Upstairs, I surveyed the tiny apartment. I planned to search for the books in the living room, then the bedroom and finally, and only if necessary, the basement. I was inspecting the stacks of elderly volumes by the easy chair when I heard a noise from the staircase.
I turned and stared at the entrance to the room. The woman pointing the gun at me looked vaguely familiar. She was a curvy brunette with a mane of shoulder-length chestnut hair. It looked very good with a fresh blowout. She was wearing skintight Levi’s and a black tee with a plunging neckline. Her complexion glowed and her green eyes seemed to glitter. It was the odd little gappy smile that gave her away.
“I don’t know who you are, but you’d better put that gun down,” I said with fake bravado.
“You can stop with the act,” she said. “I can read you like one of these moldy old books.”
“Candy! You’ve had a fabulous makeover. I never would have recognized you. What a surprise.”
“I bet it’s a surprise.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“I’ve been looking for nosy girls who now have to be dealt with.”
“What? Dealt with?”
“That’s right. Now, go sit in the chair.”
I had nothing to lose. “Candy, I thought we were friends. What are you talking about? Are you really pointing a gun at me?”
“Yes, I am, because you are too smart for your own good. Don’t bother lying. It’s too little, too late, and it won’t work.”
I wanted to kick myself. She must have followed me. I’d been watching for her vehicle, but of course, she had probably ditched that without a blink. The world was full of cars that I hadn’t been watching for.
No one knew I was here except Smiley, assuming he picked up my oblique message from the night before. Karen and Lucky were in their own little world, and Mick would assume that I was at Van Alst House. Vera and the signora probably still thought I was in my attic. Tiff had fallen off the face of the earth. Lance wasn’t expecting to meet up until eight in the evening.
I was on my own. Well, not exactly on my own. I was facing a gun-wielding Candy and that was definitely not a good thing.
The Kellys do not do guns, so that part of my education was sadly lacking. This one looked heavy and dangerous though. And it was pointed right at me. The fake Candy was definitely very comfortable with handguns. That much was obvious. She wasn’t a police officer and it was clear that Candy’s connections were not law-abiding ones. I figured her training included learning how to shoot. Mind you, in the small confines of Karen’s apartment, Candy could hardly miss. Even though I knew she wasn’t the real Candy Mortakis, I still couldn’t stop thinking of her as “Candy.”
I thought hard. Was there anything I could use against her? She was going to have to silence me. There was nowhere to run, so my only hope was to find a weapon. Aside from the teapot, the china cups and the books, everything was soft and cozy. Useless in this scenario.
“It’s been fun, but fun’s over now,” she said.
“Can’t we discuss this?” I decided to play it as if she really was a small-town cop and not, as I had belatedly figured out, a hired killer.
“I don’t know what you think you’re arresting me for, but I can get a great lawyer with one phone call. So this won’t advance your career in Burton.”
“Cut the crap. I’m not arresting you and you know that. I think our little game has played itself out. Now, what I need to know is, where is the information that Randolph gave you?”
I stared at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t waste my time. Where is it?”
I did my best to steel my nerves as I told the truth. “Randolph didn’t give me anything.”
“I’m not fooled by that for a minute. If you can’t produce it, you’re of no use to me alive. So, where is it?”
My steely nerves were somewhat hampered by the fact I knew she had already killed at least one person. In fact, she’d probably killed a lot of people. I didn’t want her to know that I’d figured that out. The problem was I didn’t know what “it” was.
“Honestly. Randolph was drugged or something. He didn’t give me anything. He could barely stay awake.”
“This is getting old. Tell me where it is.”
“Believe me, I would if I could.”
She sighed theatrically. She was one hell of an actress and I supposed she really liked the dramatics. The sigh sounded very professional. Maybe she’d had a bit of stage training, unlike the real police. More likely she had the easy gift for manipulation and deceit of a natural-born psychopath. Whatever, it wasn’t good.
“He had to have given it to you. It wasn’t in the house. Where else could it have gone?”
What did this mean? Had Candy been the person to ransack the Adams house after the family had fled? Was that why she was hanging around in her fake police uniform? But why? Was she looking for a clue to track them down?
“It would help if I had some idea about what you’re looking for,” I said.
“No more of your cute tricks. I’m running out of patience and you’re running out of time.”
“Look,” I said, anxious to change the topic. “Randolph could have dementia. He might have intended to give me something, but he didn’t. If he had, would I keep looking for missing books?”
“Who said it was a book?”
I blinked.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Well, the only thing I’m interested in is books. I’m just doing my job. I need to retrieve a collection of Dorothy L. Sayers first editions that were sold to Randolph by mistake. That’s my only connection to him.”
“It may have been your only connection, but not anymore. Did he give you a book?”
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t.”
Bad enough I was facing down the barrel of some kind of gun, I didn’t want to dump Karen into it. I was grateful that Karen wasn’t at home, but it was just a matter of time before she returned. I prayed that when she did, Candy would be gone.
I thought hard. What could she be talking about? If I could figure that out, I’d have some leverage.
“Still stalling,” she said,
“Again, if I knew what you’re looking for, I could work with you.”
“Work with me?” Her green eyes were not warm or pleading or filled with the need for friendship. I figured they never had been, but I had fallen for her pretense.
“Because I don’t want to get shot. There’s no love lost between me and the cops.”
I kept my voice light as if I actually believed my own words.
“In that case, tell me where it is.”
Well that just went around in circles. “I don’t know. For me it was all about the books. That’s all.”
Of course, it finally dawned on me. “It” must have been the books that Randolph slipped to Karen. Perhaps he’d placed something in them. Something he was trying to keep from Delilah and Mason. Or maybe just Mason. That relationship continued to unsettle me.
Why would those books be important to either of them? I thought back to our visit to see Randolph. Mason’s arrival during our talk explained why Randolph had quieted down suddenly. I hadn’t thought much of that at the time. Just a confused elderly gentleman. But instead of an overprotective grandson, Mason was something else entirely. And Randolph was well aware of it.
What would Wimsey do? He certainly would have reminded me that people are not who or what they seem to be. Perhaps he’d have mentioned that money and family strife are a recipe for trouble. Of course, I doubted Wimsey would find himself in such a dangerous situation in the first place. And if he had, surely Bunter would have shown up. Or Inspector Parker. Most likely with the books in hand. Obviously, I needed more and better sidekicks, maybe some that walked upright.
A movement in the doorway behind Candy gave me hope and then, panic. What if it was Karen coming home? There was no way that Karen would be a match for
Candy. It would take Candy a minute to get the information out of her about Randolph and the three books. Then Karen would be dead. If she remembered about the books. And if she didn’t remember, she’d probably be just as dead.
I shuddered and Candy raised an eyebrow. “Got something to tell me?”
I needed to stall. “If it’s a book you’re looking for, I can probably help.”
“I don’t know what it is. You do.”
“I wish I did.”
“Not as much as you’re about to.”
Behind her a shadow blurred. The reassuring bulk of Officer Tyler Dekker moved on surprising cat feet behind Candy, his weapon raised.
As he reached her, I ducked behind the armchair, hoping it would absorb any random gunshots.
“Put the gun down.” Smiley meant business.
I could see her weighing the options.
He said, “Officer shoots hired killer in murder attempt.”
She stood still.
“Or you could try your luck with the judicial system. With the right lawyer, you might get a reduced sentence. Hope for the best in prison. But you’ll be breathing. Not that you deserve to be.”
Candy leaned forward and put her gun on the floor.
I inched farther behind the chair and out of the line of fire. I didn’t trust her not to turn and start blasting. “Be careful,” I said. “She’s a real weasel.”
“I know that.”
“And she’s not a police officer.”
“I realized that as soon as I pulled her over last week.”
“What?”
“Routine stop for a traffic offense in Harrison Falls.”
“And?”
“Her ID was in order. Candy Mortakis from the Burton force.”
I said, “That’s a real officer’s name, that’s why.”
Candy grinned. “You’d be amazed what you can find on Google.”
He ignored her. “She was driving a navy-blue Tahoe and she was in uniform, but something bothered me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, so I had to let her go. Kept an eye on her though.”
“Of course, the Tahoe. That’s what all you law enforcement types like to drive.”
“My gut told me that she wasn’t what she looked like.”
“Was that why you were creeping around Lincoln Way?”
“I’ve been keeping an eye on her. I tailed her to where she was staying. And then I followed her to Lincoln Way. I knew she was up to something. I managed to get a photo of her from a distance. No one in Harrison Falls would listen. I passed the photo on to a friend at Quantico to see if he could run it through their database. My friend said she’s a suspected gun for hire. I gave him everything I knew. Next thing, I’m politely asked to take a hike. I’m infringing on an active organized crime investigation.”
I said, “But you didn’t take a hike.”
“How could I when every time I turned around, you showed up. I’m not good at minding my own business and neither are you. I needed to save you from whatever you were mixed up in.”
I could hardly say I didn’t need saving, given the circumstances. My feminist pride had to take a hit. I said, “The dead undercover cop must have been FBI.”
“What?”
“The guy who was killed was undercover. The real Candy Mortakis let that slip.”
His face turned ashen and his jaw tensed. A fallen officer hit all cops hard. Even I knew that.
Candy sneered. “You could smell bacon a mile away. Just like the first guy.”
I said, “Bacon? Oh, of course, you killed the first guy as well and he was undercover too. You’re more of a knife for hire than a gun. And you threw in the bit about the second victim having no fingerprints just for the hell of it. All fun for you, as was the dressing up and fooling me.”
“Get yourself over here, Jordan, away from her. I’m calling for backup. We’ve got her now.”
He grinned a bit at that.
Before I could move, I spotted a shadow in the doorway from the stairs.
“Look out!” I shouted. “Behind you!”
I reached for something to lob at Candy as Smiley whirled. Candy dove for her weapon. Mason Adams raised his gun and pointed at Smiley’s head. He nudged Smiley’s legs with one of his Blundstones. He said, “Don’t try anything.”
I aimed the antique china teapot at Candy’s head and hurled it hard. Missed. Candy dodged it, bumping into the wall as she did. The teapot crashed to the floor. Candy was back in charge. Now it was two guns to one. And she was royally ticked off.
“Drop your gun or I’ll shoot your little girlfriend,” Candy said.
Without a word, Tyler lowered his weapon to the floor.
Mason said, “Good news, babe.”
My head swam. Babe?
Mason and Candy. I thought I’d had her figured out, but this came out of nowhere. I was missing a lot if I hadn’t figured this out. What else didn’t I know?
“It better be good news because now we have another cop to get rid of on top of this nosy girl here,” Candy said.
“He’s a cop? I thought he was just her stupid boyfriend.” He gave me a dismissive look.
“And?” she said.
“And what, babe?”
“Tell me the good news, because right now it’s all bad news.”
“Oh yeah. Randolph thinks he remembers giving it to the woman. But he’s losing it. Sometimes he remembers things, other times he doesn’t. Sometimes he hardly knows who he is.”
“Well, she’s here and she claims she doesn’t know anything about it. You sure he’s not just putting one over on you?”
“Huh? Oh, her? No, not her, the other one.”
“What other one?”
“The older one, with the red hair. The woman that sold him the books in the first place. I forget her name. Karen something. She owns the store downstairs: the Cozy Corpse.”
“Oh, right. Jordan, you told me about her, didn’t you? She has it?”
“He said he gave three books to her. She put them in some kind of a flowered bag.”
“What books are they?”
Mason blinked. “He called them the Sayers books. He didn’t tell me their names.”
“Titles, not names. Books have titles,” she snapped. “Are you sure he’s telling the truth?”
“Yeah. I had to play rough with him. He knows that once we have it, we don’t need him, so he held out.”
“Keep in mind that without the money, there’s no new life for us. Just you going back to being Jason Pecelli with the mob gunning for you.”
“I know that, babe.”
“I’m all that stands between you and an unmarked grave somewhere. You realize that?”
Mason licked his lips. “I do, babe. And you’ve been amazing. The cop routine was priceless. No one would ever recognize you in a getup like that.”
She giggled. “Right under their noses. I actually enjoyed it. Those Burton cops were too stupid to breathe. But fun’s got to end now. We need to find the books and then it’s just a matter of putting Randall and Dawna out of their misery so we can make a new life for us. That reminds me, did you track them down? I can’t believe you were stupid enough to let that old man get away.”
Changing their names to Randall and Delilah and hiding out in Burton wasn’t nearly enough to save the former Randall and Dawna from the relentless Candy. Especially with that snake Mason in their midst. I actually felt sorry for them.
“You don’t have to kill Dawna, babe. She’s not responsible for any of this. She’s just—”
I’d never seen a smile as cold as the one on Candy’s face. “She’s just the woman you left me for. Do you think I’m going to forget that she played me for a sucker?”
Mason might have been planning a life with Candy, but I figured he was fully aware that she was a psychopath. “I was just crazy, babe. Scared about the mob. Out of my depth. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss you. Dawna wasn’t responsible. She’s not the sharpest knife
in the drawer. She was stuck there with that old husband. You can let her live. She can’t hurt us.”
Candy smiled. I figured poor Delilah had just been consigned to a more painful death.
She said, “Enough about them. Does this woman, Karen, know what she has?”
“He said he didn’t tell her anything. She thinks it’s just ordinary books.”
“Well, either way, we need to get it. And get rid of her.”
Mason didn’t show any desperate need to save Karen’s life. I figured he still had some feelings for Delilah. He’d do whatever he could to save her.
“I tracked Karen down. I know where she is. There’s an antique shop in Harrison Falls. She’s there with some big bald guy. She’s still carrying that flowered bag. We’d better get there fast.”
I thought my throat would close.
“Look around here first and take any books you see that are by this Dorothy L. Sayers. Then we have some business to tidy up here,” Candy said. “Two busybodies.”
I said, “If you kill a police officer, they will hunt you down. They already know who you are and what you look like.”
She snorted. “Nice try. It won’t be the first time.”
I knew she was telling the truth about that. She’d killed the undercover cop who was watching the Adams house. Had he been waiting for Candy and not the Adams family as I had assumed?
Mason turned to me. “You wouldn’t ever recognize her. You see how much she can change her appearance.”
“The books,” she said. “Check carefully and fast. We need to finish up here.”
As Mason checked each stack of books and bookcase, Candy headed for the kitchen. She glanced around and scratched her wig.
Still keeping his eyes and guns on us, Mason turned to the bedroom and began rummaging around.
Candy hummed as she lifted a pot from a hanger, placed it on the stove, poured some olive oil into in and turned on the burner. She draped a tea towel near it. What was that about? As she walked back in and gave me an evil, self-satisfied grin, I had a horrible feeling that I knew.
Mason emerged from the bedroom. “Nothing here, babe.”
The Sayers Swindle (A Book Collector Mystery) Page 22