Rex snorted. “Women. You can never count on them. They never stop talking.”
I tried not to look too bemused, and thankfully, Beth didn’t make any remarks about pots calling kettles black. But now Rex had gotten on a roll, and he said, “I told Wendy to keep it quiet. I thought I could trust her. I mean, she didn’t want her husband to find out, and I didn’t want Tim knowing anything about us. But boohoo. Can she keep her word? No.” He seethed silently for a while.
I gave him a few seconds to calm down, and then I said, “Did anyone else know?”
Rex shook his head vehemently. “Not even my best friends. And man, I wanted to tell the whole world that this gorgeous woman was sleeping with me, you know? She’s beautiful, she’s smart, she’s got a good job. She could have any man, and she picked me. Me.” He gestured to himself. “I’ve never gotten so lucky before. And yeah, it was great to stick it to that old bugger, Tim. After he went and tried to swindle me out of my share of his café, good for him, right? He got what he deserved. I got his woman, and he died. He deserved to die.”
Rex shut his mouth suddenly, as though he’d said too much, and I peered at him closely.
Beth said, “Why do you think he deserved to die?”
Rex shook his head. “I didn’t mean that. I got a bit carried away. Sorry.”
“But why did you say that?”
Rex thought for a second and then shrugged. “Look, I was never actually that fond of Tim, especially after he took my share of the café and paid me peanuts. And can I help it if he’s a fool who doesn’t treat women like they should be treated? He can have all the floozies in the world. If a woman like Wendy agreed to marry me, I’d never look at another woman again. Not even if Cindy Crawford walked in here buck naked.”
I couldn’t help smiling at his enthusiasm. “So you want to marry Wendy?”
He grew wary again. “It’s possible now, isn’t it? You think she’ll say yes?”
Beth and I looked at each other, and then Beth said, “Anything’s possible. Unless she was just using you to get Tim killed.”
Rex laughed. “You really think I had something to do with that loser’s death?” He shook his head. “No, no. The man got what was coming to him, but I had nothing to do with it.”
I said, “But I’m sure you knew that it’d work out well for you if Tim died. After all, you’d get to be with Wendy. And you must’ve expected that Tim would leave the café to Wendy. Which’d mean, you’d get both Wendy and the café. Really sticking it to Tim.”
Rex laughed. “That’s creative. But I know the guy was bludgeoned with a sledgehammer, and I try not to do too much heavy lifting. It’s not good for my back. So no, I didn’t kill Tim to get his woman and his café.”
I believed him. If nothing else, the man in the surveillance tapes wasn’t half as wide as Rex was.
Beth said, “And what about Wendy? You think she killed him?”
Rex’s eyes grew wary again. “Women, right? You just can’t trust them. If I were Wendy, I would’ve killed Tim. She really hated him.” He thought for a few seconds and then he shook his head. “But she wouldn’t go and try to mess up the café. It doesn’t make sense.” He glanced at his watch and stood up. “I hate to be rude, but I’ve got an appointment to get to. I’m late already.”
Beth and I reluctantly stood up and said our goodbyes. Once we were in the car, Beth said, “You know, his life really is so much better now that Tim’s dead. He can ask Wendy to marry him. He can brag about her to all his friends.” Her eyes grew a little dreamy. “How sweet is it that he wants to brag about her so much?”
“It is sweet,” I agreed. Sitting in the parking lot, Beth and I watched the sky slowly turn red. “Wendy seems to have done well. But I’m not entirely sure—”
I stopped mid sentence as we saw Rex getting into a car. “I wonder where he’s going in such a rush,” I mused.
“Let’s find out,” Beth said.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
We tailed Rex all the way to Mike’s apartment building, surprised by his choice of venue.
“I had no idea the two were friends,” Beth said, switching off the engine. “Should we wait? Or walk in on them?”
“Let’s wait,” I said. “This might be interesting.”
Mike was gone for what felt like forever. The streetlights came on as the sun set, and slowly, the night’s darkness surrounded us. Somehow, the nighttime seemed more serious than the day—quieter, colder. Full of secrets.
As we waited, Beth said, “D’you think the two of them worked together to kill Tim?”
I shrugged. “They’ve both benefited from his death. Who knows?”
We waited for a few more minutes and were just about to give up, when Rex emerged from the building. He glanced to either side, and Beth and I slunk low in our seats, hoping that he wouldn’t see us. Once again, I was glad that Beth’s car was one that was common in Santa Verona and seemed to always blend in with the background of palm trees and bright blue skies.
Rex set off again, with Beth and me following him. Once again, his choice of venue surprised us. This time, he’d chosen to visit Tim’s café.
We parked on the other side of the street and waited nervously.
“What if he’s trying to hide some evidence?” Beth said.
I shook my head. “We searched the place thoroughly. There’s nothing left to hide.”
“Maybe we should walk in.”
“The place is creepy,” I said.
“But there are people around now,” Beth reminded me. “It’s not so bad.”
I relented. “We can peer through the windows,” I suggested. “That way, we can see what Rex is up to without having to go inside.”
Beth nodded her agreement, and we crossed the street, just as Rex emerged from the building.
“You two!” he said when he saw us. “What’re you doing here?”
“We could ask you the same thing,” I said, glancing at him suspiciously. He didn’t seem to be holding any bags, and he didn’t seem to have brought anything out of the building.
“I’m thinking of buying the place,” Rex said. “Now that Tim’s gone, and Mike wants to sell, I thought maybe I could go back to being the owner. I know how to run it and what kinds of stuff the customers like. I’ll get rid of Kandy, of course. Mike tells me she was lazy and Tim only kept her around because he was sleeping with her. What do you girls think? It’s a good investment, right? I’m trying to get Mike to give me the murder discount. Who wants to eat at a place where someone got killed?”
He went on for a few minutes, not quite noticing the surprise in Beth and my eyes. If he bought it for a discount, he’d really get back at Tim for paying him less for his share, Rex said. And this place was popular. And what did we think? Were pancakes better or waffles—no, he’d have both on the menu.
By the time fifteen minutes had rolled by, Beth and I had gotten tired of standing on the sidewalk listening to Rex. I rolled my eyes at Beth, wondering briefly if Rex’s talkativeness was an act, designed to bore us into leaving him alone. But I decided against it.
“Well, look at me, standing here and keeping you. And I’ve got a date tonight, too! Don’t want to keep her waiting.” He gave us a wink. “I’ve got to hurry back to Mike’s place to give him back the keys.”
“Why don’t we do that?” I volunteered. “We have to go see Mike, anyway.”
“Would you do that?” Rex said. “That’d be great. This way I can just go straight home and change.”
“It’s not a problem,” Beth said, taking the café key from Rex. “We’ll see you around.”
Once we were back in the car, Beth turned to me and said, “What did you want to talk to Mike about?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But at least we can check out Rex’s story.”
Beth nodded, and as we headed over to Mike’s apartment again, I thought back to that creepy message on my answering machine. Anyone we’d talked to could’ve left it, and I decided to
be safe and stay over at Beth’s apartment again.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I knocked on Mike’s door, and it was opened within seconds.
He seemed to be surprised to see me and Beth, and blinked at us like a goldfish.
“Cat got your tongue?” Beth said, smiling.
Mike shook his head. “I was expecting Rex.”
“Well, can we come in?”
He ushered us inside, but when I stepped in, I wished we’d never asked for the invite.
Neve was sitting on the sofa, her bare legs crossed over each other. She was wearing a sleeveless light blue polka-dotted dress that highlighted her blue eyes, and her blond hair looked perfectly in place.
“Hello, girls,” she said. Her voice held a trace of amusement. “How’s your investigation going?”
“Good.” I looked at her suspiciously. Beth and I sat down on the chairs opposite the sofa, and Mike sat next to Neve. “How ’bout you?”
“That’s why I’m here,” she said. “I found out who did it.”
I tried to hide my impatience, but her gloating was getting on my nerves. “Who?”
“Whitney from Sara’s Steakhouse next door!” Neve said triumphantly. “She hated Tim for selling his place just when she wanted to sell hers. And of course, nobody wanted her place because it was dark and smoky, and Tim’s was light and modern.”
I shook my head. “Whitney had an alibi for that night.”
“She was with her sister?” said Neve. “Well, I talked to her sister. She said the two of them stepped out to take a walk along the pier. They drove separately and Whitney joined her fifteen minutes later. All the time she needed to kill Tim.”
I glanced at Mike, and he looked as skeptical as I felt. “I don’t think this’ll hold up in court,” he said.
“On top of all that,” continued Neve, “I had a nice, long chat with Liam. He turned out to be really sweet.” She glanced at me, and I tried not to flinch. Sure, Liam seemed sweet at first. But if Neve really did spend some time getting to know him, she’d soon discover that Liam was anything but. And it was just like Liam to start messing up my life again. “Liam told me that the cops found a stud earring belonging to Whitney in the café. When she was interviewed she claimed it must’ve fallen off at some point when she was having breakfast in the café a few days ago. But now it seems pretty obvious that it must’ve fallen off when she was busy waving that sledgehammer about.”
“It’s still nothing conclusive,” Beth said flatly.
“I can’t prove Whitney did it,” Neve said. “But it’s enough to cast a reasonable doubt. Whitney’s got motive, and there’s evidence that possibly puts her at the scene during the murder.” She looked at us smugly, and I felt the silence settle in for one long moment.
“So you agree?” Mike asked, breaking the silence and looking from me to Beth.
“It should work in a trial,” Beth admitted. “It’s not foolproof, but it’s something.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Mike said. “Which was what I had in the beginning. When I hired you guys, I was sure I’d be going to jail.” His body sagged with relief, and he leaned back.
Neve looked at him and smiled sweetly. “It’s much better than nothing,” she assured him. She reached out and began to massage the back of his neck. “You’re so tense,” she said. “I can make that better. In fact, I have made it better. I’ve found out what you needed.” She looked at Beth and me, and her eyes glittered with pride. She’d gotten what Mike needed, and now she’d have Mike and the café to herself.
“And how are you two feeling?” Neve continued, her voice laced with saccharine sweetness. She stopped massaging Mike’s neck for a minute to flip her blond hair over to the other side. “You know, the papers were full of that murder you solved when you came back here. ‘Hollywood Celebrity Screenwriter Solves Murder.’” She laughed. “I’m sure they’d love to hear how a PI in training beat you two out to solve this case.”
“It’s not solved,” Beth reminded her, sounding unhappy about the way things had unfolded. “There’s no proof. It’s just reasonable doubt.”
“Very reasonable indeed,” said Neve. “Whitney walked in to vandalize Tim’s café, and then when he walked in, she got furious and killed him, losing an earring during the scuffle.”
“And what about the sledgehammer?” I said. “Where did that appear from? It doesn’t sound like enough time to me.”
Neve shrugged. “Maybe she told her sister she planned to be a bit late? Who knows, who cares?”
I shook my head. The story wasn’t adding up. “There’s more to it.”
“Sure, honey,” said Neve. “Keep telling yourself that. In the meantime, I’ve worked this case for free, and Mike’s wasted money hiring you two. What a shame.” She looked at Mike and gave him a fake sympathetic smile.
Mike glanced from Neve to me. “So if the case is wrapped up,” he said slowly, “I have to pay you two now?”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” Neve said snidely.
“Beth and I aren’t finished,” I assured Mike, but I could hear the doubt in my own voice. If Whitney’s alibi had such massive holes in it, then Whitney had both motive and opportunity. It would probably be enough for a jury to acquit Mike. And given the dead ends that kept turning up throughout the investigation, this was probably the best that Mike could hope for.
“Well,” Mike said, “at least can you return the stand mixer that you took from the kitchen? If Rex buys the place, he’ll want the stand mixer, and if Neve doesn’t want a mixer, I can sell it online for a few hundred.”
I looked at the floor and pursed my lips.
Beth nodded. “Sure, no problem.”
“I’m waiting for Rex to come and return the key,” Mike said. “He went to have a look at the place today before making an offer.”
I’d almost forgotten. “Actually, we ran into him at the café. I’ve got the key on me.”
“Great,” said Mike. His voice was flat, his disappointment in us apparent. “Then you can just leave the stand mixer in there tonight.”
Beth and I looked at him and nodded. There didn’t seem to be anything more to say.
“How sad, that you two couldn’t find this out before me,” Neve said. “I guess I’m just better at this than you two are.” She laughed, an annoying, trilling laugh. Beth and I shared a just kill me now glance, and then I turned to Neve.
I forced a smile onto my face, and said, “Congratulations on finding out about Whitney before us.”
“Why, thank you,” Neve said, pretending to tip an imaginary hat. “How kind of you, a famous Hollywooder, to acknowledge that.”
I glanced at Mike, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“See you later,” I mumbled and headed out with Beth.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I’m really sorry,” Beth said once we were back in my apartment. Pixie was watching us closely from her cage, and every now and then she preened the feathers under her wings.
“Why’re you sorry?” I said. We were both miserable, and we were indulging in carrot-walnut cake from the day before. “It’s not your fault.”
“No.” Beth sighed. “Maybe we wasted time making these cakes.”
“Time spent baking cakes is never a waste,” I said staunchly. “I’m the one who insisted on watching those surveillance tapes and chatting with Kandy.”
We ate in silence for a bit, and then we took Pixie out and played with her. We put her in her harness and tried to get her to fly around, but she preferred to snuggle on my shoulder.
“Let’s go put that mixer back,” Beth suggested.
I made a face. I didn’t feel like heading back to the café—not with this humiliation fresh in our minds. In the end, we ordered Thai food and tried to find something we’d missed out on earlier over pad thai and Massaman curry.
“This is useless,” Beth said finally. “The best we can do is to tell Mike that Rex and Wendy were having an affair, and they m
ight’ve had something to do with the death, too. Wendy gets some money and Rex can marry her.”
I nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. Then at least we’ll have contributed about as much as Neve.”
It wasn’t a very satisfying end to things, but at least we would’ve added something to the case that might help Mike. We could even waive the rest of our fee for Mike, but then I wouldn’t be able to buy all those new toys that I’d planned to get for Pixie.
“It sucks,” said Beth. “But Neve just rushed through everything and figured it out before us.”
We put the takeout containers in the trash and decided we couldn’t put off returning the mixer any longer.
“Let’s take Pixie with us,” Beth suggested. “Now that she’s got a harness and all. It could be an adventure.”
“Sure,” I said, trying to sound more enthusiastic than I felt. “Let’s go, Pixie.”
We headed out, trying to bolster each other’s spirits. Pixie purred softly in my ear and seemed to be the only one genuinely interested in our outing.
Chapter Thirty
By the time Beth and I got to Tim’s café, the lights in Sara’s Steakhouse had gone out, and the shops along the street had closed up for the night.
We crossed the street and headed over to the café. Beth said, “This is even creepier than it was during the day. I’m glad we brought Pixie along.”
We glanced at the parrot, who was busy sitting on my shoulder and preening. She was the furthest thing from a guard dog, but her presence was comforting. We stood just beyond the café door and glanced around. The street was empty of passersby, and even the luminosity of the streetlights seemed rather ghostly.
“Is that a light inside the café?”
The two of us pressed our noses against a window and tried to see inside. A dim glow did seem to be emanating from inside the café, but it was hard to tell for sure.
“Maybe Rex turned one of the lights on and forgot to turn it off,” I said. Or maybe it was Tim’s ghost, come to haunt us for borrowing his stand mixer. I pushed that thought out of my mind, stepped over the crime-scene tape, and turned the key in the lock.
Dessert, Diamonds and Deadly Secrets Page 11