Loose Screw (Dusty Deals Mystery)

by Davies, Rae

  Helena is in Montana and all, but horses aren’t just running around dropping pellets all over the place. If you step in it, it isn’t too hard to figure out where you picked it up.

  That is when it hit me.

  My mind flashed through the events of the week: helping the customer out to her car with the magazines, my first look at the group interested in the medicine man set, Crandell leaving the auction, my phone conversations, my trip to the mall, and, of course, the feather.

  I knew who had killed Crandell, and Blake was right, it wasn’t Darrell.

  I ran to the phone and called Blake. He didn’t answer his cell, and I didn’t have time to wait for him to return a text. The killer could be leaving Helena anytime now. I left a message and dashed to the Cherokee.

  Driving fast on gravel takes talent and nerves of steel, or maybe just a total lack of sense. Whatever the case, I pushed the Cherokee to 50, praying I wouldn’t come across a moose on an early morning stroll.

  I kept my speed high as I wove through town in the direction of the airport. Thankfully, 6:10 on a Sunday morning in Helena there isn’t a lot of traffic.

  The killer was probably already at the airport, maybe on the plane. Helena had a small terminal. A limited number of flights made their way in and out each day. The early morning ones left at 6:30. I didn’t have to look it up. I’d taken the flight myself on occasion. I had 20 minutes to get there. By the time I made it to Prospect Avenue, it was down to five. I peeled into the loading zone and ran inside.

  Helena’s airport was basically one big room with a hallway that leads to luggage return. The airline reservation desks were to the right, the passenger loading zone straight ahead in a small glassed-in area where the few security guards on duty seemed to hang out. I lurched around couches and past stuffed animals (the used-to-be-alive variety, not the cuddly children’s toys) on my way to the check through.

  “Ticket, please.” A guard halted my progress. “No one is admitted past this point without a ticket.”

  “But I have to stop that….” I pressed my face up against the glass and watched as the small propeller plane left the runway.

  Chapter 26

  Dejected, I walked away from the glass wall and plopped down next to a stuffed coyote with an unfortunate mouse dangling from his mouth. Since they’d both seen better days, I wasn’t sure it was fair to term only the mouse as unfortunate. Of course, the coyote had at least caught his quarry—more than could be said for me.

  Studying the vignette of predator and prey, I realized I was truly disappointed that the plane had left. I had made my mad dash without any planning and very little thought, but I was ready for a confrontation, one bigger than sniping at Blake through a phone line.

  I was tired of playing nice. I was tired of giving in. I wanted to write this story, and I wanted somebody to pay for something. If Darrell was going to get off the hook for breaking into my shop and threatening Kiska and me, I’d be damned if the killer was going to fly away scot-free.

  I stood up to go talk to a ticket agent, and to my surprise, noticed Marie Malone standing next to the auto rental booth.

  “We left the car in the slot.” Marie handed some paperwork to the girl behind the counter.

  I searched for her husband. He appeared in the doorway of the men’s bathroom with two plane tickets in his hands. I grimaced when I saw they were for United. I’d watched a Delta flight leave. Three airlines operated out of Helena, and I’d focused on just one—the wrong one. I took a moment to form a plan. None came. I couldn’t just let them get away. My best and only alternative seemed to be action.

  I hurtled over the back of the vinyl bench in front of me and landed two feet from a very startled Andrew Malone. I grabbed both tickets and sprinted down the hallway toward the baggage claim. I dug in my purse for my cell phone as I ran.

  Shouts and the sound of pounding feet echoed behind me. I managed to punch in Blake’s cell number as I searched luggage return for a hiding place. Flinging my right foot up onto the waist-high conveyer belt, I grabbed the metal edge and pulled myself over. Crouched down, I whispered into the phone, “I’m at the airport. Malone’s trying to leave. He killed Crandell. Get here now.” I didn’t wait for Blake’s response. I hit end and peered over the top of blue Samsonite.

  Marie Malone stood, holding onto her husband’s arm, six feet from where I squatted. “What is going on? Who is that woman?”

  Andrew Malone sputtered something in return. Spotting me behind my carryall fortress, he took two steps in my direction.

  Marie Malone pulled his arm. “What are you doing? Why did that woman grab our tickets? Why is she trying to stop us?” She paused for a second and gripped his arm tighter.

  Her husband hesitated. “Marie, I don’t know. Just let me get the tickets.” He managed to sound apologetic and angry at the same time. I was afraid I knew which emotion he would direct at me.

  I frantically sorted through the luggage looking for something, anything, to serve as a weapon.

  “This is about that man, Crandell isn’t it? You killed him didn’t you? You killed him and now this woman is trying to stop us from leaving. Why didn’t you tell me?” Marie’s shrill voice vibrated through the cramped space.

  Andrew faced his wife, and, prying her hand off his arm, replied, “It was an accident. He wouldn’t leave you alone. I was afraid he was going to cause you to relapse. I offered him a reasonable amount for the weasel and whistle, but he was just greedy. I told him to sell it to someone else then, but he wouldn’t let it go.”

  Malone rubbed his hand across his eyes and forehead. Looking back at his wife, he continued in a tired voice, “He pulled out a feather and started waving it around. I got angry. Somehow that damn knife of his was there, and before I knew it, he was dead.” He pleaded with her now. “Please, Marie, let’s just get the tickets and get out of here.”

  He took two steps my direction. I grabbed a tote and heaved it over my barricade. He kept advancing.

  Marie stood where he’d left her, her face ashen. “I knew when you came back from meeting him without your blazer and gloves something was wrong. Then I found the feather in the car. I just couldn’t make myself believe you killed him.” She stumbled to the wall and put a hand on it for support.

  Malone looked back at his wife and paused in his advance. I whipped open the closest bag and began pelting him with a barrage of toiletries. He held up one hand to protect himself against the onslaught of miniature soap bars, shampoo bottles, and sunscreen and moved toward Marie.

  Before he could reach her, men carrying guns filled the space. Peter Blake entered through the sliding doors that led to the parking lot. Two other officers appeared in the corridor that connected to the main terminal. One more popped out of an office across from where I crouched.

  I hadn’t heard any sirens.

  It was almost like they were here all along.

  A flicker of suspicion began to grow in my mind. I stayed hidden, but watching, as the officers cuffed Andrew Malone and began herding him and Marie toward the doors.

  Blake turned my direction. The flicker jumped to a roaring blaze. Staring down my Samsonite, he picked his way across the soap and shampoo dotted battlefield.

  I swear the man had x-ray vision.

  “Lucy, is that you?” His tone was not amused.

  I poked my head above the case and watched him with caution.

  “What do you have there?” He pointed to the tickets that I had squashed in one fist.

  After pressing out the wrinkles, I handed them over. “Malone was going to get away. I didn’t know what else to do, so I grabbed the tickets and ran.”

  Blake stared at me with no expression.

  He was getting me flustered. I stuttered out a description of my early morning revelation and mad trip to the airport. “I didn’t want them to get away, and you didn’t answer your cell phone. I left you a message.”

  Blake said nothing.

  “How did yo
u get here so quickly?”

  This time he blinked.

  I tried again. “Malone killed Crandell. He told me he was tired of scraping horse crap off his shoes. The only way he would have had horse poop on his shoes was if he’d been somewhere there were horses. Since he doesn’t strike me as the dude ranch type, I realized he got it in my alley the afternoon he killed Crandell—when he said he was at the hotel with his wife.”

  Blake looked like he was softening—a tiny bit.

  “And the feather. Marie couldn’t have got it from Crandell when she met him outside Spirit Books. Crandell didn’t even have the set yet. Frankie told me he didn’t pick it up until after she had left for class, and that was at 10 or later. Around that time, he met Andrew Malone at Cuppa Joe’s. Then he went to Rhonda’s and saw Marie outside. He couldn’t have picked up the set until after lunch. So Marie Malone got the feather sometime between him picking the set up that afternoon and when he was killed, but she claimed she didn’t see him again after that morning.”

  Blake lifted both eyebrows.

  “Come on. What is going on? You must know something, or you wouldn’t have them in cuffs.” I pointed to where the Malones were being helped into a squad car outside the sliding doors.

  Blake took a breath and replied. “You know I should arrest you for interfering? And you should have more sense than to make a scene like this in an airport. You could have been shot.”

  Not the response I was hoping for. I stayed silent.

  He continued, “I’m going to take the Malones to the station. When I’m done, we’ll talk.”

  He turned and headed to the doors.

  “Wait, how did you get here so fast?” I yelled after him.

  He stopped and turned back my direction. “Police work, Lucy. I was doing my job.” He shook his head slightly. “Darrell Deere witnessed the murder. We knew we were after Malone. Unfortunately, he had checked out of his hotel, and we didn’t know where he’d gone, but we did know when his plane left this morning. So we waited for him here. We had a nice easy arrest planned, but something changed that.” He gave me a pointed look and stalked out.

  Chapter 27

  I left the airport and drove to Dusty Deals. I had a hard time concentrating on anything, even the most mundane activities. To be honest, I was pretty proud of myself. Pumped actually.

  I had taken control of the situation. I had thrown myself into Malone’s path and stopped him from leaving. Sure, the police already had the place staked out, but I didn’t know that. He even confessed. This was going to be a great story, and one way or another, I was going to write it.

  So, Blake was a little annoyed. He was a big boy. He’d get over it—wouldn’t he? Anyway, it wasn’t like we actually had a relationship or anything. I’d go on just fine and dandy without him. As I’d told Rhonda multiple times, I didn’t need a man, especially one as opinionated and bossy as Blake.

  I would need to talk to him again though. There was the story to think of. He’d surely tell me more than he would Marcy.

  I called him at the station.

  He sounded less than thrilled to hear from me. “Lucy, what do you want?”

  This wasn’t going to be easy. I decided to try meekness. “I hoped you could fill in a few details for me,” I replied.

  The phone almost vibrated with his annoyance. “A few details. What I want to know is what you thought you were doing this morning. Are you crazy?” He took a breath. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”

  Hey, who did he think he was? I mean, I discovered the body, my shop was broken into, I almost had my head caved in, and I tracked down the killer. I deserved some information. Didn’t I?

  I dumped the meek route. “You don’t have to be insulting. Surely, you can tell me something. I figured out most of it on my own, and I heard Malone confess. I just need you to iron out a few details.”

  Blake cleared his throat. “What do you want to know? I will give you a few details, but this is not for the paper, agreed?”

  At this point, I would have belly danced nude down the Gulch to get information, but I stuck with my righteous act. “If you insist,” I replied stiffly.

  “I do.”

  He started slowly, but with a few helpful questions from me here and there, Blake spilled most of the info, including what he had learned from Darrell the night before.

  “Darrell found his grandmother’s diary back in February. She talked about the ruby and how she couldn’t stand to wear it after Garrison died.”

  Yadda yadda. I knew all this but was afraid to interrupt.

  “She said she was putting it somewhere safe and mentioned the medicine man set, but not the weasel. The way she worded it, Darrell just thought there was some kind of clue in the set, maybe written inside the shirt or something.”

  Blake continued, “Anyway, he knew if he showed too much interest in the set people would talk. He was afraid he’d lose the ruby to his brother and sister, or at least have to split it with them. He was in Denver for some kind of bike ride and, while he was there, hired Crandell to work as a buyer’s agent.”

  I couldn’t contain my questions. “Wasn’t he afraid Crandell would rip him off? Did he tell him about the ruby?”

  “No, he didn’t tell him about the ruby. He just said he wanted to buy the set in secret and made up some reason why. I don’t know about the rip-off part. I think it was a little naïve of Darrell, but I guess he was desperate.

  “He paid Crandell enough money upfront to cover airfare and hotel. Darrell didn’t expect the set to sell for more than a few thousand. When it went for forty, he was shocked. Crandell called him from the Civic Center and told him Ed wouldn’t release it without bank verification. Darrell wired the money into Crandell’s account, and by the time Frankie called Crandell’s bank, the funds were there.”

  “Okay, that explains Darrell and Crandell, but how did the Malones get involved? Why was Crandell talking to them and Bill about buying the set?” I’d never understood this part of it, and now knowing Darrell had paid for the entire set, it was even more confusing.

  “Well, I think that goes back to Darrell being naïve. My guess is, Crandell just got greedy. No one can say for sure, but Crandell probably thought he could sell off small parts of the set without Darrell noticing. Crandell was definitely working Bill and the Malones for side offers.

  “Bill had enough sense to keep away from him, but Marie Malone wanted the set bad—not for the same reason as Darrell, but she still wanted it. Her husband wasn’t any more interested in dealing with Crandell than Bill was, but he met with Crandell to make his wife happy and to keep her from doing it herself. That’s when things got sticky, for Crandell that is.

  “Malone met with Crandell for the first time Monday morning at Cuppa Joe’s, after he sent his wife shopping down the Gulch. According to Malone, Crandell wanted an extravagant price for the whistle and weasel. This fits with what Bill told us too. Anyway, Malone turned him down and told him to stop calling his wife. But when Crandell was leaving the meeting, he ran into Marie Malone outside Spirit Books. That’s when Rhonda saw them. Marie was upset her husband hadn’t bought the pieces. Crandell arranged to call her later after she had time to work on her husband more.”

  The next part of the story I knew. Still working both sides, Crandell went to lunch at the Mexican Rose where Rhonda and Silas saw him meet Bill Russell. Rhonda left, but Silas stayed to talk with him. According to Blake, when Silas left, Crandell drove to Ed’s office and picked up the medicine man set. He called Darrell from there and arranged to meet him between four-thirty and five p.m. at Darrell’s office. Darrell told him to dress less conspicuously and to enter through the alley entrance. He also told Crandell to leave Helena as soon as the final exchange was complete.

  Crandell went back to his hotel where he changed into jeans, packed up his things, and made two phone calls. First, he made arrangements with Marie Malone to meet at Cuppa Joe’s at four-thirty. Then he called Silas to see
if he could stay the night with him.

  Blake continued, “This is when the fat got thrown in the fire. Marie asked her husband to reconsider meeting Crandell’s price. When he found out she’d arranged to see Crandell again at four-thirty, he hit the roof. Apparently, she’s recovering from a breakdown. Malone thought Crandell jerking them back and forth would cause her to relapse. He dressed for their dinner at the Brass Spur and left her at the hotel.

  “Malone ran into Crandell in the alley as they were both approaching Cuppa Joe’s. According to Malone, Crandell’s death was an accident. He said Crandell waved the feather in his face, then tucked it into the outside breast pocket of Malone’s blazer. The two argued. Push came to shove, and Crandell wound up with a knife in his chest. Malone says he panicked and left.”

  I jumped in. “That’s when he stepped in the horse manure, but how did he make it back to his hotel to get Marie and still get to the Brass Spur by 5:30? There had to have been some blood to clean up.”

  “He likes to wear leather driving gloves. Those and his jacket were both stained with blood. He dumped them in a trashcan he saw sitting in front of a house on his way back to the hotel. He didn’t really have to take any extra time to clean up.”

  “What did he tell his wife? Did she know he killed Crandell?”

  “Not according to Malone. She knew he was meeting with Crandell, but he told her he had entered through the front and Crandell was a no-show. He just said he spilled some coffee on his blazer and stuffed it in the trunk. She didn’t question him, but I think she knew something was wrong, especially after she found the feather.”

  “Where did she find the feather? I knew she didn’t get it that morning, because Crandell didn’t have the set yet.”

  Blake answered, “She found it stuck between the car seats. Malone thought he’d thrown it out with his blazer and gloves. He didn’t check to make sure it was still in his jacket pocket when he dumped everything. When I found the feather in her suitcase, he assumed she was telling the truth, and Crandell had given it to her earlier that day. He didn’t know Crandell didn’t get the set until after lunch.”