by Renee George
“I’m here to see Mr. Greene. I had a three o’clock appointment.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“I know I’m a little late. Would you let him know I’m here?”
“Sure. Have a seat.”
I read a People Magazine from 2015 for ten minutes. What was it with celebrity relationships? They traded in spouses like most people did cars. Finally, the receptionist waved me over. “I’m sorry. Mr. Greene isn’t available. Would you like to reschedule your meeting?”
“Of course.” I pulled out my Tri-State Council Security badge and showed it to her. “Mr. Greene can meet me at the sheriff’s department for an official interview about Evelyn’s death. How about tonight after he gets off work?”
“He…uh, well, let me see if he can squeeze you in.” Sally toddled on high heels as she hurried to Milo’s office. Two minutes later, she stepped out. In a conspiratorial tone, she said, “Mr. Greene says he’ll push back his other appointments and see you now.”
“That’s mighty kind of him.” I tipped my chin to Sally and walked into Greene’s office.
Milo Greene stood as I entered. He wore a tan suit that fit his slender build and narrow shoulders. It wasn’t off the rack, but it wasn’t high end either. It screamed upper-middle-class businessman. He had chestnut brown hair, cut short and neat. His bushy brows curtained his hazel-blue eyes. “Ms. Boden, do come in.”
“I’m in,” I told him, closing the door behind me.
My response threw him off balance, but he quickly recovered. “I’m sorry for the mix-up. I’m happy to talk to any investigator for the Council.”
Sunny had been right about the badge opening doors. “I’m happy to hear that. I’m sure President Stenson will be pleased to hear about your eagerness to cooperate.” Not that I had any intention of telling the Council leader about Milo unless what he told me impacted the case. “When did you last see the victim, Evelyn Meyers?” I knew what he’d told Deputy Connelly, but I wanted to hear his account from his mouth.
His gaze flickered up for a second. “We finished rehearsals at six o’clock. I didn’t talk to Evel—Ms. Meyers,” he amended, “except to the discuss the play. I drove home right after, and I didn’t leave my house the rest of the evening.”
“Where is your house in relation to Ms. Meyers’ home?”
He grunted at the question. “Well, my wife and I live in the house right next to hers. On the right,” he added.
I recalled that one being the double deck with a gazebo. I frowned. “And you went straight home.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t see anyone next door at her house?”
“No, after a long day, I can sometimes get engrossed in the television.”
“Is that what you did that night?”
“What?”
“Get engrossed in television?”
“Uhm, yes.”
“What did you watch?”
His posture stiffened. “These questions seem unnecessary.”
“I’ll decide what’s unnecessary, Mr. Greene. Now, what did you watch?”
He clenched his jaw and broke eye contact. “South Park,” he mumbled.
“What?”
“I was watching old episodes of South Park on SetFlicks.” He gave me a look that dared me to laugh, so I did. His discomfort was due to good old-fashioned embarrassment. “I find Kenny and his friends relaxing,” he said, his voice defensive.
“I’m not judging.” I had my own SetFlicks subscription, and I’ve watched shows I’d never admit to in adult company. “You and Ms. Meyers were neighbors. Were you friends?”
“Evel—Ms. Meyers didn’t have friends.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be honest, Ms. Boden. I didn’t know Evelyn that well.”
First, I was a firm believer that when a person prefaced a statement with “I’ll be honest,” it usually meant they were being anything but honest, and the fact that Milo Greene struggled to not use Evelyn’s first name told me he didn’t want me to know just how well he knew her. “Did Ms. Meyers keep her money here at Peculiar Community?”
“Yes, I believe she did. Most of the locals bank with us.”
I studied his office. There was a portrait of Milo with a blonde woman with a heart-shaped face and turned up nose. “Is that your wife?”
“Yes.” He gave me a tight-lipped smile.
“Is she friends with Ms. Meyers?”
His abrupt, “No,” pulled me up short. His reaction went far beyond embarrassment about his TV viewing choices. He was hiding something.
“And if I wanted to talk to Mrs. Greene, would she be at home this afternoon?”
Milo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “My wife is staying with her parents right now. She went back this morning.”
Trouble in paradise? “Why is that?”
“Her mother hasn’t been well,” he said. He straightened, trying to appear indignant. “I find this whole line of questioning distasteful and irrelevant.”
“As I said earlier, I’ll decide what’s important.” I noticed a brightly colored bird figurine on his desk. It looked similar to the one I saw in Evelyn’s home office. “What kind of bird is this?”
Milo sucked his teeth in annoyance. “I have no idea.” He slid open his desk drawer and put the figurine inside. If it wasn’t important, why would he feel the need to hide a desk trinket? “I have work to do, Ms. Boden. Are we through?”
“No. Did you handle Ms. Meyers money personally?”
“I told you I barely knew the woman.”
“You barely knew a woman who had close to a million dollars in your bank?”
“What makes you think Ms. Meyers has that much money?”
I couldn’t exactly tell him about the accounting books, so I let my silence do the talking.
“If she does,” he finally said. “I don’t know anything about it.”
“You’ll excuse me if I find that hard to believe. I’ve been in Peculiar enough to know that there aren’t many folks in town with that kind of scratch.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“Are you a liar, Mr. Greene?”
He ignored the question. “I can’t give you information about our customers or their accounts.”
“Until I get a warrant.”
Milo stood up, obviously rattled. He fished a card from his desk. “If you have any more questions for me, call my solicitor.”
“Why do you need a lawyer?” I asked as I got up and took the card. “Did you kill Evelyn?”
He paled. “No, I did not. I know my rights. I don’t have to talk to you.”
“You know your human rights, sure. But you must also follow therian laws, and they’re quite different.”
“Either way, I’m entitled to a lawyer. If you need anything else, contact Harrison Walker. He’s in Osage Beach.”
“This Walker guy, is he an integrator?”
“Yes, he’s an opossum therian, so he knows all about shifter laws.”
I curled my lip. “Fine. I expect you’ll bring him to your follow-up interview.” At the door, I turned back, and added, “Oh, and I’ll be sure to let President Stenson know just how cooperative you were.”
Milo blanched, but he didn’t ask me to stay. I moved him to the top of my suspect list. First, he didn’t have an alibi, and second, he lied about how well he knew Evelyn, and third, he lied about knowing how much money she had.
I exited the bank and jumped into my truck. Evelyn Meyers’ house deserved a second look, and now that I was officially on the case, I could pick up the bank book and give it the thorough exam it deserved. I grabbed my phone and called the Sheriff’s Department. Eldin Farraday answered. The evening shift must have started already.
“I’m going out to Meyer’s place. Do you all have the key?”
“We already gave it a once over.”
“I know. I can’t shake the feeling we missed something.”
“You mean, you think we missed something.” Eldin grew quiet for a
moment, and then said, “I’ll meet you out there.”
When I arrived at Stony Park Villa, I parked next to the curb in front of Evelyn’s house. A forest green compact car was parked in the driveway. Would Eldin drive his personal car?
I got out of the truck. Nicole, the sheriff’s daughter, stood by the front door to the house.
“Hello,” I called. She turned, startled.
She pulled out her earbuds. “Hey,” she said. “Sorry, audiobook.” She indicated the buds. “I get caught up sometimes.”
“No problem. What are you doing out here?”
“Dad said it was okay.” She had a set of keys in her hand. “I told mom I’d pick out an outfit for Evelyn for the funeral.”
“Doctor Smith hasn’t released the body yet, has he?”
“He will eventually. I am trying to take care of as much stuff as I can so my mom doesn’t have to do it herself.”
I followed Nicole to the front entrance. She unlocked the door. “I’m sure Jean is grateful to have you home.” Sid had said she’d just graduated with her Ph.D. “What are your plans now that you’re out of college?” I had a four-year criminal justice degree and five months of police academy training, so I was familiar with the dedication it took for Nicole to finish an advanced degree.
“My plans are up in the air right now.”
I thought it strange that someone smart enough to get into a Stanford Ph.D. program didn’t have her entire future mapped out.
She held the door open for me, and we went inside. “Do you mind if I look through her closet and bureau before you?”
Nicole shrugged. “Sure, I’m not in any hurry.”
The master bedroom was on the main floor at the back of the hallway past the office, a utility closet, and a guest bathroom. I started with the walk-in closet. Evelyn had kept it neat and tidy like the rest of the house. She organized by style rather than color. Evening dresses, professional clothes, casual shirts, slacks, jeans, etc. It wasn’t overly fussed like someone with OCD, but it lacked the chaos of my closet. She had a shoe rack mounted on the back wall, with various heels, loafers, three pairs of tennis shoes, some booties, and a half-dozen sandals. There were a variety of colors and styles. The shoes were worn, nothing brand new. I’ve never been a clothes hound, but if I had Evelyn’s money, who knows. But she didn’t spend like someone who had a million bucks.
I found a step-stool folded next to the shoe rack. I opened it and stepped up to look at the shelves over the clothes rods. Evelyn had vacuum-packed comforters, quilts, and extra pillows in neat stacks. The only non-bedding item was a small, rose decoupage box with a dark pink lid. I retrieved it and got off the stool.
“What did you find?” Nicole asked.
“It’s a box.” I put it on the bed and lifted the lid. A stack of pictures, notes, letters, and other little treasures filled the container.
Nicole let out a noisy exhalation. I looked at her. “Sorry,” she said, a nervous giggle bubbling to the surface. “I guess I was holding my breath. I didn’t know what we’d find in there.”
“Were you worried she kept a severed head in it?”
Nicole laughed. “Maybe. This is my Aunt Evelyn we’re talking about. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found literal skeletons in the closet.”
“You weren’t close?”
“No. She made it perfectly clear that my mom and dad were scum. She tolerated me better than some, but the woman had a very rigid view of most people.” Nicole reached into the box and pulled out the stack of photos before I could stop her. “Hey, that’s my dad. Man, he looks so young here.”
“Is that your mom next to him?” I pointed at the woman next to a really handsome Sid.
“It looks kind of like her, but, no, I think it’s Evelyn.”
Uh oh. “Were your mom and her sister close growing up?”
“I have no idea. My folks didn’t talk much about Aunt Ev, and the little they did say was never flattering.” Nicole gave me an apprehensive look. “I know this sounds bad, but I promise you, my mom cared for Evelyn. Her sister’s death has affected her, so don’t think she’s or my dad is glad that Evelyn’s dead.”
“Jean is in some of these pictures,” I tugged one out and showed Nicole the photo. The sisters stood in front of a house I could only assume belonged to their parents. Jean and Evelyn look like friends. I wonder what changed.”
Nicole pushed her hair raven hair back behind her shoulders. I noticed little strands of white that would eventually become more abundant as she got older, giving her the salt and pepper appearance of her parents.
She put the pictures back in the box and closed the lid. “Whatever it was, happened before I was born. The past is the past for a reason.”
But I knew from experience that someone’s past often provided the motive for murder. Not even therians were immune from holding grudges.
“I’m done in the closet.” I searched the dresser drawers next. She had dedicated drawers for socks, underwear, nightgowns, bras, and body shapers. I looked on her bedside stand when the bureau produced nothing notable. The nightstand proved to be more interesting. Evelyn had a vibrator, lubricant, feminine wipes, and a few pictures of herself wearing a black negligee in boudoir poses.
Nicole peered over my shoulder. “That’s something you can’t unsee.” She grimaced. “Masturbation instruments ranks right up there with things you should never know about family members.”
“I don’t think it was all self-love for Evelyn,” I told her.
“What do you mean?” Nicole moved around me to get a better look.
I picked up the box of feminine wipes. Under was a box of Magnum condoms, and it was open and half empty. “I don’t think she was using these on her dildo.”
Evelyn Meyers had a lover. But who? And why hadn’t he come forward?
Chapter Fifteen
I left Nicole in the bedroom and headed to the office. “Willy?” Deputy Farraday said from the living room
“Here!” I answered.
He joined me in the hallway.
“How’d you get in?”
“Me,” Nicole said, peeking her head out from the bedroom. “Dad gave me the key.”
Eldin jangled the keys in his hand. “Hmm.”
“I was just heading to the office to poke around. Want to join me?” I asked Farraday.
“Sure.” He put the keys in his pocket and followed me down the hall.
We went into the first door on the right, and once I knew Nicole was out of earshot I said, “What was the hmm about?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that shit, Eldin. What is it about Nicole having keys that you didn’t like?” I prodded.
“We only found one set of house keys. They were in Ms. Meyers purse.”
“You all found the purse at the community center, right?”
“It was next to the queen’s throne.”
He was talking about the prop throne. “It’s possible Evelyn gave her sister a set of keys in case she lost hers.”
Eldin shrugged. “It’s possible.”
But the tension and distance between the two sisters made it improbable. I couldn’t help but think about the pictures of Sid and Evelyn when they were younger and the half empty box of condoms.
I shook my head.
“What?” Eldin asked.
“Nothing.”
He raised his brows, his expression amused. “Now who’s dishing shit?”
“It’s not that,” I told him. “The idea in my head is so ludicrous it doesn’t bear saying out loud.”
“Say it anyway.” His eyes, the silver-green color of juniper, held my gaze.
“Do you think Sheriff Taylor was having an affair with Evelyn?”
Eldin’s eyes widened, his lips parting with surprise. He burst out laughing. He laughed so hard a tear rolled down his cheek.
“All right,” I said sourly.
“What’s going on?” Nicole asked. “Did you find somet
hing funny?”
“I found something funny, all right,” Eldin wheezed. I smacked him on the arm and gave him a warning glare. I didn’t want him repeating to Nicole what I’d asked about her dad. To cover, Eldin picked up the figurine of the colorful bird. “Why would Ms. Meyers only keep one love bird? They usually come as a set.”
“What did you say?”
He turned the bird in his hand. “Lovebirds. I’ve seen these at a shop in Osage Beach. One of those tourist stores. The guy there sells them in sets.”
I took the figurine from him. “I think I know where its mate is.” I was also pretty sure I knew who’d been using those condoms. Milo Greene had a lot of explaining to do.
I walked to the other side of the desk and opened the middle drawer. “Sometimes these drawers have false bottoms.” I hated how phony I sound, but I continued the act by tugging on the organizer part. I lifted up and feigned surprise when it moved. A moment later, the surprise was real. The space was empty. “Did you all take anything into evidence from the office?”
“I don’t think so.”
“No logs or files or anything like that?”
“No. We didn’t find anything that pointed at a motive, so we left everything in place.”
Not everything. The bank ledger was gone.
My thoughts drifted back to that picture of Sid and Evelyn. I didn’t like what my gut was telling me. Was Sid tanking this investigation? I didn’t want to consider the sheriff would commit murder, much less obstruct an investigation. But I couldn’t dismiss him as a suspect, either.
Son-of-bitch.
*****
It was six by the time Eldin, and I finished combing the rest of the house. The upstairs was eerily unused. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a studio. They were all furnished, but the closets and drawers were empty as if they were in a holding pattern until someone could fill them. Maybe that’s how Evelyn felt, why else would she have an affair with a married man? Yes, I was speculating, but my instincts told me I was right about Greene and her.
On the way back to the Sheriff’s Department, I saw Josh, Sabrina’s son, standing on the curb carrying a backpack and furiously texting on his phone. I slowed down just as Roger Park roared up the street in his fancy car. Josh got in on the passenger side. The tint on Roger’s window was still present. He hadn’t taken it off like Farraday had told him to. I called the deputy, hoping he wasn’t too far behind me.