by Cindy Bell
“I just thought we could get to know each other a little better. I suppose I hesitated to call because I wasn’t sure if you were a free man. You’re not seeing anyone are you?”
“Not at the moment, but we can change that. Can’t we?”
“I suppose we could.” She laughed. “I wonder if there is a place we could meet to chat?”
“Why don’t you come to my place?”
Samantha’s heart dropped. Even though she was confident in her ability to protect herself she didn’t exactly want to put herself in such a vulnerable position. If she did she might not be able to get back out of it.
“I was thinking somewhere more central. Say, the library?”
“The library? That’s an odd date, but if it’s what you want that’s fine with me.”
“Do you want to pick me up on the way?” Samantha thought it was the perfect opportunity to get a look inside his car.
“No, I think I’ll meet you there. When do you want me to be there?”
“In twenty minutes?”
“Wow, you really don’t want to wait.” He laughed again. “I can’t say that I blame you, I’m ready to get this going, too. I’ll be there.”
“Great.” Samantha gritted her teeth to hold back her disgust. Sure, Daniel might not have been a killer, but he was still a man who was horrible to his sister. “I’ll see you there.” After she hung up the phone, she wondered if she’d made the right choice. Was it a good idea to be anywhere alone with Daniel? If he was the murderer he might take any opportunity to get rid of a person he deemed a risk. With these thoughts fueling her fear she considered calling Eddy to have him tag along with her. But she suspected the moment that Daniel got wind of this not being a friendly visit he would clam up and not admit to anything. She needed to do this on her own, even if that left her a little on edge.
Chapter 14
When Samantha arrived at the library she found that it was pretty crowded for mid-day. It didn’t take long for her to discover why. One of the residents from the Sage Garden’s poetry group that May had belonged to was hosting a poetry reading in honor of May. The moment she realized this her heartbeat quickened. How would Daniel react? It didn’t take long to find out, as he was seated at a table not far from the poetry reading. She paused for a moment beside a large pillar to watch his reaction to the words that strangers read about his sister. His attention was focused on the woman at the podium, however his expression was not somber. In fact, as she watched his lips curved upward with a subtle twitch. He reached up and spread his hand across his mouth, perhaps to disguise laughter.
Samantha told herself that she had to be imagining it. No man, even if he had been the one to commit the crime, could be amused by his sister’s death. Could he? She walked towards the table with a heavy feeling in her chest. Could she even have a casual conversation with him when all she wanted to do was reach across the table and shake him?
“Samantha.” He stood up and smiled as she approached him. “I’m glad you asked to meet.”
“Me too.” Samantha bit into her bottom lip as he pulled out a chair for her and she sat down in it.
“I felt like we didn’t get much of a chance to talk over coffee. There’s so much I’d like to know about you.”
“Really?” She tilted her head to the side. “Why is that?”
“Oh, May spoke very highly of you. I didn’t put two and two together when we went for coffee, but then I remembered that May had said that you had an illustrious career as a crime journalist.”
“I’m not sure I’d describe it quite like that.” She smiled.
“Well, she did. She was quite impressed that a woman could do so well for herself, I suppose since May didn’t ever do much more than run a cash register.”
“May was very intelligent. And creative.”
“Sure.” He shrugged. “Anyway, why did you want to meet at a library?”
“There are some things I’d like to talk to you about and I thought the library would be nice and quiet so we could do that.”
“What did you want to talk about?”
“I noticed that you and Valerie were rather close. I didn’t know if that was still something that was true since I happened to see her with someone else.”
“Valerie?” He blinked, then shook his head. “I’m not sure I know who you mean.”
“She’s a resident at Sage Gardens, too. A friend of May’s?”
“Oh, Val, right. Yes, I met her one of the last times I visited. She’s a very friendly gal. A little too friendly if you know what I mean. We went out to dinner one night and then it was like she expected me to marry her. Anyway, I let her down as easy as I could and we haven’t seen each other since. So no, you don’t have anything to worry about. I’m a free man.” He winked at her.
“That’s good to know.” She resisted a glare. “I suppose after May’s death you’ll need a little time to heal.”
“Not really. Actually, I can finally plan for the future. Once May’s estate is handled I can start my life again.”
“May’s death benefits you?”
“Absolutely. Look, like I told the cops, I didn’t kill her, but I sure wanted to. She was holding the inheritance our parents left us as ransom, and wouldn’t even help me out with my bills anymore. I was drowning. Now that she’s gone I can settle my debts and move on with my life.”
“Don’t you hear how horrible that sounds? To talk about your sister’s death that way?” Samantha stared at him, too shocked to even be angry.
“Maybe you didn’t know my sister very well. Look, when we were growing up she was always the golden child. She could do no wrong. My parents adored her, the community adored her, everyone believed that she’d be this great success. I was constantly having to prove myself to even get a little attention. When we became adults it was the same thing. She got her college paid for, just because I didn’t want to go to college, I didn’t get anything. I got tangled up in something that I was too young and too stupid to understand was a scam. Instead of her being there for me and helping me out, since she had such an advantage over me, she did nothing to help me, she made me take a deal. No loyalty, at all.”
“You were involved in a scam, maybe she thought she was protecting you?”
“No, all she cared about was her reputation. She didn’t want anyone to find out that her brother was a criminal. So, she forced me to take a deal and turn on my partners, so I wouldn’t get convicted. Ever since then I’ve had to look over my shoulder.”
“That must have been rough for you.”
“It still is. I can’t wait to just disappear. As soon as I get my hands on that money, I can get away, far away, and I won’t have to worry anymore. I never had the chance to live my life, you know? All because of one mistake that I made well over thirty years ago.”
“Yes, that’s rough.” She swallowed back harsh words. As long as he thought she had sympathy for him he would keep talking. “I’m sure she lorded her success over you, too.”
“She tried, but I didn’t buy it. It’s not success to work in a retail store, no matter what position you’re in. She wasted her education, and my parents knew it before they died, but they still treated her like their little princess.”
“Always in her shadow, I can see how that would drive you crazy.”
“It did, I’ll admit it. But I just focused on taking care of myself.”
“Still, you came to visit her.”
“Well, family is family.” He shrugged. “She was all I had left, so I tried to connect with her. But she didn’t make it easy. So, sorry if I’m not falling to pieces over her being gone, but it is what it is, right?”
“Right. It’s better to be honest than to pretend that you’re brokenhearted.”
“That’s what I think, too, but you’d be surprised by how many people don’t agree with that. Every other question is about the funeral and my plans for her headstone, and so on. As if I’m really supposed to be concerned about that.�
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“You’re not planning a funeral?”
“Graveside service, it was the cheapest I could get.”
Samantha’s stomach churned. “She deserves more than that.”
“She’s dead. She’s not going to care how she’s laid to rest.”
“Don’t you think that she deserves better? That she might know somehow?”
“You mean like she’s peering over pearly white clouds down at the rest of us poor souls?” He chuckled. “No Samantha, I’m sorry. I don’t buy into any of that. Even if I did, if Heaven was real, trust me the last thing she’s going to do is look back down on this miserable life.”
“Daniel, that sounds like your opinion, not hers.”
“My life hasn’t been that miserable. I’ve lived it, for the good, for the bad. But she didn’t take a single risk. She never took a chance, never took a risk. What kind of life is that?”
“I don’t know, she seemed pretty happy to me.”
“Simple minded.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, that’s not what we’re here to talk about, is it?”
“Actually, I don’t remember why I came here at all.”
“Because you feel what I feel, we have chemistry.” He reached out and took her hand in his. “No need to fight it.”
She pulled her hand back and glared at him. “Oh trust me, it’s not a fight. Anyone who could feel that way about his sister is not someone that I want to get to know better.” She stood up from the table.
“Then why did you ask me here?” He glared up at her. “Was this some kind of joke for you? Some kind of trick?”
“Look Daniel, I truly hope that one day you realize that your sister deserves to be treated better.” Samantha’s cheeks blazed as she realized that everyone in the library, including those there for the poetry reading, stared at her.
Daniel stood up from his chair and pointed a finger at her. “You conned me didn’t you? You just wanted to get more information out of me for your little detective game, huh? Well, get all the information you want, I didn’t kill my sister and nothing that you can do will change that.”
He stormed past her and out of the library. Samantha stared back at those that stared at her. As she slowly turned away it dawned on her that she’d just put herself in a terrible position. Now, not only did Daniel know that she suspected him, but so did the library that was mainly filled with Sage Gardens residents. Which meant that in no time at all Reynold and Valerie would know about her little blow up as well. The investigation they worked so hard on was about to collapse, all because she lost her temper. As she hurried out of the library she tried not to think of what Daniel might be planning. He could claim to be innocent all he wanted, but she didn’t believe him, not for a second.
By the time Samantha reached her villa her nerves were on edge. She decided to walk around the lake trying to calm herself. She prided herself on being able to keep her cool, but in that moment it wasn’t possible. All she could think about was the way Daniel spoke about May. No one deserved to be treated like that, no matter the history. She was still wound up, but decided to go to her villa and try to distract herself by doing more research.
As Samantha opened the door to her villa her cell phone began to ring. She ignored it. She knew it was either Eddy, or any number of Sage Gardens residents that had heard about the library incident. She closed the door behind her and wondered how she was going to explain herself. She was just about to sit down at the computer when there was a knock on the door. She turned around just as the door opened. Eddy stuck his head inside.
“Your phone is ringing.”
“I know it is.”
“So?” He held up his phone and ended the call. “Is there a reason you’re not answering?”
“You know the reason, Eddy.” She sighed.
“Yes, I heard about it.”
“And?”
“And?”
“I don’t know why I lost it.”
“I do, Daniel is a horrible person and you couldn’t stand being around him.”
“But I might have just ruined everything.”
“No, you didn’t.” He crossed the living room to her. “You’ve got things stirred up for sure, but you didn’t ruin anything. Did you find out any information?”
“I found a photograph with Daniel and Valerie holding hands. When I saw it I decided to ask him myself if he dated Valerie. According to him it wasn’t much more than a fling, but Valerie expected a lot more.”
“You think that gave her motive to kill May?”
“I don’t see why it would, to be honest. However, the way Daniel talked about May makes me even more certain that he’d have no problem with killing her. I really think he’s our guy.”
“All right, just take a breath. It’s easy to jump to conclusions when you’re angry.”
“Eddy, he practically told me that he was glad that she was dead. How can that be anything but the words of a murderer?”
“Samantha, it’s quite suspicious, but do you really think that if he was the killer he would talk like that? It would make him the prime suspect.”
“And it has. Maybe he’s just that arrogant. Or maybe he thinks that it will throw the police off his scent, just like it has thrown you off his scent.” She crossed her arms.
“Now wait a minute, Samantha, it hasn’t thrown me off anything. All I’m saying is that it’s too soon to pick one horse and sometimes when emotions run high it’s easy to make assumptions.”
“My emotions are not running high.”
“Sam.” He looked into her eyes “You know I know you.”
“Ugh, fine, okay.” She turned away. “I might be a little wound up. But you would be too if you had to hear those slimy words come out of his mouth.”
“You shouldn’t have met up with him.”
“I wanted him to talk, and he did.” She frowned. “Now we know that Valerie dated both of our main suspects. What does that tell us?”
“That I might be the only person Valerie hasn’t dated?” Eddy chuckled.
“I’m serious, Eddy. The question is, was it a coincidence, or did she know that there was some kind of connection between Daniel and Reynold?”
“That is a good question. It leads us back to the same thing. We need to see if we can get any real evidence on Daniel. Once we do we might be able to pinpoint one suspect.”
“We could already have that evidence if we hadn’t argued with Jo,” Samantha said.
“Don’t start about that, please.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Samantha raised an eyebrow. Before Eddy could reply there was a knock on the door. Samantha used the moment to break the tension between them. She pulled open the door to find Walt on the other side with a smile that spread from ear to ear.
“I came up with a plan.” Walt strode proudly inside. “Look.” He held up a coupon. “I made this myself on the computer. It’s a coupon for one free car detailing, today only. I’m going to make sure that Daniel gets it, so that we can take a look around the inside of his car.”
“Oh great job, Walt. This looks really real.” Samantha studied it. “Do you think he will go for it?”
“I think we can certainly try.” Walt nodded. “I know I like free things. I don’t think I would be able to turn this down.”
“As if your car has a speck of dirt in it.”
“It never hurts to give it a little extra shine.” He grinned.
“What do you think, Eddy?” Samantha showed him the coupon.
“I think we should have let Jo do what she needed to do. I don’t know why I was so stubborn with her.” He sighed.
“You worry about her.” Samantha patted his shoulder. “One day she’ll appreciate that. Besides, Walt has come up with a great idea, and we might not need her to break in after all. Maybe you were right all along.”
“Maybe.”
“So, no to the coupon?” Walt look disappointed.
“We can give it a shot. But you guys will have to stay ou
t of sight when we get his car because he knows your faces,” Eddy said.
“I hadn’t thought of that. Good thinking, Eddy,” Walt said.
“Why don’t we go stick it under his door? That’s a good way to make sure that he gets it,” Eddy said.
“Good idea.” Samantha grabbed her keys from the counter. “I’ll drive.”
“Oh, well, uh.” Walt cleared his throat.
“Walt, you rode in my car once and survived.”
“I know, and I don’t think I packed enough wet wipes to do it again.”
“Walt!” Samantha exclaimed.
“Let’s just take Walt’s car.” Eddy smiled. “I’ve been in your car too, Sam.”
“Eddy.” Samantha rolled her eyes and stuck an elbow in his side. “Those are your taco wrappers on the floor you know.”
“I know.” Eddy laughed.
As they piled into Walt’s car Samantha tried not to touch anything. She knew that Walt would give the car a thorough cleaning once they were out, anyway. It was just Walt’s way. She tried not to let it offend her. As they drove towards Daniel’s house, Eddy tilted his head back towards where Samantha sat in the backseat.
“So, Daniel and May lived in the same town as Reynold and Jacob at one point. However, not at the time of Jacob’s death. It doesn’t exactly explain how they knew each other. Were they friends? Neighbors?”
“Still, they have to be connected to May’s murder somehow.” Samantha’s eyes widened.
“I’m not sure how. I can’t find any motive for it. The only bad blood I came across was between siblings,” Eddy said.
“Maybe there’s more to it than that. We’ll have to dig a little deeper. Who knows, Valerie might be the key to us figuring all of this out. Maybe she knows what their connection is.”
“It might be worth a conversation with her,” Eddy said.
“Considering the way that I blew things up with Daniel today, I’m sure that if the two are working together somehow, he’s already contacted her.” Samantha leaned her head against the side window.
“Maybe, but you said that he claimed he didn’t have anything going with her. He might not have called her,” Eddy said.