Saints and Sinners: (A Geeks and Things Cozy Mystery Novella #5) (Geeks and Things Cozy Mysteries)

by Sarah Biglow

  She said nothing as he joined her by the sink and began pulling big leaves of lettuce off the head and running them under water. She was going to need to go to bed early if there was the possibility of Jimmy coming by earlier than expected.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The sun was barely above the horizon line as Kalina packed a thermos full of decaf tea and some oatmeal into her bag. Chris stood bleary-eyed by her side at the front door, both waiting for Jimmy to arrive. He’d made arrangements to meet Lois Hendrix at 8:00 at a coffee shop before she went to work. According to him, Lois had been more than willing to talk about the Fischer children.

  “Good luck today,” Chris said, yawning.

  “You, too,” she answered and gave him a sideways hug. She hoped today would prove fruitful for both of them, getting the police that much closer to finding the killer.

  Jimmy’s hybrid pulled into the driveway and, after a quick kiss, Kalina headed out and crammed herself into the front seat. In the end, she had to push it almost all the way back to get comfortable. “So she sounded willing to talk?” she asked once they’d finally hit the highway.

  “Yeah. I didn’t give her much but she’s willing to sit down with us so that’s a start.”

  “I hope Chris can find something from Verona’s parents.”

  Jimmy accelerated and shifted into the high occupancy lane. As the car settled into doing just over 60 MPH, he glanced across at her. “What do you think happened?”

  Kalina shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she survived the accident. She could have had some kind of head trauma that made her forget who she was and someone found her.”

  “But who would want her dead? I mean killing her at her parents’ graves is pretty specific. Whoever it was knew she was really Paige Fischer.”

  “Until we talk to Lois Hendrix, I can’t say with any certainty what could have happened.”

  The car fell silent as Jimmy focused on navigating the increased traffic on the roads. Kalina took the opportunity to doze, her head propped against the window of the passenger side door. The gentle, steady hum of the engine and the tires on the pavement lulled her into a peaceful unconsciousness until Jimmy slammed on the brakes.

  “What happened?” She jolted upright.

  “Sorry, the idiot in front of me didn’t have his blinker on until the last second. I nearly hit him.”

  She waited for her heart rate to lower back to normal and managed to stay awake the rest of the trip. The edge of the city soon came into view and she dug her thermos and oatmeal from her bag, sipping the still warm tea.

  “So where are we meeting her exactly?”

  “Coffee shop in downtown.”

  “Good luck finding parking around there.”

  He quirked a brow at her but said nothing. She tried not to laugh at his frustration as half an hour later he drove down one-way streets looking for a place to park. The clock on the dash ticked away the minutes until their meeting with Lois.

  “Just let me out by the coffee shop and I’ll start without you,” she said.

  With a huff, he pulled up to the curb and she climbed out with some difficulty. She wouldn’t have minded sticking with him until he found a spot except the baby was happily punting her bladder like a soccer ball and she was in desperate need of a bathroom.

  Five minutes later, she scanned the small crowd in the coffee shop, hoping she would recognize Lois Hendrix. She pulled up her phone and tried to find the one photo she’d seen of the woman at the end of the article about her arrest. It was several decades out of date but it was enough for her to cautiously approach the woman with greying hair sitting by the window, a large coffee grasped between slender fingers.

  “Ms. Hendrix?”

  The woman looked over. “Yes.”

  Kalina slid into the chair opposite her. “My name is Kalina Greystone.”

  “You aren’t the officer I spoke with yesterday.”

  “I’m with him. He’s parking.”

  “Not from around here.”

  “No, he’s definitely not a city boy.”

  “What’s got the police in Ellesworth looking me up after all these years? I did my time but I never hurt those children.”

  Kalina was torn. She wanted to dive in and get what she could but she knew Jimmy wouldn’t be happy with her.

  “Maybe we should wait until Jim—Officer Griggs gets here.”

  Lois drummed her fingers on the side of her cup. “Please, just tell me what this is about.”

  “A woman was found yesterday and her fingerprints match Paige Fischer’s.”

  If Lois hadn’t already been sitting down Kalina was sure she would have fallen at the news. “She was alive all this time?”

  “It seems that way. We were just hoping you might be able to fill in some of the gaps about what really happened the day they went missing.”

  “I’ll never forget that day.”

  The door to the shop opened and Jimmy stalked in, his neck and cheeks red. He was clearly not happy. Kalina pointed him to the counter and mimed drinking. He would be less irritable with some caffeine in his system.

  “Ms. Hendrix, I presume,” Jimmy said once he’d acquired an extra-large iced coffee and dragged a chair over to the table.

  “Officer Griggs. Ms. Greystone was just telling me you found Paige.”

  “Yes, ma’am. She was going by the name Verona Maxwell.”

  “I don’t know where the last name came from but she loved Shakespeare.”

  “She was adopted by a foster family,” Jimmy answered.

  “She was a little young for Shakespeare, wasn’t she?” Kalina asked.

  “She was a bright girl. She started reading before Patrick did and was on to novels by the time she’d hit second grade.”

  “How were they together? I mean I know having an older sister can be a challenge. I can’t imagine having a sibling the same age as me, having to share everything.”

  Lois looked around the shop as if someone might overhear. “They could be civil if they wanted but I won’t pretend things weren’t tense between them. Paige was a bit domineering—”

  “So she was a bully,” Jimmy interrupted.

  Lois shook her head. “Not to other children. It was strange if I’m being honest. She could be the sweetest thing you’d ever seen to other people and children her age. But when it was just her and Patrick, she could be quite nasty. I remember one time I found Patrick sitting at the bottom of the stairs with a bloody nose and a cut on his face. He said they’d been playing and Paige hit him. He begged me not to tell their parents.”

  “Did that happen often?” Kalina pressed.

  “It seemed to come in waves. There would be weeks, months even, when they got on really well and then other times when he was coming to me with bumps and bruises.”

  Jimmy pulled out a notepad from his shirt pocket and jotted some notes down, alternating that with taking large gulps of his coffee. Lois twisted her cup between her hands.

  “It sounds horrible but I have to say that when you called I had a feeling it was something like they’d survived. But a part of me hoped it had been Patrick. That boy didn’t deserve the way his sister treated him.”

  “And you never confronted her about it?”

  “Oh, I tried a few times but she acted all innocent and their parents wouldn’t believe me.”

  Jimmy nodded and took another swig from his coffee. “What can you tell us about the day they went missing?’

  “I told the police all about this back then.”

  “We know but we’re hoping we can figure out how Paige might have survived.”

  Lois sighed and rubbed at her eyes. Kalina could tell she was losing her patience. “Everything was fine until the afternoon. They both said they wanted to go out on the beach and look for shells. It was one of the times they were getting along so I let them. The fresh air could do them good anyway. I had a lot of other things to take care of. I was the cleaning lady as well as the nanny and so I
didn’t notice until after it got dark that they hadn’t come back inside.

  “I went looking for them as soon as I realized they were gone. I couldn’t find them anywhere. I didn’t notice until the next day that the boat was missing. It didn’t even occur to me that they knew how to start the thing, let alone maneuver it in open water. Besides, I don’t think Patrick would have gotten on the boat unless Paige goaded him into it.”

  “Could they both swim?” Jimmy asked.

  “Of course. They were like fish when they got in the ocean. Both very strong and skilled.”

  “So if the boat went off course or got pulled into a current, they’d be able to swim to shore,” Kalina said.

  “I’d think so.” Tears glistened unshed in her eyes. “Do you think maybe Patrick is alive, too?”

  “It’s possible. It would also shed some light on who might want her dead,” Jimmy answered.

  Lois gave a soft hiccup and the tears began to fall. Kalina reached across the table and took the woman’s hand in comfort. Jimmy was on his feet retrieving napkins a moment later. Lois hiccupped again and sniffled a little more and then settled herself. Wiping at her eyes and cheeks, she said, “I’m so sorry. I just haven’t thought about those poor children in a long time. The idea that both of them survived is just overwhelming.”

  “We understand. Ms. Hendrix, thank you for talking to us today. We should let you get back to your day,” Jimmy said with a smile.

  “Please find out who killed Paige.”

  “We’ll do our best,” Jimmy said and stood as she did.

  Kalina reached out to stop her before she got too far. “One last thing, do you know how Mr. and Mrs. Fischer died?”

  Lois shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I believe Abigail had a sister … Bethany Fairfax. She might know.”

  “Thank you.”

  Lois shuffled out of the coffee shop. Jimmy settled back into his chair as soon as she was gone and exhaled. “I think the brother might be alive, too.”

  “I got that feeling, too. I don’t know what happened that got them Marblehead but something did. And if she was abusive towards him, it would give him a very clear motive for wanting her dead,” Kalina agreed.

  They stayed put until Jimmy finished his coffee. Kalina watched as people passed by the windows, oblivious to the world around them. A part of her missed the busy streets of Boston and the fast-paced lifestyle. But the part of her that returned to her roots and was content with her life as it was quickly shut down that longing. She had everything she’d always wanted back home in Ellesworth. Jimmy nudged her shoulder and brought her back to her surroundings.

  “I just got a text from the captain. He wants me back at the station as soon as possible. He says he’s got something interesting to share from the Maxwells.”

  Kalina heaved herself out of the chair and after a quick trip to the restroom she headed outside in the summer heat to wait for Jimmy to return with the car.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Thanks to traffic headed out of the city to the beach, it took them longer than they’d hoped to get back to Ellesworth. It was almost noon by the time Jimmy pulled into the parking lot of the police station. Kalina made a beeline for the restroom while Jimmy headed into Chris’s office. On her way back, she spotted a couple who were probably in their sixties sitting in the interview room. The door was open and no one seemed to be paying them any attention. She assumed they were the Maxwells. She heard Chris’s voice in his office and she gravitated in that direction, eager to hear what had been interesting enough to make Jimmy race back to town.

  “They got her a few months after the twins were presumed dead. She didn’t speak for a while after that. Eventually, she told them her name was Verona,” Chris said.

  Kalina walked in and neither man reacted. She settled in one of the chairs across from her husband’s desk and said, “I think she got the name Verona from Shakespeare. She was obsessed with his work according to Lois Hendrix.”

  “Interesting fact.”

  “Have you considered that maybe Patrick survived, too?” Jimmy asked.

  Chris rubbed at his forehead. “I have but there’s no evidence of that. At least not yet.”

  “Sir, did you bring us back here just to tell us she was mute for a while?” Jimmy asked.

  “No. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell shared with me that after she started talking again, they put her in therapy. They overheard her talking to herself, having whole conversations with herself, but when they asked her about it, it was like she didn’t remember.”

  “Or she wouldn’t admit to them that she was talking to herself. I know I’m not a doctor or anything but what if she didn’t know Patrick survived? What if that was her way of coping with the loss of her brother?” Kalina said.

  “It’s as reasonable a theory as anything else,” Chris agreed.

  Before they could continue the conversation, the email inbox on Chris’s computer flashed with a new message. The subject line, “Maxwell autopsy results,” caught Kalina’s attention and she leaned forward to try to get a better look as Chris opened the email. He skimmed the report too quickly for her to read anything, which annoyed her a little. Her annoyance level increased when he grabbed a tablet and strode out of the room without a word. She and Jimmy exchanged confused looks and trailed after him. Chris appeared on the monitor connected to the interview room where Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell sat side by side.

  “We’ve just received some medical information on your daughter,” Chris said and sat down opposite the couple. “She has old scars that are at least ten years old. Care to explain?”

  Mrs. Maxwell pressed her fingers to her lips and glanced at her husband. She blinked rapidly several times before speaking. “We thought the therapy was working. She’d stopped talking to herself as much. But we didn’t realize she’d started hurting herself. It was never enough to have her hospitalized for injuries but it was worrying.”

  “She got the treatment she needed and has been fine ever since,” Mr. Maxwell insisted. “She was running a small beauty boutique. She was happy and successful.”

  Kalina bit her lip. They hadn’t been able to share the knowledge that Paige had abused her brother. Chris would no doubt find it useful.

  “Did Verona ever talk about a boy named Patrick to you?”

  “No.” Mr. Maxwell placed a hand on his wife’s forearm. “Who is that?”

  Chris set the tablet down and tapped the screen a couple of times. Through the monitor, Kalina watched as he presented them with a photo of Paige and Patrick from the local paper. “This is Verona and her twin brother, Patrick, shortly before they were presumed dead in a boating accident. Her name back then was Paige. Paige Fischer.”

  “Presumed dead?”

  Chris nodded. “We only found out that Paige survived the boat accident when we ran your daughter’s fingerprints.”

  “What about DNA? Have you done a DNA test?” Mrs. Maxwell’s voice barely carried over the monitor’s audio.

  “We’re still trying to find a DNA sample from when Paige went missing to compare,” Chris answered.

  “Do you think someone found out she was Paige and came after her?” Mr. Maxwell asked.

  Chris was quiet for a moment, likely contemplating his next words before he answered. “We’re working every angle. Did your daughter have any enemies that you were aware of?”

  “No. Everyone liked her. After she got over her trauma, she was lovely to everyone. No one had a bad word to say about her.” Mrs. Maxwell lapsed into quiet weeping.

  “She was seeing someone new. She seemed quite serious about him,” Mr. Maxwell added.

  “Do you have his name?” Chris asked.

  “No, I’m sorry.”

  Kalina looked away from the monitor to wipe at her eyes. Maybe it was the fact that she was about to become a mother, but she could feel Mrs. Maxwell’s loss for her child. Jimmy pressed a tissue into her hand and smiled at him in thanks. She was vaguely aware of Chris telling the Maxwe
lls that he would be in touch if he found anything else before they walked out, hand in hand. Neither of them gave Kalina or Jimmy a second glance as they moved past and to the front of the building.

  “I need to call the techs and see if they’ve had any luck enhancing the surveillance footage,” Chris said.

  “I think you should take a break and get something to eat first. Come on, I’m buying,” Kalina said. She wanted to fill him on what they’d learned from Lois Hendrix and maybe she could convince him to let her tag along when he interviewed Abigail Fischer’s sister.

  Chris opened his mouth, likely to protest, but Jimmy stepped up and gave them both a smile. “You get something to eat, Captain. I can hold down the fort here. Besides, I think Kal’s got some really good information for you.”

  Kalina barely hid the smile on her face as she headed for the front of the building. She waited for Chris to join her, ready to enjoy a nice, leisurely stroll through town in the warm summer air. As she shielded her eyes from the sun, taking in the tree line that bordered the far edge of the station’s parking lot, she could swear she saw someone watching her. That same sense that had settled over her in the cemetery hit her again. Was this Verona’s killer? Had he still been in the cemetery when Kalina had been drawn to the site of Verona’s murder? A shiver danced up her spine and she wrapped her arms around her torso to ward off the chill.

  “You OK?” Chris asked as he finally joined her.

  “Am I crazy or is there someone over there in the trees?” she asked in a whisper.

  Chris followed her gaze but shook his head. “I don’t see anyone. Come on, let’s go find something to eat. I think maybe we’re both just hungry.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A half hour later, they sat across from each other at home. They hadn’t intended to go all the way home for food but somehow they’d just wandered by the restaurants that peppered both sides of Main Street.

  “I need to tell you what we found out from Lois Hendrix,” Kalina said as she blew the steam off the spoonful of soup in front of her.