“Such a sad day,” Viv said as she walked up to George. “Did you know her well?”
George shot me a nervous glance. Good grief, I tried to look as non-menacing as possible.
“She’d only worked for Solis for a couple of months, but I talked to her on several occasions. She was a sweet girl.” He slid his gaze over to me as if to say, Unlike some people.
“Tragic, that two beautiful lives are lost.” Viv turned and patted the girl on the arm. “I’m so sorry for you loss. Was she a friend or a relative of yours?”
“A friend,” the girl said hoarsely. “Just a friend. I worked with her.”
“I can see that you two must have been close.”
The girl tilted her head and nodded. “We’d become close. She said she wanted me to be the godmother to her baby.”
“You poor, poor thing. You’re doubly heartbroken then, aren’t you?”
Okay, Viv knew what she was doing. The girl had obviously been waiting for someone to feel sorry for her. After that it didn’t take much effort to get the girl off to the side and find out that her name was Stephanie, she’d worked for Tony for over a year, and she and Lucinda had talked about taking a trip to the beach together before it got cold and Lucinda got too pregnant to wear a two-piece bathing suit.
I tuned out for a while, thinking that a nine-months pregnant Lucinda would still look better in a bathing suit – no matter how many pieces it consisted of – than I did. I thought again about Tony and the look of guilt on his face when he’d told me he’d given Lucinda his necklace.
My ears perked back up when I heard the words “Rey” and “jerk” in the same sentence.
“She was dating Rey?” Viv asked.
I angled forward. This was suddenly quite interesting.
“Not anymore.” Stephanie cast a glance of disgust over toward Rey and Sylvia. “She came here to get away from that –” She broke off and shook her head. “She came here to get away from him.”
“Why?” Viv was beyond being cautious now.
“Because he’s a jerk who abused her. He beat her up and called her a whore and told her the baby wasn’t his.”
“He what?”
She looked at me, surprised, I guess, that I was still there. “He said the baby wasn’t his.”
“But the baby was his, right?”
She glared. “Of course it was his. They’d dated for almost a year before she broke up with him and moved here.”
“Do you know Rey’s mother, Sylvia?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Not very well. I went over there a couple of times to pick up Lucinda, but I never talked to her. Lucinda said she didn’t talk much.”
That didn’t sound like the Sylvia I knew. The Sylvia I knew talked to everyone.
“Did Syliva know Rey was the father of Lucinda’s baby?”
“That’s the only reason she agreed to let Lucinda live with her. Rey wasn’t taking very good care of Lucinda, so Sylvia said she could live with her till she got on her feet and could provide for the baby.”
“So Lucinda got pregnant, Rey refused to take care of her, and Sylvia volunteered to help her out?”
Now that sounded like Sylvia. Always cleaning up Rey’s messes.
“Tony kind of made Sylvia take her in, from what Lucinda said. Well, Tony and his mom did. Tony said he’d give Lucinda a job, but someone else had to give her a place to stay because she shouldn’t be living with him since they weren’t married or anything. Tony’s mom said Sylvia had to do it.”
Geez, he sounded like someone from Little House on the Prairie days. While Tony worried about impropriety, I’d lost count of the men I’d slept with and the girlfriends I’d betrayed, and good old Mrs. Solis, still bossing everyone around, just like old times.
“How did she feel about the baby? Was she excited about a grandchild?”
Stephanie shrugged again. “She never really talked about it much. Lucinda said she’d ask questions about how many men she’d dated, stuff like that. Like she agreed with Rey that the baby probably wasn’t his.”
I wondered if they had done a DNA test with the autopsy.
Would it matter who the father of Lucinda’s unborn baby was? I cast a glance over at Rey. He wore a starched white shirt, dark slacks and mirrored sunglasses. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel him staring back at me, the slime.
He did it. I felt in my bones that he was the one who had killed Lucinda, and then tried to put the blame on Tony.
Of course, I had absolutely nothing to back up this theory other than an intense dislike for the guy, and I doubted that would carry much weight in court.
I turned back to Stephanie. “Who do you think would have done this to Lucinda?”
She was quiet for a minute. “I don’t really know. I mean, it could have been anyone, I guess. I was always a little creeped out in that church, to be honest, because it’s so close to the bus station. There are always a lot of homeless people walking around. I was afraid one of them would sneak in and hide somewhere and wait for me.”
“Do you think that’s what happened to Lucinda? Some unstable or drugged up homeless person hiding out in the basement of the church killed her?”
She didn’t look especially convinced. “I don’t really know.”
“Do you think it could have been Rey?”
She looked over at him.
“Don’t look!” Viv snapped.
Stephanie whipped her head back, her eyes wide. “I – I don’t know. Maybe. I mean, he did beat her up and tell her he’d kill her before he let anyone else have her.”
“He did? Well then, that proves it, doesn’t it? He killed her!” I wanted to bang a gavel.
“Hush!” Viv said. “Chill out a little.”
She was right. Stephanie’s second-hand account wasn’t exactly proof of anything besides the fact that Rey was a lowlife, but it was something to pursue.
“Bobby needs to know this. I’ll bet he doesn’t even know about Rey at all. They’re so busy harassing Tony they probably haven’t looked at anyone else.”
A hand landed on my shoulder. “Hi, Salem. You’re looking…” He raked his gaze down to my feet and back up again and sneered. “…healthy.”
I felt my eyes bulge as I looked up at Rey’s smirking face. For a second I heard the Psycho music in my head. A cold-blooded murderer was touching me.
Then the fact that I’d been insulted penetrated my paranoid brain. I sidestepped away from him and sniffed. “What is that smell? Oh, I think it’s all that stuff in your hair. How are you, Rey?”
“My unborn child and her mother were murdered. How do you think I am? What are you doing here?”
“Paying my respects. So where were you the night Lucinda was killed? Have the police asked you that yet?”
Rey’s jaw twitched, and from the corner of my eye I swore I could see his fist clench.
“We’re here to show our support for the family during this time of mourning.” Viv stepped between me and Rey, bless her. “It’s a tragedy and we are so sorry for you loss. We both attend the church where Lucinda was murdered, and we want you to know that we’re here for you during your time of need.”
I raised my eyebrow. We were?
“Salem goes to church? My, how things have changed.”
Man, I really wished I had a comeback for that one. I had to settle for more glaring-mixed-with-disdain.
I kind of hoped Viv would whip out one of her zingers in my defense but she just nodded. “Yes, of course, times do change. If you or any of your family needs the church’s help for anything, please do not hesitate to ask. Just call the front desk and they’ll know who to put you in contact with. Please accept our condolences.”
She turned again to Stephanie. “Thank you again for talking with us. We are so sorry for your loss as well. This is a very difficult time, but we’re confident that Lucinda and her child are both in a better place and we know God will make sure justice prevails.”
She too
k me by the elbow and steered me back to the car. I waited till we were buckling up before I asked her, “What was all that about? You’re being nice to the killer? What’s up with that?”
“That was about building a false sense of confidence. The police are not looking at him right now, so there’s a possibility he’s left some kind of evidence somewhere that will exonerate Tony. If we let him know someone suspects him, he’ll look closer at covering his tracks.”
That made sense. Still, it was morally wrong for her to be nice to someone who’d insulted me, oh, and had probably murdered someone. “Do you really think Rey did it?”
She waved a hand. “He could have. The main thing is, he is a suspect worth looking into, and if it takes the heat off Tony, then we’re making progress.”
Apparently for Viv, truth and justice didn’t necessarily have to go hand in hand, but she was right. Rey could have done it. He had a history of violence and had stated that he would kill Lucinda – well, that part was hearsay, but still – and that was more than a little noteworthy. Bobby would want to have that information. It could help Tony out.
If Rey happened to be put in jail for the rest of his life in the process, so much the better.
We drove to the police station. “Please don’t be having any fake heart attacks while we’re in here, okay?”
“I’ll try,” Viv said resolutely, tucking her handbag under her arm.
Bobby was getting coffee off a stand in the hallway when we came in. “Hey, it’s my favorite mystery-solving duo. How’s the case going?”
“We have a new lead.” Viv lifted her chin. “We’d appreciate the opportunity to discuss it with you. If you have the time, of course.”
Good. She was going with the quiet-and-respectful-determination routine.
“Of course.” Bobby motioned with his head toward his office. “In here.”
“You feeling okay?” he asked Viv as he motioned for us to sit. “What did your doctor say?”
“He said I’m in excellent shape for a woman my age who has a bad heart. We just came from Lucinda Cruz’s funeral service.”
Bobby lifted an eyebrow and settled back in his chair. “Yes?”
“We were able to question a friend of Lucinda’s, one Stephanie Duncan. She had some interesting things to say.”
She waited for Bobby to ask what kind of interesting things. Bobby waited for Viv to spill it, refusing to ask. I got tired of this grown-up version of the game of chicken and leaned forward. “We think you need to take a look at Rey.”
“Rey who?”
“Rey Ramirez, Tony’s cousin. You remember him.”
Bobby nodded. “Vaguely. Why do you think we need to look at him?”
“He was Lucinda Cruz’s ex-boyfriend. He has a history of violence toward her, and he was heard to threaten that if he couldn’t have her, no one would.”
“Is that right?” He seemed singularly unimpressed.
“Bobby, come on. The guy is a snake and you know it. He beat her up, he threatened her. She was carrying his child, and she left him. He was furious and came after her. In a fit of jealous rage he killed her and framed Tony.”
“Nice theory.” He leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk. “But, unfortunately, I’m legally bound to work with facts, not theories, and your scenario doesn’t match up with the facts we have at this time.”
“Then get some new facts,” Viv snapped. “The man is an abuser of women!”
“I know that,” Bobby said calmly. He began to look a little worried, though. Probably didn’t want to get Viv riled into another heart attack.
“You do?”
He nodded again. “We’ve already checked him out. The Oklahoma City PD has a couple of arrests on him for assault, but assault’s not murder. He’s got an alibi, Salem. He was 350 miles away when the murder took place.”
Oh. Again, enough to make me wish I still cussed. “Are you sure?”
“Salem, I promise, we’re doing a thorough job on this investigation.” His eyes actually took on a soft look and instinctually I melted a little in my chair. “I know you want to believe your husband is innocent, and I swear to you, we’ll follow every lead and go over every piece of evidence with a fine-toothed comb. If he’s not guilty, he won’t be convicted. Period.”
Viv made a snorting noise. Bobby cast a glance toward her but remained silent. He turned back to me. “Listen. Tony Solis would not have been charged if we didn’t feel we had sufficient evidence to try him. We have to look at the facts, Salem, and I’ve got to be honest. It doesn’t look good for him.”
I took a stab in the dark. “Look, I already know about the St. Christopher thing.”
It was weird. It wasn’t as if “that’s it!” was instantly written all over Bobby’s face or anything. In fact, it was as if he was trying so hard not to show anything that I knew I’d hit something. So I kept pushing.
“He told me he’d given her the necklace because he had feelings for her. That’s why his necklace was at the crime scene, not because Tony was there.”
Bobby was silent for a long second. He leaned back in his chair and stared at me. The carefully blank look was gone, though, so I supposed that meant if I had been onto something, I was off it now.
“Salem, we don’t need the necklace to tie him to the crime scene. Surveillance video does that.”
“Surveillance video? What kind of church has surveillance video?”
“The kind that’s downtown across from the bus station, in an area that’s otherwise deserted at night.” He stood. “Look, I really do appreciate the fact that you want to help, but the first thing you need to do is leave the detective work to the detectives.”
I stood, frustrated. “But did you hear what I just said? Tony had feelings for her. Why would he kill her if he had feelings for her? He gave her his necklace, for crying out loud. I was his wife, and he never gave me his necklace. Why would he do that if he was going to kill her?”
“Well, if she was going back to Rey and he became jealous, he might have done it,” Viv said.
I whirled on her.
“What? I’m just thinking out loud!”
“Well, stop it.” I took her hand and led her to the door. I turned back to Bobby. “Promise me you won’t dismiss Rey out of hand. His alibi could be bogus. He could have done something to set Tony up. He’s like that. Tony’s not. Believe me, I know. Rey is the hothead. Did you even know Rey was the father of her baby?”
“I know we’re waiting for DNA tests to prove who the father is. That’s what I know.” He held the door for us. “I do appreciate your coming to me with your information.”
“Whatever,” Viv said. “If you’re not going to do anything with it, maybe next time we’ll just go straight to Tony’s lawyer.”
If anything, the episode made me feel even worse for Tony. We’d found an actual lead and yet we’d gotten nowhere.
We went back to Viv’s car and I sank into my seat, dejected enough that even Viv’s driving didn’t get my attention. “Tony is so screwed.”
“He is if you’re giving up that quickly.”
“What else can we do?”
“Keep digging. What do we have?”
“Besides nothing?”
“We have a likely suspect.”
“Who has an alibi.”
“So the first order of business is to find out what his alibi is. Bobby said Rey was in Oklahoma City when the murder occurred. So we can assume that someone there vouched for him, or that he has something that supposedly proves he was there.”
“So we’ll just go to Oklahoma City and ask around?”
Viv chewed her lip. Little hairs on her chin quivered when she did that. “We’ll think of something.” Which meant she had nothing. “One thing I do know. Lucinda Cruz was murdered with that St. Whozits thingy.”
“How do you know that?”
“Well, we know it’s important, right? I mean, it was in the crime scene stuff. And Bobby said they didn�
�t need it to tie Tony to the scene. And he got an awfully careful look on his face when you brought it up, which all points to the fact that it’s a big deal. So why would it be such a big deal unless it was a murder weapon?”
“We can’t just assume it was the murder weapon. It could be anything. Besides, didn’t the autopsy say something about blunt force trauma? How could a little gold medallion be heavy enough to kill someone?”
I remembered then about the guy at the funeral home – Herman – and his remark about the strangulation marks. “Could there be two causes of death?”
“Don’t you ever watch T.V.? There’s only one cause of death, but there can be multiple injuries.”
“So he strangled her and then knocked her over the head?”
“I guess. What a putz.”
An idea was forming in the back of my mind. I knew someone who had some experience with murder investigations, and might even have some inside information about this crime, someone who might be able to point us in a direction that could lead to something else.
It was someone I really, really didn’t want to talk to.
I groaned and wrapped my arms around my stomach.
“Do I need to pull over?” Viv asked.
“No, I’m okay. Do we have time to go see one more person?”
Viv looked at the digital clock on her dash. “Well, in fifteen minutes Belle Court will be serving their weekly Ice Cream Social in the Nifty Fifties Diner.” She made gagging noises. “You wouldn’t believe the stuff they try to pass off as ice cream. Low fat dairy-free crud. Where we going?”
“Channel Eleven. I know a girl there who might be able to help us dig up something. Trisha – I mean…” What did she call herself now? “Patrice Watson.”
Viv slapped the seat between us. “Get out! You know Patrice Watson? I love her! She needs to lose some weight, though.”
“Yeah, well, I knew her when she called herself Trisha and didn’t need to lose any weight. And just so you’ll know, she’s mad at me for some stuff I did while I was drinking, so there’s a good possibility she’s not going to feel very hospitable toward me.”
Viv shrugged. “Won’t be the first time someone’s not excited to see me.”
The receptionist who’d try to brush me off last time was standing with her back to us, talking to someone in the office behind her. I grabbed Viv’s arm, put my finger over my mouth to try and keep her quiet, and dragged her across to the swinging door toward the newsroom.
The Middle Finger of Fate (A Trailer Park Princess Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 17