was it? Was it another girlfriend, or was it that angry guy from the bar, Gary? Apparently he had encouraged Diane to visit Derek that night. Did Gary recognize Diane’s late-night visit as an opportunity to take revenge on the double-crossing Derek? Was Gary in the car that passed on the driveway? Maybe he figured Diane and Derek would be so engrossed in each other, they’d never hear his car approach. If so, he must have been surprised to see Diane drive past him.

  Taking another deep drink, Kelly felt the caffeine rush in her veins while her brain buzzed with scenarios. Maybe Diane was set up by this Gary. Maybe he killed Derek, knowing he’d never be suspected because everyone knew Diane was going up there. Maybe, maybe. And maybe Diane was lying to throw Kelly off track. After all, Diane hadn’t remembered a car until Kelly asked about someone else being at the ranch. Maybe Diane was a clever liar and was deceiving them.

  Jennifer began asking Diane questions about the bar regulars. Was there anyone there who’d ever given her trouble? Any of the girls gotten jealous when their boyfriends paid too much attention to Diane?

  Kelly let them talk while she sipped her coffee and let the buzzing thoughts settle. Yes, it was possible that Diane was lying, but Kelly didn’t think so. Again, she had nothing substantial to account for that belief, except…

  These last few months had taught Kelly to be careful about jumping to conclusions when it came to murder. Since she’d returned to Fort Connor, Kelly had involved herself in three separate murder investigations—without police permission and despite Burt’s warnings. All of those investigations had one startling fact in common. None of the “obvious suspects” turned out to be guilty. The real killers had each cleverly concealed his or her role in the crime. Now Diane Perkins was the obvious suspect in Derek Cooper’s death. Was Diane being set up by a clever killer?

  There was another question Kelly wanted to ask. Looking Diane in the eye, she said, “Your story makes sense, Diane. So I’m wondering why you lied to the police when they questioned you. Jennifer said you didn’t tell them you went to Derek’s ranch that night. You said you were at home asleep. Why did you lie?”

  Diane’s sea green gaze wavered, and she stared at the table once again. “I-I was scared,” she whispered. “I was afraid they’d think I killed Derek. It was stupid, I know, but…but I couldn’t think straight at the time.”

  “Had you been drinking?”

  Her head dropped lower. “Yeah, I was still asleep on the couch that morning when they came. Their knocking woke me up.”

  Jennifer leaned closer to her friend and placed her hand on Diane’s arm. “Diane, please listen to me. You need to get help with the drinking. That’s the reason you’re in this mess right now, you know that, don’t you?”

  “I know,” Diane admitted, her voice so soft Kelly could barely hear her.

  “I can check into some programs, if you’d like me to,” Jennifer continued in a solicitous tone. “I’d even go over there with you.”

  Diane seemed to flinch. “I don’t know, Jen…I don’t know. They put you away, and…”

  “Let me check, anyway. Meanwhile, promise me you’ll stop drinking for now. Just for now, okay?” Jennifer pleaded. “The cops could show up anytime to question you again, you know that.”

  Diane looked up with a panicked expression. “Oh, God…”

  If there was ever a time to strike a blow for sobriety, this was it. Kelly spoke up in a firm voice. “Diane, you lied to the police. They know you lied. They had plenty of witnesses at the bar tell them you were headed to Derek’s ranch that night. You’d better believe the police will question you again. You have got to stay sober, or you won’t have a prayer of convincing them you’re innocent.”

  Diane blanched. Kelly figured either she was an excellent actress or had been in deep denial until now. “I’ll try…I promise,” she whispered.

  “Good girl,” Jennifer said, patting Diane’s arm. “That’s the first step.”

  Kelly pushed back her chair. This had been one intense lunch, and she was glad it was over. “I’ve got to go back to the computer, guys,” she said as she rose. “Diane, I’m sorry if I was hard on you with all those questions, but I thought it might help you to go over your story again before…well, before the police come for another visit.”

  Diane looked up at Kelly with undeniable gratitude. “Thank you, Kelly. Thank you for believing me.”

  Kelly gave her a warm smile. “See you two later,” she said as she turned to leave, wondering how she would explain all this to Burt.

  Steve reached down to the gritty claylike surfa
ce of the indoor tennis courts and retrieved Kelly’s racket cover. “How we managed to pull that one out of the toilet, I’ll never know,” he joked as he handed her the cover.

  Standing on the sidelines, Kelly watched the next four players take the court and begin to warm up. The balls whizzed over the net, again and again, as the players rushed the net and raced across the court. “It had to be dumb luck,” she said ruefully, watching the much better players charge the ball. “We happened to draw a couple that were worse than we are, that’s all.”

  “That’s happened twice,” Steve said as he snatched their jackets from a nearby post. “I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna get our butts kicked real soon.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Kelly agreed as they headed toward the exit. Stopping for a second, she stretched high over her head and side to side. “Brother, every muscle in my back hurts. I’m heading straight for the tub after dinner.”

  “I give a mean back rub.” Steve tempted with a sly grin.

  She returned the grin. “I bet you do, but I’ll take a rain check. I’m heading for the tub and an early night. I need to get up really early tomorrow so I can catch Burt.”

  “What’s up? Jayleen need more help with the kids’ party? I told you I’ll be there, didn’t I?” Steve helped Kelly slip into her winter jacket.

  Wrapping her chunky wool scarf around her neck, Kelly snuggled into the warmth as they stepped outside and into the rapidly dropping temperatures. Below freezing tonight. Winter was definitely here to stay.

  “Yes, you did, and Jayleen thanks you. But it’s not that. I need some quiet time with Burt alone so I can ask him a few questions.” She put her head down as they walked through the darkened parking lot toward Steve’s truck. The chill wind whipped the colorful scarf so it flapped like a pennant beside her.

  Steve halted in the middle of the parking lot. “Uh-oh,” was all he said.

  Kelly looked at him quizzically. They were only halfway to the truck. “What’s wrong? Did you forget something?”

  “Nope. I just figured out what you’re doing. You’re using Burt to find out about that alpaca rancher’s murder, aren’t you?”